Europe's oldest prehistoric town unearthed in Bulgaria

Archaeologists in Bulgaria say they have uncovered the oldest prehistoric town found to date in Europe.

They found a small walled settlement, with two story houses. It isn't exactly a town as we currently think of them, but how they would have looked 6,000 years ago.

Apparently the walls were very big, and thick, and is unprecedented for a settlement in this part of the world in this time period.

The recent gold hoard found may be related to this find. They made salt brickes by evaporating the water of a salt water stream nearby, and then traded this salt

Europe's oldest prehistoric town unearthed in Bulgaria

pic source

For its age it looks quite complex and still a lot more hidden under the mound.
Do you know how much gold was found? couldn't see any mention of value in report you linked too.

Archaeologists believe that the town was home to some 350 people and dates back to between 4700 and 4200 BC.

350 people is indeed a nice sized town.

Would have its own form of Govt., maybe a small clinic of some sort and most likely with the salt production the gold could have been the co-operative bank account.

Well, either that or it was run by a few and the bank account belonged to those few as well.

Nice find.

Peace

reply to post by VoidHawk


I looked and could not find the value. It was discovered in Bulgaria in 1972 I believe, and is thought to be over 6,000 years old.

reply to post by VoidHawk


from that picture my mind instantly thought "pyramid"
and you can see the inside compartments from where the structure has crumbled over time
just a thought
cool find

reply to post by GezinhoKiko


No, not a pyramid. Just a very cool structure.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04


i know this!
thats why i said it was just a "thought" from my initial viewing of the pic
im not disputing what the experts say

reply to post by GezinhoKiko


Ok, I love the imagination so I completely support your using it! I am just tired of everyone saying everyting is a pyramid! I wish I could see what the place looked like when it was occupied.

reply to post by jude11



6000 years ago, it could be entirely possible that the axiom of "might makes right" was the governmental approach of the day. And this could have just been a slave labor camp for salt production.

It would be extremely interesting to have insights into how various operations were governed in the distant antiquity of our beginning civilizations.

Exlent find and also keen to know about the gold and what form the gold was in, lsol

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by jude11

 

6000 years ago, it could be entirely possible that the axiom of "might makes right" was the governmental approach of the day. And this could have just been a slave labor camp for salt production.

It would be extremely interesting to have insights into how various operations were governed in the distant antiquity of our beginning civilizations.

Interesting points, but I think not. This was probably the grandest city in the entire area in its day, hardly the type of place you expect built for slaves. Were there slaves there? Maybe. Was there a nearby camp where slaves lived? More likely. Sort of like seeing the Great Wall of China and thinking it was meant to keep slaves from running away. If it's impressive, it's probably not meant for slaves.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04



2 foot thick walls ARE impressive. Especially when you want to keep people in.

Then again, if we follow your namesake, you would likely be right.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Now you have me wondering. We build structures for both purposes, to keep people out, or to keep people in. What is the first instance of people building walls to keep people in? I don't think they understood that concept back then.

Cool story,Occumsrazor.

And pretty impressive on how sophisticated the little "village" was.

Maybe they had the tall walls to keep the really big critters out.
That's what I would do if I was being stalked by bears and such.

Then throw a few salt bricks around for them to lick on ,then just pick them off one by one.

reply to post by kdog1982


I imagine with salt being such a high priced commodity back then they were a very likely target for raiders, for both the salt and the wealth they had accumulated. Even back then it appears most people didn't want to work for things and wanted it handed to them

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04
reply to post by kdog1982

 

I imagine with salt being such a high priced commodity back then they were a very likely target for raiders, for both the salt and the wealth they had accumulated. Even back then it appears most people didn't want to work for things and wanted it handed to them

Seems like it will be our eventual demise .

BTW,why was it covered by a mound of dirt?

Most digs I have seen ,well,the dirt is evenly distributed.
It looks like it was purposely covered up.

reply to post by kdog1982


Good question, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the walls? So as the dirt piled up it eventually formed a mound shape. Maybe one of the resident experts will chime in with the answer.

Where did all of that dirt on top of it come from?

Bulgaria must have had a few used up soil "dust bowl" centuries.

That's what makes vampires.

This was the gold found at Varna 35km away;



www.omda.bg...

coughPROMETHEUScough

This is great stuff! Huge gold hoard nearby.. love it when things come together like this!