Huge undersea wall dating from 5000 BC found in France (opens in new tab)

(bbc.com)

27 pointsneversaydie3mo ago8 comments

8 comments

I don't understand these articles, they found 400' of wall and only have one picture in the article that shows like 3' of it.

manarth3mo ago

The BBC can unfortunately often be light on details for articles such as this.

Heritage Daily has an article with more details, undersea mapping, photos, and cites the source (the International Journal of Nautical Archeaology).

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/12/network-of-submerged-s...

teruakohatu3mo ago

That is a much better article.

It is not a wall, but rather a “network of submerged stone structures”.

felixhammerl3mo ago

Reminds me of Doggerland: https://youtube.com/shorts/Afwxk4peYys

poulpy1233mo ago

The place was part of doggerland

manarth3mo ago

Good comment, thanks.

Doggerland is often thought of as the North Sea section surrounding Doggerbank as it is today, but as you've highlighted, it actually extended much further and as far south as Britanny.

FloorEgg3mo ago

~5500 years old is the youngest plausible age based on historical sea levels.

We assume anything older than that has to be hunter gatherers. Personally I'm skeptical and think this is more evidence that points at much more advanced and older civilizations than what archeology seems willing to entertain right now.

manarth3mo ago

We've known that humans have been harnessing natural fire (e.g. sticks/vegetation set alight by lightening) for over a million years.

However, until last week, we thought that the earliest point of humans _deliberately creating_ fire – e.g. through flint and tinder – was 50,000 years ago.

A new find has dated the first instance of deliberate fire to be 400,000 years ago (probably by early Neanderthals).

So I agree - the archaeological evidence and our interpretation of history is spotty at best.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/10/man-made-fir...

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8 comments

Suppafly3mo ago

I don't understand these articles, they found 400' of wall and only have one picture in the article that shows like 3' of it.

manarth3mo ago

The BBC can unfortunately often be light on details for articles such as this.

Heritage Daily has an article with more details, undersea mapping, photos, and cites the source (the International Journal of Nautical Archeaology).

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/12/network-of-submerged-s...

teruakohatu3mo ago

That is a much better article.

It is not a wall, but rather a “network of submerged stone structures”.

felixhammerl3mo ago

Reminds me of Doggerland: https://youtube.com/shorts/Afwxk4peYys

poulpy1233mo ago

The place was part of doggerland

manarth3mo ago

Good comment, thanks.

Doggerland is often thought of as the North Sea section surrounding Doggerbank as it is today, but as you've highlighted, it actually extended much further and as far south as Britanny.

FloorEgg3mo ago

~5500 years old is the youngest plausible age based on historical sea levels.

manarth3mo ago

We've known that humans have been harnessing natural fire (e.g. sticks/vegetation set alight by lightening) for over a million years.

However, until last week, we thought that the earliest point of humans _deliberately creating_ fire – e.g. through flint and tinder – was 50,000 years ago.

A new find has dated the first instance of deliberate fire to be 400,000 years ago (probably by early Neanderthals).

So I agree - the archaeological evidence and our interpretation of history is spotty at best.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/10/man-made-fir...

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse