Seven years ago, a team of divers discovered in northern Europe, off the coast of southern Sweden, a series of stationary fish traps that appeared to be very old. Since then, geologists from the University of Lund (Sweden) have been investigating the area relentlessly, discovering underwater an exceptionally well-preserved Stone Age site where they believe Mesolithic (pre-Neolithic) humans lived around to a lake during some seasons of the year.
The Stone Age settlement is located off the coast of the Baltic Sea in Haväng, southwest Sweden and, after years of underwater archeology, experts have found at the semi-permanent site a 9,000-pound ax years old, as well as evidence of mass fishing.
“As geologists, we want to recreate this area and understand what it looked like. Was it hot or cold? How did the environment change over time? ”Says Anton Hansson, a doctoral student in quaternary geology at Lund University and a leader of the research.
Experts argue that it s sediment organic have abundant remains of wood and archaeological artifacts are spread over 3 kilometers of coastline, at depths of at the least 20 meters below the current level of the sea, which has favored its preservation. Scientists have drilled into the seafloor – and examined diatoms and pollen – to date the nucleus with radiocarbon. They have also obtained a bathymetric map that reveals depth variations.
“ This exceptionally well-preserved material evidences a lagoon environment surrounded by a pine-dominated forest, which was inhabited by Mesolithic humans during two lower phases of the Baltic Basin, from the Yoldia Sea stage to the initial Littorina Sea stage 11,700- 8,000 years) ”, the authors explain.
The stationary fishing equipment found is made of hazelnut wood and there are barriers, bars, poles and fences. In total, 8 fishing buildings have been found in Haväng, and two of these buildings have been dated to 9,200-8,400 years.
“ These fishing structures are the oldest known of their kind in Northern Europe, and demonstrate the exploitation of riparian fish in Haväng. If we want to understand how human beings dispersed from Africa and their way of life, we also have to find all their settlements, and some are under water, since the sea level is higher today than during the last ice age. Humans have always preferred coastal sites, ”concludes Hansson.
The discovery has been published in the journal Quaternary International.
Image credit: Arne Sjöström
