Mammoth tooth among amazing finds on the Norfolk coast
Southern mammoth tooth, approximately 2 million years old, found on the coast. Photo: West Runton Beach Cafe - Credit: Archant
Businesses are being urged to sign-up to a project that celebrates the amazing finds that have been discovered on the Norfolk coast and encourage year-round visitors.
The Deep History Coast logo. Image: NORFOLK MUSEUMS SERVICE - Credit: © Norfolk Museums Service
North Norfolk District Council's Cabinet agreed in 2017 to fund a project to make the most of the coastline from Weybourne to Cart Gap, known as the Deep History Coast.
The area has revealed spectacular finds, and with the soft clay cliffs is considered to be the best place to study Ice Age geology in the UK. Meanwhile, Happisburgh is the oldest archaeological site in northern Europe, and West Runton yielded the most complete fossilised mammoth skeleton found in the UK.
With support from businesses, north Norfolk also hopes to spearhead the story of Doggerland, when East Anglia was connected to the continent 7.000 years ago, and the early occupation of northern Europe.
The council wants businesses to sign-up as ambassadors for the Deep History Coast, and hosted an event where they heard from key contributors to the project.
An artist's impression of what Doggerland could have loooked like in the Mesolithic period. Image: WESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY - Credit: Archant
Work is already under way on a discovery trail that will see 11 monolith-style information panels displayed along the 22-mile Deep History Coast.
The council successfully bid for EU funding to develop an app where users will see what life in Doggerland might have been like through the eyes of a Hominin family, our human ancestors.
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And further funding was awarded from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to enable the council to refurbish the North Norfolk Information Centre in Cromer in early autumn. This will include a Deep History Coast discovery centre offering interactive displays, activities and signposting to museums.
John Lee, Leader of the Conservative Group at NNDC, said: 'This exciting initiative is a great addition to the north Norfolk tourism offer. It offers both historic and geographic education opportunities and provides the potential to lengthen our tourism season - making the Deep History Coast a better place to visit all-year round.'
A model of a wooly mammoth at Ipswich Museum. The animals were thought to roam the plains of Doggerland. Picture: SUPPLIED BY ALAN TUTT - Credit: Archant
Contributors to the project include Jam Creative, which is developing an app, and Whistlejacket, a branding agency that is making ancient north Norfolk exciting and engaging.
for more information, email deephistorycoast@north-norfolk.gov.uk
An image of the area known as Doggerland which connected the British Isles and the European continent. Norway has been excluded from the map. Image: MAX NAYLOR/CREATIVE COMMONS - Credit: Archant
