Beringia's lost world reveals how mammoths and humans crossed continents

A lost world lies hidden beneath the Bering Sea, where ancient rivers, fossilised plants, and traces of long-extinct animals still mark the landscape. This submerged land, once known as Beringia, formed a vast bridge between Siberia and Alaska during the last Ice Age. Now, scientists are uncovering its secrets—revealing how humans, mammoths, and predators crossed into new continents before the rising seas swallowed the land forever.

Around 20,000 years ago, the Bering Land Bridge stretched nearly 1,000 miles wide, linking what is now Russia and North America. The region was no barren wasteland but a thriving ecosystem of grasses, shrubs, and winding rivers. Herds of woolly mammoths, bison, and even saber-toothed cats roamed the plains, while early humans trekked across the land, eventually settling two vast continents.

The first people arrived in North America by following these ancient routes. Indigenous communities in Alaska and Siberia still share oral traditions of a time when families and hunters walked freely between the two lands. But as the Ice Age ended, the world warmed, and melting glaciers sent sea levels climbing by roughly 120 metres.

The change was slow but unstoppable. By 10,000 to 11,000 years ago, the land bridge vanished beneath the waves, reshaping coastlines and forcing animals and people to adapt or disappear. Today, the Bering Sea covers what was once dry ground, its depths hiding riverbeds, valleys, and the bones of creatures that once dominated the landscape. Whales, seals, and fish now swim where mammoths once walked.

The submerged remains of Beringia offer a rare glimpse into Earth's past, preserving a landscape frozen in time. Yet climate change now threatens both these ancient traces and the modern marine life that thrives above them. As the sea continues to shift, the legacy of this lost land—and the stories it holds—faces an uncertain future.