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7000 year old structure found near Prague

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  • 7000 year old structure found near Prague

    Originally discovered by construction workers during the 1980s, from roughly 5000 B.C. in Eastern Europe

    Source: The Remains of This Recently Found Ancient Structure Are Even Older Than The Pyramids


    Archaeologists digging near Prague have discovered the remains of a Stone Age structure that's older than Stonehenge and even the Egyptian pyramids: an enigmatic complex known as a roundel.

    Nearly 7,000 years ago during the late Neolithic, or New Stone Age, a local farming community may have gathered in this circular building, although its true purpose is unknown.

    The excavated roundel is large – about 180 feet (55 meters) in diameter, or about as long as the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tall, Radio Prague International reported.



    AerialViewOfAncientRoundelInPrague.jpg
    Aerial view of the Vinoř roundel near Prague, showing three separate entrances


    And while "it is too early to say anything about the people building this roundel", it's clear that they were part of the Stroked Pottery culture, which flourished between 4900 BCE and 4400 BCE, Jaroslav Řídký, a spokesperson for the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IAP) and an expert on the Czech Republic's roundels, told Live Science in an email.

    Miroslav Kraus, director of the roundel excavation in the district of Vinoř on behalf of the IAP, said that revealing the structure could give them a clue about the use of the building.

    Researchers first learned about the Vinoř roundel's existence in the 1980s, when construction workers were laying gas and water pipelines, according to Radio Prague International, but the current dig has revealed the structure's entirety for the first time.

    So far, his team has recovered pottery fragments, animal bones, and stone tools in the ditch fill, according to Řídký.

    Carbon-dating organic remains from this roundel excavation could help the team pinpoint the date of the structure's construction and possibly link it with a Neolithic settlement discovered nearby.

    The people who made Stroked Pottery ware are known for building other roundels in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, Řídký said. Their sedentary farming villages – located at the intersection of contemporary Poland, eastern Germany, and the northern Czech Republic – consisted of several longhouses, which were large, rectangular structures that held 20 to 30 people each.

    But the "knowledge of building of roundels crossed the borders of several archaeological cultures," Řídký noted. "Different communities built roundels across central Europe."

    Roundels were not well-known ancient features until a few decades ago when aerial and drone photography became a key part of the archaeological tool kit.

    But now, archaeologists know that "roundels are the oldest evidence of architecture in the whole of Europe," Řídký told Radio Prague International earlier this year.

    Viewed from above, roundels consist of one or more wide, circular ditches with several gaps that functioned as entrances. The inner part of each roundel was likely lined with wooden poles, perhaps with mud plastering the gaps, according to Radio Prague International.

    Hundreds of these circular earthworks have been found throughout central Europe, but they all date to a span of just two or three centuries. While their popularity in the late Neolithic is clear, their function is still in question.

    In 1991, the earliest known roundel was found in Germany, also corresponding to the Stroked Pottery culture. Called the Goseck Circle, it is 246 feet (75 m) in diameter and had a double wooden palisade and three entrances.

    Because two of the entrances correspond with sunrise and sunset during the winter and summer solstices, one interpretation of the Goseck Circle is that it functioned as an observatory or calendar of sorts, according to a 2012 study in the journal Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association.

    Řídký preferred a more general interpretation of the Vinoř structure, noting that "roundels probably combined several functions, the most important being socio-ritual," he told Live Science.

    It is likely that roundels were built for gatherings of a large number of people, perhaps to commemorate events important to them as a community, such as rites of passage, astronomical phenomena, or economic exchange.

    Given that the people who built roundels had only stone tools to work with, these roundels' sizes are quite impressive – most commonly, about 200 feet (60 m) in diameter, or half the length of a football field.

    But little is known about the people themselves, as very few burials have been found that could provide more information about their lives seven millennia ago.

    After three centuries of popularity, roundels suddenly disappeared from the archaeological record around 4600 BCE. Archaeologists do not yet know why the roundels were abandoned.

    But considering over one-quarter of all roundels found to date are located in the Czech Republic, future research similar to the excavation at Vinoř may eventually help solve the mystery of the roundels.



    Source

    © Copyright Original Source




    neolithicstructureprague3.jpeg
    Artist reconstruction


    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

  • #2
    I like to Google map excavation sites but this one is a bit of a challenge. There are circular areas all over the place in the vicinity.

    vinor.jpg

    Comment


    • #3
      Ancient golf course.
      When I Survey....

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Faber View Post
        Ancient golf course.
        Now that you mention it .... Weird

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Faber View Post
          Ancient golf course.
          First thing I thought of when I saw it.

          I'm always still in trouble again

          "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
          "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
          "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
            First thing I thought of when I saw it.
            I think it must be. I mean, not "ancient" but abandoned. Those circular areas have to be bunkers.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Ronson View Post
              I think it must be. I mean, not "ancient" but abandoned. Those circular areas have to be bunkers.
              The only places I ran across circular bunkers were on a couple of run-down public golf courses. Most are kidney-shaped or irregular.


              Anywho... given their number I wonder if any are connected to the site -- if that's an image from the surrounding area.

              I'm always still in trouble again

              "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
              "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
              "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

              Comment


              • #8
                Caveman Golf Course location

                prague.jpg

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                  The only places I ran across circular bunkers were on a couple of run-down public golf courses. Most are kidney-shaped or irregular.


                  Anywho... given their number I wonder if any are connected to the site -- if that's an image from the surrounding area.
                  Maybe that's why the course was abandoned. Too many unimaginative bunkers.

                  bunkers.jpg

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Ronson View Post

                    Maybe that's why the course was abandoned. Too many unimaginative bunkers.

                    bunkers.jpg
                    That place exists?

                    I'm always still in trouble again

                    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Ronson View Post
                      Caveman Golf Course location

                      prague.jpg
                      b3d6b821-e148-483e-bb8d-43b7b1845454.jpg
                      No Sand Traps back then. Tar Pits.

                      I'm always still in trouble again

                      "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                      "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                      "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                        That place exists?
                        I used to play Tiger Woods wii golf like 10 years ago, and one of the courses (all real courses) had a row of 4 or 5 round bunkers between two fairways. I can't remember which course it was now. It was odd looking.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Ronson View Post
                          I used to play Tiger Woods wii golf like 10 years ago, and one of the courses (all real courses) had a row of 4 or 5 round bunkers between two fairways. I can't remember which course it was now. It was odd looking.
                          I golfed for real off and on but only scored under 90 once or twice. My brother was a scratch golfer (had no handicap). He has two hole in ones (different holes same course -- one with witnesses)

                          For several years I lived alongside a golf course (one of the tees was just past the backyard). It was used for LPGA tournament several times.

                          I'm always still in trouble again

                          "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                          "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                          "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                            I golfed for real off and on but only scored under 90 once or twice. My brother was a scratch golfer (had no handicap). He has two hole in ones (different holes same course -- one with witnesses)

                            For several years I lived alongside a golf course (one of the tees was just past the backyard). It was used for LPGA tournament several times.
                            I only played real golf a couple of times. It seems like one of those pastimes people get hooked on a lot. In California, I had family and friends that got hooked on surfing and skiing. Too much trouble and I'm too lazy. And cheap.

                            But it would be funny if this prehistoric roundel turned out to be an 18th hole on some Flintstones golf course. Make the Scots crazy.
                            Last edited by Ronson; 09-24-2022, 09:35 PM.

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