King's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE)·Bronze Age–Classical·🇬🇧 Dorset, King's Harbour, United Kingdom
About
About King's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset
King's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset in Dorset, King's Harbour, United Kingdom is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal submerged area 450 × 280 m and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 50.6010N -2.5210E controls access to Dorset resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey submerged city for Dorset, King's Harbour, illustrating Bronze Age–Classical construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology and phasing of construction episodes
- 02Function in regional settlement hierarchy
Theories
- 01Harbour drowned by co-seismic subsidence vs eustatic rise
- 02Continuity of anchorage location
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1500 BCE–200 CE
- Period
- Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE)
- Culture
- Bronze Age–Classical
- Purpose
- Coastal settlement and harbour now submerged by sea-level change/subsidence
- Rediscovered
- 1999 survey
- Excavation
- Submerged
c. 1500 BCE–200 CE
Initial construction of King's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset main structure
c. 1939
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically
1999–2014
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at King's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
50.6010° N · 2.5210° W · -11 m · 3 mapped features
King's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset — Main Structure
structurePrincipal submerged city — Submerged area 450 × 280 m with diagnostic masonry/panel
50.6018° N · 2.5201° WKing's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset — Ancillary Complex
harbourAncillary harbour mole and anchorage surrounding main feature
50.6000° N · 2.5217° WKing's Harbour Submerged Plane Wreck Dorset — Peripheral Feature
outlierPeripheral feature with outlier deposit and burial
50.6025° N · 2.5198° W