In a groundbreaking discovery, archaeologists diving in the Bay of Aarhus, Denmark, have unearthed evidence of a Stone Age settlement submerged over 8,500 years ago by rising sea levels.

The findings, part of a €13.2 million EU-funded project involving researchers from Aarhus, the University of Bradford, and Germany’s Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research, aim to map submerged Mesolithic landscapes in the Baltic and North Seas.

Led by underwater archaeologist Peter Moe Astrup of Moesgaard Museum, the team excavated a 40-square-meter site off Aarhus’s coast, uncovering animal bones, stone tools, arrowheads, a seal tooth, and preserved wood.

The oxygen-free underwater environment acted as a “time capsule,” preserving artifacts like hazelnuts and wooden tools. Using dendrochronology, researchers dated submerged tree stumps to track sea level rise, which surged by approximately 2 meters per century after the last ice age.

The project, spurred by expanding offshore infrastructure, seeks to understand how Stone Age hunter-gatherers adapted to shifting coastlines. Future excavations in the North Sea, including the submerged Doggerland region, will further illuminate ancient responses to environmental changes, offering insights into modern climate-driven sea level rise.

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