“This finding reshapes our understanding of early human societies,” the researchers said.
The oldest fortress in the world was discovered by archaeologists in Siberia.
Specifically, as the daily mail reports, the discovery was made in a remote area of Siberia. It is the 8,000-year-old fortress “Amnya I and II” which is believed to be the oldest fortified settlement in the world, which could make historians to reassess how societies evolved.
The fort is located on a sandy area next to the Amnya River, which suggests that the site was chosen by hunter-gatherers so that they could fish.
Archaeologists discovered that the site had been burned several times and also found arrowheads indicating incidents of violent conflict in the region.
Wooden fences indicating a fortified inner area were also found during the excavation of the site – from 1987 to 2000 – identified as Amnya I, while 10 huts were discovered outside the fort, a fact which possibly indicates a hierarchical structure in the area identified as Amnya II.
Construction features such as central raised fireplaces indicated that the structures were long-lived dwellings, contrary to the belief that permanent settlements and defensive structures appeared only in agricultural societies.
In their study, the authors at the Freie Universität Berlin state that the Amnya fort was built “many centuries before similar enclosures first appeared in Europe,” adding that although ancient hunter-gatherer groups built defenses around the world, “the very early onset of this phenomenon in the western Siberian hinterland is unparalleled”.
The daily mail notes that researchers and archaeologists assumed that competition and conflict did not exist in hunter-gatherer societies.
However, using radiocarbon dating on samples collected, archaeologists could confirm “the prehistoric age of the site” and establish it “as the world’s oldest known fortress”.
“This finding reshapes our understanding of early human societies”
“Through detailed archaeological examinations at Amnya, we collected samples for radiocarbon dating, confirming the prehistoric age of the site and establishing it as the oldest known fortress in the world. The people of West Siberia followed a sophisticated lifestyle based on the abundant resources of the taiga environment,” said a press release from Freie Universität Berlin.
“This finding reshapes our understanding of early human societieschallenging the idea that only with the advent of agriculture would humans have begun to build permanent settlements with monumental architecture and develop complex social structures,” he added.
Archaeologists also uncovered approx 45 pottery vessels at the site of Amnya with pointed and flat forms.
*The scientific publication
Source :Skai
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