Doggerland Britain land connection sea levels

Rising seas overtopped Britain's last land link

~9,000 years ago

Doggerland connected mainland Europe to Britain until rising water covered the land about 9,000 years ago. About 11,000 years ago, while the connection remained, the Rhine estuary lay in the Strait of Dover.

A missing quipu knot could mean zero

On many quipus, knots placed at different heights on a cord represented ones, tens, hundreds, and larger numbers. Leaving one of those positions empty meant zero, allowing a single cord to record one or several numbers.

Draining peat made floods harder to defend against

In Dutch efforts to create farmland, draining swamps and removing peat made the peat shrink and the ground sink. Lowering groundwater to keep the land drained caused further shrinking. As ground levels fell, dikes had to grow and connect into one flood-defence system.

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Doggerland Britain land connection sea levels

Rising seas overtopped Britain's last land link

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