Archaeologists to map sunken landscape lost to the waves

The University of Bradford, in collaboration with Historic England, will lead part of the Unpath'd Waters project, which aims to make the UK’s maritime heritage more accessible.

A team from Bradford will create an interactive map of the area known as Doggerland, a vast area that used to connect England to mainland Europe.

Professor Vince Gaffney, 50th Anniversary Chair in the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, said: “This is a massive project that will help preserve our national heritage archives and make them much more accessible. We are part of the group pulling together the marine archive.

“We will be looking at the underwater landscapes of the North Sea, which up until about 8,000 years ago was above water. People lived on this land.

"We know this because chance finds from the seabed have included stone tools, human remains and a variety of other man-made objects.

"The team at Bradford has spent the last five years mapping the seafloor as part of a major European-funded project and we’re just at the stage now where we’re able to pinpoint where we believe settlements may have been.”

The funding comes at a time when vast areas of the North Sea are being developed to create wind farms.

Prof Gaffney said it was imperative not only to disseminate information on the archaeology of the North Sea but to use this information to plan work with developers to safeguard hitherto undiscovered underwater archaeological sites.

“Huge areas of the North Sea are either being developed or will be developed in the near future. Green energy is vital, it’s our future and while we must support that, this is also a way of showing we need to take responsibility for the heritage of the area.

"Coastal shelves are being developed around the world, so this project, and related research, may help others preserve their own heritage.”

One aspect of the project will see the creation of a digital map, showing what Doggerland once looked like, with hills, river valleys and possibly even human settlements.

Prof Gaffney said: “The idea is to create an interactive map so people can explore the impact of climate change on the landscape since the last ice age. This will be online and accessible and will act as a springboard for new research.”

The Bradford archaeologists will lead part of the major national project which aims to connect the UK’s cultural artefacts and historical archives and make them more accessible to the public.

Towards a National Collection’s Discovery Project is an ambitious £14.5m five-year initiative, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

It will utilise machine learning and AI to create cross-collection searching, exhibitions and interactive maps of historical data which at present is dispersed across museums, archives, universities and other centres.

The investigation is the largest of its kind to be undertaken anywhere in the world.

It extends across the UK, involving 15 universities and 63 heritage collections and institutions of different scales, with over 120 individual researchers and collaborators.

Professor Christopher Smith, Executive Chair, Arts and Humanities Research Council, said: “This moment marks the start of the most ambitious phase of research and development we have ever undertaken as a country in the space where culture and heritage meets AI technology."