Thanks to Google Earth images, archaeologists were able to identify more than 100 Bronze Age fortified enclosures in Serbian territory. A finding that calls into question the region’s perceived isolation in the face of the growth experienced by the rest of Europe.
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During the Bronze Age, the Eurasian region experienced tremendous growth, especially thanks to the numerous and intensive commercial exchanges that began to be organized. However, for a long time the Pannonian Plain, which extends over the present-day lands of Romania, Hungary and Serbia, was considered to be excluded from this movement. Reason: Small number of archaeological remains from this period. However, few fortified enclosures were discovered, without making it clear whether the communities who lived in them were connected to the cultural development that the rest of Europe was experiencing at the time.
remains invisible from the ground
However, a new study suggests that this idea of an isolated people would be completely wrong and that, on the contrary, the region may have experienced prosperous development 3,600 years ago. In fact most archaeological sites have remained unnoticed until now. Remains invisible from the ground, but can be clearly identified on satellite images! By examining Google Earth data archaeologists were able to identify more than 100 enclosures on Serbian territory. Not far from each other, these villages would have formed a long chain stretching for 150 kilometers along the Tisza River. These results were published in the journal one more,
Village or simple cattle pens?
Even if traces of these enclosures have been buried over time in the Serbian agricultural landscape, they are still visible on Google Earth images as discreet circles left by ditches built around them. Excavations at these sites confirmed the authenticity of these remains and revealed abundant fragments of pottery, animal remains and numerous objects in particular, which suggest that these sites served as residences for many families. were, and exchange between each small village was intense.
However, this interpretation remains a matter of debate, with some researchers raising the idea that they may actually have been ceremonial centres, or even simple cattle enclosures. New investigations will definitely clarify the nature of these archaeological sites.