Stone Age Settlement Found at 35 ft (12 m) Depth on the English Channel

Once, Britain was a peninsula attached to Europe, but when the ice melted at the end of the Ice Age, it flooded the English Channel, turning Britain into a special island with such special people ...

Now, erosion on the floor of the Channel exposed a Stone Age settlement just off the Isle of Wight, found to be 8,000 years, just a bit before the complete melting of the huge glaciers covering Europe at that time.

"This is the only site of its kind in the United Kingdom. It is important because this is the period when modern people were blossoming, just coming out of the end of the Ice Age, living more like we do today in the valleys and lowlands.", said lead researchers Garry Momber, director of the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archeology.

Scientists first discovered 10 years ago a cache of Mesolithic flints, and further digging uncovered two hearths (ancient ovens) but also burnt wood fragments bearing cut marks and a layer of wood chippings, all located under 35 feet (12 m) of water during the latest excavation.

"We now have unequivocal evidence of human activity at the site. There were people here actively making stuff and being quite industrious.", Momber told LiveScience.

"At 8,000-years-old, the settlement is the only underwater Mesolithic site in Britain, though it is probably part of a much larger area of occupation yet to be uncovered. As the climate began to warm up near the end of the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago, people were moving into Northern Europe and settling down in the many river valleys left behind by melting glaciers," Momber explained.

"Many of the valleys, such as the ones now beneath the English Channel, were eventually inundated completely when temperatures returned to normal. A good chunk of the material left behind from this cultural period is eventually going to be found underwater. Despite the logistical problems of underwater archaeology, the Isle of Wight site and others like it are usually better preserved than their counterparts on land," he explained.

The floodwater that slowly covered what is now the bottom of the English Channel also deposited layers of silt over the settlement, isolating it in an oxygen-free environment that impedes the decay of the organic materials like wood and food. "With underwater sites, all the trappings of a society are going to remain, not just the stone," Momber said.

But under the water, the remains can be dispersed easily at any time. "The erosion of this site would be a loss of information to humanity, not just the washing away of a bit of material. There is the potential to find so much more there; there is so much to learn.", he said.