Because the archaeological evidence from the period is thin, Mesolithic people have in the past been depicted by researchers as restless nomads and Doggerland as a land bridge through which they passed without leaving a trace. The new map suggests that, on the contrary, Doggerland would have been an ideal environment for them to linger in — until sea levels, rising since the end of the last ice age, finally inundated it, turning Britain into an island about 8,000 years ago.