Stone Age ‘megastructure’ under Baltic Sea sheds light on strategy used by Paleolithic hunters over 10,000 years ago

Archaeologists have identified what may have become of Europe. The oldest man-made megastructureSubmerged 21 meters below the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Mecklenburg, Germany. The structure—dubbed the Blinker Wall—is a continuous low wall made of more than 1,500 granite boulders that runs for about a kilometer. Evidence suggests that it was built by Paleolithic people between 11,700 and 9,900 years ago, probably as an aid for reindeer hunting.

Archaeologists investigating the Gulf of Mecklenburg used submersible equipment, sampling methods, and modeling techniques to reconstruct the ancient lake bed and surrounding landscape. This revealed that Blinkerwall stands on a ridge running from east to west, with a 5 km wide lake basin a few meters below the ridge to the south.

A man-made rather than natural origin for the Blinker Wall was confirmed by an archaeological diving team that photographed parts of the wall. They show that it is made up of 288 huge boulders, which were probably dropped at the site by a glacier, interspersed with 1,673 smaller boulders.

These small stones seem to have been collected from the nearby area, as the area just north of the wall has fewer stones than areas further north. The resulting structure stands just under a meter in height and up to two meters wide, with remarkable regularity throughout its 971-metre length.

A different view

At the time of its construction, the landscapes and seascapes of northwestern Europe were very different from today. The climate began to warm as the cold Pleistocene period ended and the warm Holocene period began. Sea levels were very low, and large glaciers sat on most of them. Fennoscandia.

The land surrounding the Baltic Sea basin was rising rapidly, freeing itself from the weight of retreating glaciers and turning a salty body of water known as the Uldia Sea into the freshwater Lake Anselus. was happening Britain was a peninsula of the European continental landmass, with a vast lowland plain. Known as Doggerland. Stretching from Norfolk to the Netherlands. Herds of reindeer, European bison and wild horses migrated into its sparsely forested landscape.

Culturally, this period is known as Late Upper Paleolithic, is marked by outstanding features in technological innovation by the people living at that time. dogs was reared recently.; The stone has regionally distinct forms. Projectile points; And decorated bone is often used. Antler harpoonas well as specialist hunting strategies used to target migratory prey.

Blinkerwall’s identification now shows that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers were managing their landscape to support their hunting activities beyond what was previously thought.

The construction of walls and other features in the landscape are familiar to us, especially in the context of an earth wall for farming. Both modern and ancient societies that have traditionally subsisted on hunting and gathering wild resources have also been known to modify their environments by building features such as stone walls. They are used for a variety of purposes including fishing, shellfishing and hunting.

The researchers compared the Blinker Wall to other archaeologically documented structures of similar length and construction type Identity in the Middle East, North AmericaCanada and Greenland.

These structures are built for the purpose of game drive hunting. In this strategy, predators use landscape and built features to gain an advantage over their prey by directing its movement to a location where they are more vulnerable to attack by other predators.

Blinker Wall’s similarity to these other structures, and its construction adjacent to a body of water, led to the suggestion that the wall was built for this purpose. The lake may also have been used in this strategy.

Supporting evidence

one Archaeological site from Germany which supports this interpretation. Stillmorelocated just north of Hamburg and dating from the latest time when the Blinkerwall could have been built.

The site is located at the end of a narrow canyon where thousands of reindeer bones—including hunting impact marks, flint marks and even pinewood arrow shafts—were found preserved in ancient lake sediments. Hunting evidence at Stillmore suggests that reindeer were shot with arrows as they were driven down the valley into the lake.

Although there is no archaeological evidence at Stillmore to suggest that people deliberately created or altered the landscape to increase their hunting success, it does show how the land The topography of the landscape was used to the hunters’ advantage. The construction of Blinkerwall provides evidence that Paleolithic people took this level of planning and coordination a step further.

This indicates that they recognized and understood their prey instincts so well that they were able to predict their movements—and when they encountered an artificially created obstacle like a blinker wall. If so, how will they react?

The discovery of this monumental example of hunting architecture is unique in Europe. At most 11,700 years old, it is one of the world’s oldest examples, possibly a precursor to the desert hunting “kite”. Jabal al-Ghadwit Over a thousand years in Jordan.

Blinkerwall adds a new element to our understanding of the highly skilled and specialized hunting strategies developed by people at the end of the last Ice Age—strategies that have been used in diverse landscapes for thousands of years. And the discoveries aren’t likely to stop here.

Mecklenburg Bay has the potential to reveal further archaeological evidence of equal importance. The researchers do not rule out the possibility that another wall or other related features may be found buried beneath the post-prime lake sediments.

If weapons, tools or animal remains are recovered at the site, it will reveal information about the nature and duration of its use and provide great insight into the modern survival strategies of the Paleolithic hunter-gatherers of the Baltic. Will find out.

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