Archaeologists find evidence of Europe's oldest lake settlement
The team from Switzerland and Albania, who are working on the shores of Ohrid Lake, believe they have found of an organised hunting and farming community living up to 8,000 years ago.
Spending hours each day about three metres (9.8 feet) underwater, the team is painstakingly retrieving wooden stilts that supported houses, as well as collecting bones of domesticated and wild animals, copper objects and ceramics, featuring detailed carvings.
Albert Hafner, from the University of Bern, said similar settlements have been found in Alpine and Mediterranean regions, but the settlements in the village of Lin are half a millennium older, dating back between 6,000 and 8,000 years.
"Because it is underwater, the organic material is well-preserved, and this allows us to find out what these people have been eating, what they have been planting," Hafner said.
Multiple studies show that Lake Ohrid, shared by North Macedonia and Albania, is the oldest lake in Europe, at over one million years.
The age of the findings is determined through radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology, which measures annual growth rings in trees. More than one thousand wood samples have been collected from the site, which may have hosted several hundred people.
It is believed to cover around six hectares, but so far, only about 1 per cent has been excavated after six years of work.
Hafner said findings show that people who lived on the lake helped to spread agriculture and livestock to other parts of Europe.
"They were still doing hunting and collecting things, but the stable income for nutrition was coming from agriculture," he said.
Albanian archaeologist Adrian Anastasi said it could take decades to fully explore the area.
"(By) the way they had lived, eaten, hunted, fished, and by the way the architecture was used to build their settlement, we can say they were very smart for that time," Anastasi said.
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Stonehenge mystery is SOLVED after 5,000 years – as scientists finally crack how enigmatic boulder was transported from Wales
It's the monument that has baffled scientists for hundreds of years. But now, experts may have finally solved one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries. Researchers have revisited the debate over the origin of the landmark's iconic bluestones – the group of smaller stones that are dotted around the site on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. They focused on a rock known as the Newall boulder, which was uncovered during excavations around a century ago. One of the main debates has been whether this rock – and other similar stones – reached the site after being transported by glaciers from Wales, or whether humans moved them more than 5,000 years ago. A team, led by Professor Richard Bevins from Aberystwyth University, compared the Newall boulder – which is about the size of a football – with samples from a rocky outcrop in Wales. Through geochemical and microscopic analysis, they concluded 'there is no evidence to support the interpretation that it is a glacial erratic'. Instead, the stone is a precise match for the unique characteristics of rocks from Craig Rhos–y–Felin – indicating humans transported the heavy boulder from more than 125 miles (200km) away. There is already evidence of stone quarrying at the site, in north Pembrokeshire, by Neolithic communities around 3000 BCE, they explained. Chemical analysis revealed that the Newall boulder and other fragments found at Stonehenge share identical levels of thorium and zirconium with the stone at Craig Rhos–y–Felin. The researchers said the Newall boulder is a foliated rhyolite and has a surface layer rich in calcium carbonate – the result of its long burial in the chalky soils at Stonehenge. This further reinforces the idea that it was brought here by humans and not glaciers, they said, because glaciers would have left a much more dispersed distribution of similar stones across the region – something that has not been found. The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, also makes an important discovery about another of the buried stones at Stonehenge – Stone 32d. It was previously thought to be a type of rock called a spotted dolerite, but new analysis confirms it is also a foliated rhyolite – like the Newall boulder. Transporting these stones, which can weigh over three tonnes, from Wales to Stonehenge would have been an incredible feat of human logistics. 'Part of the fascination of Stonehenge is that many of its megaliths, in contrast to the large, relatively local sarsens, can be proven to have been sourced from Wales, over 200km to the west,' the researchers wrote. What are the Stonehenge bluestones? The bluestones of Stonehenge are a collection of smaller, distinctive stones that form the inner circle and horseshoe formations within the monument. They are named for the bluish tinge they exhibit when freshly broken or wet, despite not always appearing blue in their current state. These stones are not native to the Salisbury Plain area where Stonehenge is located, and are known to have been sourced from Pembrokeshire in Wales. 'Most archaeologists accept that Neolithic people achieved this remarkable feat, transporting blocks weighing up to 3.5 tonnes. 'There is, however, a contrary view, which proposed that no human effort was involved. 'Rather, it is argued, the Welsh stones were transported by glacial ice long before Stonehenge was built.' One of the main proponents of the glacier theory is geologist Dr Brian John, who has previously insisted that the Newall boulder shows glacial abrasion marks. A prior study of his concludes: 'The boulder was reduced in size and heavily modified during glacial transport, for much of the time on the bed of a glacier. 'It was eventually dumped at some location on, or relatively close to, Salisbury Plain.' As part of the new study, the researchers said these features could also be the result of natural weathering. They also said that even if the rock had been transported by ice in the past, it would not explain why similar fragments are only found at Stonehenge and not anywhere else on the Salisbury Plain. The experts said the minerologies of stone from Craig Rhos–y–Felin (left) are identical to stones from Stonehenge (right), indicating they came from the same source Their findings indicate that Dr John's arguments 'have no basis in evidence', they wrote, adding: 'To present it as fact, rather than as hypothesis, is disingenuous'. 'The presence of Stonehenge itself is the evidence of movement by Neolithic peoples of stones weighing up to as much as 40 tonnes,' they wrote. 'Unless it is argued that all the stones were just lying on the ground ready to be erected where they were to make Stonehenge, the stones must have been moved into position. 'If Neolithic people could move a stone a few tens of metres they could move it tens or hundreds of kilometres. 'It may not have been easy, but it was entirely possible and moving 2–3 tonne bluestones would involve an order of magnitude less effort than moving the sarsens.' While the large sarsen stones were only transported from West Woods in Wiltshire – roughly 32km (20 miles) away – they weighed over 20 tonnes each and stood up to seven metres tall. The famous 'Altar Stone' was even transported from Scotland around 750km (466 miles) away, a study published last year revealed. 'There is no evidence for how they moved these stones,' the researchers wrote, 'but recent indigenous peoples have been transporting stones weighing many tonnes great distances with ropes, wooden sledges and trackways – technologies which would have been available in the Neolithic.' While builders 5,000 years ago normally used whatever materials were at hand for stone circles, Stonehenge is 'exceptional' for being constructed entirely of stones brought from long distances, the team said. Researchers have previously suggested that the site may have had a political as well as a religious purpose, 'a moment of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos'. The new study provides strong evidence of human transport, but the mystery of exactly why Stonehenge was built – and how – is ongoing. The team concluded: 'We reiterate our previous interpretation that the Newall boulder is not a glacial erratic, that there is no evidence of glaciation on the Salisbury Plain, and that the bluestones were transported to Stonehenge by humans and not by ice.' The Stonehenge monument standing today was the final stage of a four part building project that ended 3,500 years ago Stonehenge is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain. The Stonehenge that can be seen today is the final stage that was completed about 3,500 years ago. According to the monument's website, Stonehenge was built in four stages: First stage: The first version of Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC. The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre (3.3 feet) wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms. They form a circle about 86.6 metres (284 feet) in diameter. Excavations revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were likely not made to be used as graves, but as part of a religious ceremony. After this first stage, Stonehenge was abandoned and left untouched for more than 1,000 years. Second stage: The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 years BC, when about 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It's thought that the stones, some of which weigh four tonnes each, were dragged on rollers and sledges to the waters at Milford Haven, where they were loaded onto rafts. They were carried on water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again near Warminster and Wiltshire. The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury. The journey spanned nearly 240 miles, and once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle. During the same period, the original entrance was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. The nearer part of the Avenue, connecting Stonehenge with the River Avon, was built aligned with the midsummer sunrise. Third stage: The third stage of Stonehenge, which took place about 2000 years BC, saw the arrival of the sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), which were larger than the bluestones. They were likely brought from the Marlborough Downs (40 kilometres, or 25 miles, north of Stonehenge). The largest of the sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weighs 50 tonnes, and transportation by water would not have been possible, so it's suspected that they were transported using sledges and ropes. Calculations have shown that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the rollers in front of the sledge. These stones were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels - horizontal supports. Inside the circle, five trilithons - structures consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top as a lintel - were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, which can still be seen today. Final stage: The fourth and final stage took place just after 1500 years BC, when the smaller bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that can be seen today. The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, but these have since been removed or broken up. Some remain as stumps below ground level.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Bats halt research plans at ‘nationally important' Neolithic mound
Plans to cut into a 4,000-year-old mound to allow further research on its history could be stopped by the presence of bats. The Castle Mound, also known as Marlborough Mound, in Wiltshire, is the second largest Neolithic mound in Europe at 62ft high. Marlborough College has applied for planning permission to try to 'enhance its setting' by demolishing school buildings that 'cut into' the west side of it. The aim is to carry out further archaeological research when the buildings are gone – and eventually put a new curved stone-faced revetment in to support the mound. But the presence of bats, which are protected, could halt the project. History and artistic significance In documents to support the application, the college said the mound was a 'nationally important scheduled monument' with significance including its prehistoric use, artistic interest and historic links to the Seymours, the family of Henry VIII's third wife Jane, the mother of Edward VI. The mound has been carbon dated to 2,400BC, and features part of a medieval castle as well as some 17th and 18th-century garden features. Wiltshire council has not yet made a decision on the application. But the council's ecology team has raised concerns that the buildings being earmarked for removal could be a haven for bats. It said in a report: 'The buildings on site appear to have some potential for roosting bats and there are records of bats, including roosting bats, in the local area. 'A preliminary roost assessment report has been submitted. The assessment found the buildings on site to be of moderate and high potential for roosting bats and recommended further surveys are carried out to determine the roosting status of each building and the requirement for mitigation (if any). 'The ecology team should be reconsulted once the results for all the surveys are available. 'Any compensation/mitigation measures required as a result of the surveys must be incorporated into the proposals. 'In carrying out its statutory function, the LPA must be reasonably sure that the proposal will not result in significant adverse effects on protected habitats or species.' The works are intended to enhance the visitor experience of the new Mound Information Centre being completed in the college grounds. The buildings imbedded into the mound include a decommissioned plant room, disused toilet block and a carpentry workshop which all have very little or no heritage value, according to the school. 'A great opportunity for surveys' Its supporting statement to the council said: 'It is proposed to demolish these buildings which partially block the viewing of the Mound as they are either redundant or, in the case of the workshop, relocate the activities to elsewhere in the college. 'By razing these buildings the setting of the Mound will be enhanced with 360 [degree] visibility.' The application stressed that special care will be taken not to dig into the Mound's bank or pull earth away, while green foliage between to Mound and the redundant buildings will be carefully removed. The supporting statement added: 'The demolition work will provide a great opportunity for further archaeological surveys to be carried out and provide more insight into the Mound build-up and its history.' The proposed works will be carried out on behalf of the Marlborough Mound Trust – set up in 2000 with a vision to restore, conserve, preserve and maintain the structure. The Marlborough Mound has been celebrated throughout the history of the college, where former pupils include the Princess of Wales. Wiltshire council is expected to decide on the application in August.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Bats could scupper plans to cut into a 4,000-year-old historic mound to allow further research
An influx of bats could scupper plans for a 4,000-year-old historic mound to be partially demolished for further research. At 62ft high, the Castle Mound, also known as Marlborough Mound, is the second-largest Neolithic mound in Europe. Located in the grounds of Marlborough College, Wiltshire, it is even rumoured to be the burial place of the legendary wizard Merlin. In March, Marlborough College applied for planning permission to try and 'enhance its setting' by demolishing structures that 'cut into' the west side of it. The partial demolition is set to aid further archaeological research, with the ultimate goal of installing a new curved stone-faced revetment to support it. But now, concerns have been raised that the buildings located on the historic site have become 'a haven for bats', generating doubts about whether they should be removed. Wiltshire Council's ecology team said that they submitted a Preliminary Roost Assessment which uncovered that 'the buildings on site are of moderate and high potential for roosting bats'. They added: 'The buildings on site appear to have some potential for roosting bats and there are records of bats, including roosting bats, in the local area. 'The assessment recommends that further surveys are carried out to determine the roosting status of each building and the requirement for mitigation (if any). 'The ecology team should be reconsulted once the results for all the surveys are available.' They added that compensation / mitigation measures must be incorporated into the proposals, with the Local Planning Authority (LPA) needing to be 'reasonably sure that the proposal will not result in significant adverse effects on proposed habitats or species.' In documents published in 2024 to support the application, Marlborough College described the Mound as a 'nationally important scheduled monument' with its significance ranging from its prehistoric use, the artistic interest and the historic links to the Seymour family. Since 2022, with Historic England consent, various works have been carried out on the historic site. These including movement monitoring, felling of mature trees to preserve the embankment stability, a footpath upgrade, planting of hawthorn to footpath edge and new stone retaining walls. The newly proposed works, carried out on behalf of the Marlborough Mound Trust, are set to enable archaeologists to investigate a particular cross-section, while also creating a more 'visually pleasing' monument. It is also hoped that the partial demolition will help to enhance the visitor experience of the new Mound Information Centre being completed in the college grounds. Often celebrated throughout the history of Marlborough College, where the Princess of Wales, went to school, the site has been carbon dated to 2,400BC. It also contains part of a medieval castle and also some 17th and 18th Century garden features. The buildings imbedded into the mound include a decommissioned plant room, disused toilet block and a carpentry workshop which all have 'very little or no heritage value.' The supporting statement added that demolishing the buildings will allow 'the setting of the Mound to be enhanced with 360 degree visibility'. They added: 'It is proposed to demolish these buildings which partially block the viewing of the Mound as they are either redundant or in the case of the workshop relocate the activities to elsewhere in the college. 'The demolition work will provide a great opportunity for further archaeological surveys to be carried out and provide more insight into the Mound build up and its history.' The application insisted that special care will be taken to ensure there is no digging into the Mound's bank or earth pulled away. Green foliage between the Mound and the redundant buildings will also be carefully removed. At present, opportunities to see the mound are limited to certain open days and pre-arrangement. Alongside being located in a school, the limited hours are also due to conservation risks and the spiral path at the top having a limited weight capacity. Wiltshire Council is expected to make a decision on the application in August.
