Scientists have discovered a Stone Age megastructure submerged in the Baltic Sea

Enlarge / Chart reconstruction of A Rock Age wall as he can has been used: as A hunting structure In A glacial landscape. Michael Grabowski

In 2021, Jacob Geersen, A geophysicist with THE Leibniz Institute For Baltic Sea Research In THE German port city of Warnemünde, took her students on A training exercise along THE Baltic side. They used A multibeam sonar system has map THE seabed about 6.2 kilometers (ten kilometers) off the coast. Analyzing THE resulting pictures back In THE laboratory, Geersen REMARK A odd structure that did not seem as he would be to have occurred naturally.

Further investigation directed has THE conclusion that This was A artificial megastructure built a few 11,000 years There is has channel reindeer herds as A hunting strategy. Double THE "Flashing wall", It is enough maybe THE the oldest such megastructure Again discovered, according to has A new paper published In THE Procedure of THE National Academy of Science, although precisely dating these types of archaeological constructions East notoriously difficult.

As previously reported, during THE 1920s, air photographs revealed THE presence of big kite-shaped rock wall mega-structures In deserts In Asia And THE Medium East that most archaeologists believe were used has herd And trap savage animals. More that 6,000 of these "desert kites" to have has been identified as of 2018, although very little to have has been search. Last year, archaeologists find two rock engravings - one In Jordan, THE other In Saudi Arabia - that they believe represent THE the oldest architectural plans For these desert kites.

However, these types of megastructures are almost unknown In Europe, according to has Geersen And al., because they simply doesn't survive THE which follows millennia. But THE Baltic Sea basins, which to integrate THE Bay of Mecklenburg Or Geersen do her important Discovery, are known has port A dense population of overwhelmed archaeological sites that are remarkably well preserved, like THE Flashing wall.

Enlarge / Morphology of THE southwest-northeast tendency Crete that hosts THE Flashing wall And THE adjacent mound. J. Geersen And al., 2024

After they First of all spotted THE submarine wall, Geeren enlisted several colleagues has lower A camera down has THE structure. THE pictures revealed A neat row of rocks forming A wall below 1 metre (3.2 feet) In height. There are ten big rocks weighing several tons, space has intervals, And connected by more that 1,600 smaller rocks (less that 100 kilograms Or 220 pound sterling). "Generally, THE ten the heaviest rocks are all located In Regions Or THE stone wall changes East strike direction," THE authors wrote. THE length of THE wall East 971 meters (A little on half A mile).

They concluded that THE wall doesn't form through natural process as A moving glacier Or A tsunami, especially given THE careful placement of THE bigger rocks everywhere that THE wall zigzags Or zag. He East more likely THE structure East artificial And built on 10,000 years There is, although THE lack of other archaeological evidence as rock tools Or other artifacts makes dating THE site difficult. They reasoned that Before SO, THE region would be to have has been covered In A leaf of ice. THE immediate surroundings would be to have had a lot of rocks laid a B...