Scientists Discover 'Unprecedented' Ancient Monument in France
They outlined the discovery on the French-language site Inrap.
That is the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.
"The archaeologists of the Inrap conducted an excavation in Marliens, about 20 kilometers east of Dijon, before the extension of a gravel (Eqiom) in the valley of the Ouh, a tributary of the Saône," the site wrote in a lengthy statement that included photos.
They described the finding as one-of-a-kind, writing, 'This type of monument seems unprecedented and currently no comparison has been possible."
According to Popular Mechanics, the scientists found a "never-seen-before mix of enclosures," and a site that "was in use across at least three distinct time periods."
The Inrap article says the monument might have been linked to burials, but the archaeologists are doing more work to confirm that.
"The only artifacts discovered in the ditches correspond to cut flints that would suggest a chrono-culture attribution to the Neolithic period," the researchers wrote.
They excavated three areas and made discoveries of settlements "from the Neolithic to the first Iron Age."
The oldest settlement was "characterized by a monument consisting of three nested enclosures...At the centre of the monument was a circular enclosure 11 m in diameter. To the north, an 8 m long horseshoe-shaped enclosure paired with the circular enclosure and the south, an open enclosure that dents the central enclosure," they wrote.
"The presence of a layer of gravel, observed in the filling of the two lateral enclosures, testifies to the existence of a palisade. The various stratigraphic sections produced indicate that the three enclosures are contemporary," they added.
The statement notes, "Traces of 'iron oxide' have been observed on one of the cuffs corresponding to pyrite, which is essential for lighting a fire. This series of objects most often accompanies a burial, however, due to its stratigraphic position at the base of the ploughing, this hypothesis could not be confirmed."Scientists Discover 'Unprecedented' Ancient Monument in France first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 10, 2025
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