|
1/8. (Danish Geodata Agency / Pernille Rohde Sloth) |
Archaeologists have discovered a large enclosure from the Neolithic period near Stevns in Denmark--but the purpose of the site is a mystery.
A series of Stone Age palisade enclosures have been discovered in
Denmark in recent years and archaeologists are still wondering what they
were used for.
One of the latest additions is a huge
construction, discovered by archaeologists from the Museum Southeast
Denmark. The fence dates from the Neolithic period and seems to frame an
oval area of nearly 18,000 square meters.
“It was actually
somewhat overwhelming to experience that it is possible to reveal the
traces of such a huge building from the Neolithic period. There are many
suggestions for what they could’ve been used for, but to put it simply,
we just don’t know,” says archaeologist Pernille Rohde Sloth who leads
the excavation.
What was the space used for?
One of the most remarkable things
about the fencing at Stevns is the way the entrances have been
constructed. The fence is in fact built in five rows that extend
outwards, and the opening in each row appears to be offset from the
others.
Sloth suspects the uneven design was deliberate.
“The
openings don’t seem to sit next to each of the post rows, and we're
slightly amazed by that. But maybe it functioned as a sort of
labyrinth--at least that’s how we imagine it. That way you weren’t able
to look inside the common space, which may have been an advantage,” she
says. [...]
ScienceNordic
Actualización:
Arqueólogos encuentran un gran laberinto neolítico en Dinamarca
El descubrimiento se suma a otros recintos de la Edad de Piedra
hallados recientemente en el país, cuya función continua
siendo un misterio.
Se trata de una enorme estructura originalmente formada por postes de
madera, de forma oval y que abarca una superficie de casi 18.000 metros
cuadrados, situada en la localidad de Stevns, en la costa Este de la isla de Selandia.
Según la arqueóloga que dirige las excavaciones, Pernille Rohde Sloth,
la
experiencia de revelar las huellas de una construcción tan grande del
Neolítico ha sido abrumadora. Tenemos muchas sugerencias de para que
podría haber sido usado, pero simplemente no tenemos ni idea de
su función original.
La estructura estaba formada por cinco hileras concéntricas de
empalizadas, pero con la particularidad de que sus entradas no estaban
alineadas unas con otras, lo cual lleva a los investigadores a pensar
que pudo haber sido una especie de laberinto.
Es más, es posible que deliberadamente se construyera el laberinto
para proteger algo oculto en el recinto. Sin embargo todavía no se ha
hallado nada en su interior, salvo algunos pozos de diferentes tamaños
que contienen herramientas de pedernal, residuos y
fragmentos de cerámica...