An international team of archaeologists has discovered a previously unknown network of massive objects in Europe. According to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the discovery may explain the appearance in this part of the world of Bronze Age megaforts – the largest prehistoric structures that were built before the Iron Age.
Scientists analysed satellite images and aerial photography to reconstruct the prehistoric landscape of the southern Carpathian Basin in Central Europe. More than a hundred megastructures have been discovered that were used as defences and were probably the predecessors of Europe’s famous Bronze Age hillforts.
According to the scientists, some of these sites, called megaforts, have been known for several years, such as Gradište Idoš, Chanadpalota, Santana and Kornesti Jarkuri, surrounded by 33-kilometre-long ditches. The discovery indicates that these settlements did not stand in isolation, but were part of a dense network of closely interdependent communities called the Tisza Site Group (TSG).
