The legend of Atlantis has fascinated historians for centuries, with many believing the fabled city was once real and was engulfed by the sea — and now archaeologists have uncovered a compelling Stone Age settlement dubbed ‘Europe’s Atlantis’ beneath the waters of Denmark’s Bay of Aarhus
Perfectly preserved artefacts were dug up(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The legend of Atlantis has left a gaping void in our grasp of history, with archaeologists tirelessly searching the oceans for any trace of this submerged civilisation.
A widely-held belief is that Atlantis never actually existed. Yet, as we now understand, the notion of a coastal city being swallowed up by the sea is far from impossible.
Then came a breakthrough, as archaeologists in Europe believed they had uncovered the missing piece of the puzzle. Denmark might not seem the most obvious nautical home for a mysterious lost city of antiquity, but this is precisely where researchers unearthed the most compelling evidence of Atlantis, according to Global News.
“Europe’s Atlantis”, believed to date back to the Stone Age, was discovered beneath the waters of Denmark’s Bay of Aarhus.
Researchers brought to light a wealth of artefacts that paint a vivid picture of a thriving community that existed there nearly 8,500 years ago.
Among the finds were stone tools, arrowheads, animal bones, and even fragments of wood that appeared to resemble rudimentary implements, reports the Mirror US.
Researchers dived 26 feet beneath the surface off Denmark’s second-largest city, deploying specialist suction equipment to retrieve the remnants of Europe’s Atlantis.
The site is traced back to the end of the last Ice Age, when surging seas swallowed up entire coastal settlements, forcing Stone Age hunter-gatherer communities to retreat inland.
Given that the artefacts have remained submerged for thousands of years, they are significantly better preserved than discoveries made on dry land would typically be. “What we actually tried to find out here is how life was at a coastal settlement 8,500 years ago,” archaeologist Peter Moe said.
He added: “Here, we actually have an old coastline. We have a settlement that was positioned directly at the coastline. What we actually try to find out here is how was life at a coastal settlement.
“It’s like a time capsule. When sea level rose, everything was preserved in an oxygen-free environment … time just stops. We find completely well-preserved wood. We find hazelnut. … Everything is well preserved.
“We can say very precisely when these trees died at the coastlines,” Moesgaard Museum dendrochronologist Jonas Ogdal Jensen, according to Fortune.
The expert went on to shed light on how this remarkable find has offered a wealth of knowledge about how sea levels have shifted throughout history.
He said: “It’s hard to answer exactly what it meant to people,” Moe Astrup said. “But it clearly had a huge impact in the long run because it completely changed the landscape.”
Researchers are keen to press ahead with investigations at a further site off the German coastline, with ambitions to also explore locations in the notoriously unforgiving North Sea further down the line.
Yet this is not the first occasion archaeologists have drawn comparisons between a site and Atlantis. Doggerland was a landmass that once extended between Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands, connecting the corners of Europe.
Back in 1931, evidence of this long-lost land began to emerge after a Dutch fishing vessel retrieved artefacts from the seabed. A portrait of a hunter-gatherer community thousands of years old began to take shape. Yet around 8,200 years ago, rising sea levels and a catastrophic tsunami ultimately swallowed up this ancient civilisation.
A colossal underwater landslide set off a chain of unstoppable natural disasters that plunged the landmass beneath the waves. Today, all that remains of it lies submerged under the North Sea.
