Study Suggests Stone Age , Mega Tsunami , Devastated Mesolithic Populations.<br />'Newsweek' reports that a massive tsunami that <br />occurred over 8,000 years ago may have <br />devastated coastal communities in the Stone Age.<br />According to a recent study, the event known as <br />the Storegga tsunami left traces of sediment <br />deposits in areas from Norway to eastern Greenland.<br />Between 8,120 and 8,175 years ago, a submarine <br />landslide off the coast of Norway generated waves <br />up to 40 feet high along the entire Norwegian coast.<br />In what is now mainland Britain, waves were between <br />ten and twenty feet, while in the Shetland Islands, <br />waves could have reached over 65 feet in height.<br />Evidence suggests that the Storegga event <br />coincided with a massive population decline <br />in coastal populations of nomadic, hunter <br />gatherers during the Mesolithic period.<br />'Newsweek' reports that there has been an overall <br />lack of research quantifying the impact of the <br />tsunami on Mesolithic communities in the region.<br />The study, published in the 'Journal of Quaternary <br />Science,' attempted to assess the potential impact of<br />the catastrophic event on populations alive at the time.<br />This is one of the first attempts <br />to directly link the Storegga tsunami <br />to its effects on Mesolithic people, Patrick Sharrocks, Author of the study affiliated <br />with the University of York and University <br />of Leeds in England, via Newsweek.<br />The mortality estimations for the <br />intertidal zone were higher than we <br />expected with the implication that<br />the impacts on Mesolithic people <br />could have potentially been severe, Patrick Sharrocks, Author of the study affiliated <br />with the University of York and University <br />of Leeds in England, via Newsweek.<br />The team of researchers say their findings could <br />be used to help us better understand the <br />potential future impact of mega tsunamis
