When the sea become a monster? The social impact of the Storegga tsunami, 8200 BP, on the Mesolithic of northern Europe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Nyland ◽  
Graeme Warren ◽  
James Walker
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Submarine Landslide ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The North ◽  
The Social ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Outer Coast

<p>Around 8200 years ago, the Storegga tsunami, caused by a massive submarine landslide off the coast of Central Norway, struck the coasts of west Norway, Scotland and Doggerland. This event is well known from wide ranging geological and palaeobotanical work undertaken over the last 30 years. What has been less explored, however, is the potential social impact that this natural freak event had on the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies living on the coasts and shores of the North Sea. What happened in the tsunami’s aftermath? It has been widely assumed to have been a disaster – but was it? What constituted a disaster in the Mesolithic? In the Mesolithic, people were hunter-gatherer-fishers, they lived by, off, and with the sea. Settlement sites in West Norway were concentrated along the outer coast. People lived on the shores of islands and headlands, or along resource rich tidal currents. Eastern Scottish Mesolithic sites are also found on contemporary coasts, while the coasts of central Doggerland have long since become submerged. What happened to groups in these landscapes on the day the sea became a monster and in the years that followed? In this paper, we will outline a newly started project that will investigate the social impact of the tsunami in areas of the North Sea that have distinctive Mesolithic histories. These coastal inhabitants had, for millennia, developed their own traditions to engage with and learn how to exploit and keep safe from the sea. What can we learn about Mesolithic societies by investigating how communities handled the forces of a tsunami? Responses identified in the archaeological material and environmental archives can potentially inform us of social structures, institutions or ways of living that made the existing societies resilient or vulnerable.</p>

scholarly journals Evidence of the Storegga Tsunami 8200 BP? An Archaeological Review of Impact After a Large-Scale Marine Event in Mesolithic Northern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid J. Nyland ◽  
James Walker ◽  
Graeme Warren
Keyword(s):  
Natural Hazards ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Southern North Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Western Norway ◽  
The Social

Around 8,200 years ago, the Storegga tsunami hit the coasts of the Norwegian and North Seas. This event is well known from wide ranging geological and palaeobotanical work undertaken over the last 30 years. Outside of attempts at palaeodemographic models, however, exploration of the social impact of the wave on Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies living on the coasts of west Norway, the north and east British Isles, and around the southern North Sea basin have been less common. It has been widely assumed that the tsunami was a disaster–but what constituted a disaster for the Mesolithic peoples who lived through this event? What can we learn about life after natural hazards by considering the archaeological material from regions with distinct Mesolithic histories? This paper presents a review of evidence of the Storegga tsunami at Mesolithic sites from western Norway, the Northeast UK, and elsewhere around the southern North Sea basin. We consider the ways in which the social impact of the Storegga tsunami has been studied up till now and suggest an alternative way forward.

Redescription of Nephtys Assimilis and N. Kersivalensis (Polychaeta: Phyllodocida) and a Key to Nephtys from Northern Europe

1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.F. Rainer
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Full Description ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
The North ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The North Sea

Descriptions of the polychaete Nephtys hombergii Savigny, 1818 have encompassed a wide range of apparently intraspecific variation in taxonomic features such as the segment on which interramal cirri first occur, and the form and size of pre- and postsetal lamellae (Fauchald, 1963; Woolf, 1968; Hartmann-Schröder, 1971). During the examination of museum collections and of extensive ecological collections from the North Sea (Rainer, 1990) and from Danish waters, it was found that the name N. hombergii has been applied to three morphologically similar species, viz. N. hombergii (s.s.), N. assimilis Örsted and N. kersivalensis Mclntosh. Both are locally abundant species that may occur with N. hombergii. This paper designates a neotype of N. assimilis, provides a full description of N. assimilis and N. kersivalensis, and removes these species from synonymy with N. hombergii.

scholarly journals The catastrophic final flooding of Doggerland by the Storegga Slide tsunami

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Weninger ◽  
Rick Schulting ◽  
Marcel Bradtmöller ◽  
Lee Clare ◽  
Mark Collard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Submarine Landslide ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Coastal Margin ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Storegga Slide

Around 8200 calBP, large parts of the now submerged North Sea continental shelf (‘Doggerland’) were catastrophically flooded by the Storegga Slide tsunami, one of the largest tsunamis known for the Holocene, which was generated on the Norwegian coastal margin by a submarine landslide. In the present paper, we derive a precise calendric date for the Storegga Slide tsunami, use this date for reconstruction of contemporary coastlines in the North Sea in relation to rapidly rising sea-levels, and discuss the potential effects of the tsunami on the contemporaneous Mesolithic population. One main result of this study is an unexpectedly high tsunami impact assigned to the western regions of Jutland.

The Contribution of River Systems to the Input of Pollutants to the Marine Environment in Northern Europe

1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (5-7) ◽  
pp. 83-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
R F Critchley
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Pollutant Load ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Main Input ◽  
The Baltic

Published information on the input of pollutants to the North Sea has been used to identify the major pollutant pathways. Rivers and atmospheric deposition are the main input routes for metals, with the Rhine/Meuse and the Elbe contributing over half the riverine input. The dumping of estuarine dredging spoils results in a very large input of metals, which cannot be fully accounted for as a redistribution of riverine material unless the river inputs have been grossly underestimated. Rivers provide the largest input route for nutrients, but a substantial contribution is also made by direct discharges to coastal waters and estuaries. Sewage sludge dumping contributes less than 5% to the pollutant load to the North Sea. Similar assessments have also been made for the Baltic Sea and the major UK estuaries.

Introduction: ethnic associationalism and an English diaspora

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Bueltmann ◽  
Donald M. MacRaild
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

In early 1953, a major storm hit parts of northern Europe, causing the North Sea to flood. Over 300 people died on land along the east coast of England, with a similar number also perishing at sea. The country’s eastern coastline was devastated, properties were severely damaged, and thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes....

Moving across the North Sea

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Van de Noort
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Prestige Goods ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
The Social ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Bronze Age

Movements between different lands around the North Sea have always been taking place. While the North Sea was evolving gradually, over the millennia, following the melting of the Devensian ice sheet, close contacts across what remained of the North Sea Plain never ceased, as evidenced by near-parallel developments of the Maglemosian-type tools in southern Scandinavia and Britain (Clark 1936), and by particular practices such as the deliberate deposition of barbed points (see chapter 3). Connections across the North Sea throughout the Mesolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic would have been made easier because of the number of islands surviving within the rising sea. The polished axes from Dogger Bank and Brown Bank either represent human presence on these islands in the early Neolithic or else indicate that the existence of these islands sometime in the pre-Neolithic past was embedded in the social memory of later periods. Both possibilities emphasize the fact that the North Sea was a knowable and visited place. Movements across the North Sea took various forms: as exchange between elites from different regions of exotic or ‘prestige’ goods, and possibly of marriage partners; as trade in both luxury and bulk commodities; and in the transfer of people, in some cases as individuals such as pilgrims and missionaries, and in other cases as groups of pirates or as part of larger-scale migrations. Over time, connectedness across the North Sea changed both in nature and in intensity; this was due in no small part to changes in the nature of the craft available. An outline of the movement of goods from the Neolithic through to the end of the Middle Ages illustrates this. Contacts across the North Sea for the Neolithic and the Bronze Age are demonstrated in the long-distance exchange of exotic objects and artefacts, including Beaker pottery, jewellery, or other adornments of gold, amber, faience, jet, and tin; also copper and bronze weapons and tools, and flint daggers, arrowheads, and wrist guards (e.g. Butler, 1963; O’Connor, 1980; Bradley 1984; Clarke, Cowie, and Foxon 1985).

Storm Xaver over Europe in December 2013 and its energy meteorological impacts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Kettle
Keyword(s):  
Storm Surge ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Energy Infrastructure ◽  
The North ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Uk

<p>Storm Xaver impacted the northern Europe on 5-6 December 2013.  It developed southeast of Greenland and passed north of Scotland and across southern Norway on a trajectory that led to a cold air outbreak across the North Sea and intense convection activity in northern Europe.  Strong sustained north winds led to a high storm surge that impacted all countries bordering the North Sea.  Storm Xaver was a century scale event with certain locations around the North Sea reporting their highest ever water levels since the start of modern records.  Media reports from the time of the storm chronicle the scale of the disruptions, including many cancelled flights, interrupted rail networks, closed bridges and roads, coastal building collapses, and power blackouts across northern Europe.  Much of this was due to the strong winds, but coastal storm surge flooding was important in the UK, and it led to interrupted port operations around the North Sea.</p><p>The storm was important for energy infrastructure and particularly for wind energy infrastructure.  In the northern North Sea, petroleum platforms were evacuated and operations closed ahead of the storm as a precautionary measure.  A number of onshore wind turbines were badly damaged by high winds and lightning strikes in the UK and Germany.  Over the North Sea, wind speeds exceeded the turbine shutdown threshold of 25 m/s for an extended period of time, with economic impacts from the loss of power generation.   In the German Bight, the FINO1 offshore wind energy research platform was damaged at the 15 m level by large waves.  This was the third report of storm damage to this platform after Storm Britta in 2006 and Storm Tilo in 2007.  Researchers have highlighted the need to reassess  the design criteria for offshore wind turbines based on these kinds of extreme meteorological events.  For the offshore wind industry, an important element of energy meteorology is to characterize both the evolving wind and wave fields during severe storms as both elements contribute to turbine loads and potential damage.</p><p>The present conference contribution presents a literature review of the major events during Storm Xaver and impacts on energy infrastructure.  Tide gauge records are reanalyzed to trace the progress of the storm surge wave around the North Sea.  A spectral analysis is used to separate the long period storm surge component, diurnal/semidiurnal tide, and short period components in the original water level record.  The short period component of the tide gauge record is important as it may be linked with infragravity waves that have been implicated in certain cases of offshore infrastructure damage in addition to coastal erosion.  Discussion is made of offshore wave records during the storm.  Storm Xaver is compared with two damaging offshore storms in 2006 and 2007.</p>

scholarly journals The Spanish Pastoral Romances

PMLA ◽  
1892 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-119
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Social Condition ◽  
Western World ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Social ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Church

The introduction of the pastoral romance into Spain in the middle of the sixteenth century, and the extreme favor with which it was received, may, in view of the social condition of the country, seem at first sight paradoxical. At the time of the accession of Philip II, Spain was at the zenith of her military greatness: her possessions were scattered from the North Sea to the islands of the Pacific; and her conquests had been extended over both parts of the western world. The constant wars against the Moors, during a period of over seven hundred years, and the stirring ballads founded upon them, had fostered an adventurous and chivalric spirit,—a distinguishing trait of the Spanish character. Arms and the church were the only careers that offered any opportunity for distinction, and every Spanish gentleman was, first of all, a soldier.

Distribution of the Cirratulid Polychaetes Dodecaceria Fimbriata, D. Concharum and D. Diceria in European Waters Between Latitudes 48°N and 70°N

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 625-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
English Channel ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Firth Of Forth ◽  
First Time

The distribution of Dodecaceria in northern Europe was found for samples borrowed from museums and other collections. Dodecaceria fimbriata was present in the coastal waters of mainland Britain and the Continent from the English Channel northwards. Dodecaceria concharum was only found in British mainland coastal waters and on the French coast at the western end of the English Channel. It was absent where salinities were below ~34%0. The two species were sampled along the Lothian and Borders coasts and the numbers of D. concharum fell with decreasing salinity as the Firth of Forth was approached. Dodecaceria diceria was found for the first time in the North Sea at depths of 100–200 m. The benthic salinity here is ~35%0.

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