Look What They Found Off Britain's Coast

How is this for good luck? A team of archaeologists from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in northeast England wanted to become more adept at finding ancient artifacts under water. So they conducted a training session off the coast of Tynemouth to better prepare for dive searches elsewhere.

While they were training in the water, they stumbled upon the archaeological find of a lifetime: evidence of two Stone Age settlements in Britain. The underwater sites, which date as far back as 10,000 years, once stood on dry land, but they were gradually submerged as sea levels rose after the end of the last Ice Age, reports Reuters.

The team primarily found flint artifacts, including tools and arrowheads. The items were all lying undisturbed on the sea bed near a built-up area.

Even more strange, the lead archaeologist, Dr. Penny Spikins, told Reuters that before the training dive even took place, she applied for funding to search for just this type of Stone Age site--but in Scotland. Instead, she found just what she was looking for in England without even trying.

"It was a totally stunning find really because although we'd prepared ourselves to be looking for these type of sites, we hadn't really started the project when we already came across these types of artifacts," Spikins told Reuters. "These sites are set to provide us with a unique opportunity to begin to understand early Mesolithic coastal occupation." The Mesolithic people were hunters and gatherers who lived in the Middle Stone Age period that began some 10,000 years ago.

The site found closer to land dates back 5,000 to 8,500 years ago to the late Mesolithic period, while the other, which was found further out to sea, could date back as far as 10,000 years to the early Mesolithic period.