M. (Marjolein) Admiraal, PhD

FLOOD - Framing the Late-Pleistocene chrOnOlogy of environmental and cultural change in Doggerland

During the last Ice Age, a landmass known as Doggerland connected the British Isles to the European continent. As part of the Eurasian Mammoth Steppe, Doggerland was a rich habitat for modern humans, Neanderthals, and megafauna. Rising sea levels during the early Holocene submerged this landscape some 9,000 years ago. Today the North Sea still preserves a wealth of cultural and ecological information about this submerged world. Thousands of bones and artefacts recovered through fishing, sand extraction, and beach combing form a unique heritage archive of international importance.

Radiocarbon dating is foundational for Late Pleistocene archaeology, especially when samples lack stratigraphic context. However, the accuracy of several radiocarbon dates from Doggerland has been questioned. Authors raised concerns about preservation, contamination, and sample treatment. Without a robust chronological framework, reconstructions of the Late Pleistocene of Doggerland and wider NW Europe remain tentative. The FLOOD project (01-07-2025 - 31-12-2027) seeks to resolve the Doggerland radiocarbon conundrum by reassessing contested samples using a suite of cutting-edge methodologies in the field of radiocarbon dating.

FLOOD is funded by the European Commission: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant agreement: 101204575).