Message #668

[Kara]

Interest in the area was reinvigorated in the 1990s by the work of Prof. Bryony Coles, who named the area "Doggerland" ("after the great banks in the southern North Sea"[5]) and produced a series of speculative maps of the area.[5][8] Although she recognised that the current relief of the southern North Sea seabed is not a sound guide to the topography of Doggerland,[8] the topography of the area has more recently begun to be reconstructed more authoritatively using seismic survey data obtained through petrochemical exploration surveys.[9][10]

A skull fragment of a Neanderthal, dated at over 40,000 years old, was recovered from material dredged from the Middeldiep, a region of the North Sea located some 10 miles (16 km) off the coast of Zeeland, and was exhibited in Leiden in 2009.[11]

In March 2010 it was reported that recognition of the potential archaeological importance of the area could affect the future development of offshore wind farms in the North Sea.[12]