Scientists from the universities of Ghent, and Bradford in England, and from the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) have set off for the southern North Sea. Sailing on the research ship Belgica, the scientists will be searching for traces of a prehistoric settlement.
The research ship 'Belgica' (© Belgian Navy)
The expedition is part of the Lost Frontiers project which aims to gain a better understanding of the prehistoric landscape of Doggerland. This is the area which connected Britain - before it became an island - with mainland Europe and Scandinavia, between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. Scientists have been looking for traces of human activity in the area, which is now submerged, for years. It is presumed that the area was home to thousands of people in the past.
The archaeologists and marine experts will be carrying out geophysical research on board the Belgica around the Brown Bank, an elongated ridge of approximately 30 kilometres lying 100 kilometres east of Great Yarmouth and 80 kilometres west of the Dutch coast. The team will then collect sediment samples at the most interesting archaeological sites. Analysis of these samples will help determine whether the area was previously inhabited.
