Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – A major underwater discovery has been made off the coast of western France, the place divers have uncovered a wall estimated to be 7,000 years previous beneath the ocean close to the Île de Sein in Brittany. This granite wall, measuring roughly 120 meters in size, was discovered alongside a dozen smaller artifical constructions from the identical period.
The traditional submerged wall close to the Ile de Sein in Brittany, France. Credit score: Hal Open Science
Utilizing morpho-tectonic evaluation of LIDAR knowledge round Sein Island, researchers recognized 11 submerged constructions at appreciable depths. Subsequent dives between 2022 and 2024 confirmed these are human-built options. Some seem like fish weirs—constructions used for trapping fish, whereas others could have served as protecting obstacles in opposition to rising seas. Primarily based on relative sea-level knowledge, scientists estimate that these constructions date to between 5800 and 5300 BCE.
Hyperlinks With Megalithism
These findings are notably notable as a result of they show Mesolithic human presence and superior constructing expertise that predate Brittany’s Neolithic megalithic monuments by about 5 centuries. The power to extract, transport, and erect huge granite blocks signifies a excessive diploma of technical experience and social group amongst maritime hunter-gatherer societies in the course of the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic intervals.
“In Brittany, megalithism seems within the areas the place the final Mesolithic indigenous maritime hunter-gatherers met the Neolithic agropastoral populations arriving from the east. The oldest megalithic constructions in Brittany are the recumbent menhirs of Belz (Morbihan), erected between 5220 and 4440 cal. BCE and the Neolithic stele of Haut-Mée (Ille-et-Vilaine) erected between 5000–4700 cal. BCE. The Saint Michel tumulus and the oldest megaliths within the Carnac space in Morbihan mark the start of Atlantic megalithism round 4700 cal. BCE.
Credit score: Hal Open Science
The query of the origin and begin of megalithism in Brittany is just not clear, nonetheless, the attainable hyperlink with the final hunter-gatherer societies is typically talked about emphasizes that to be able to suggest a connection between megalithism and marine environments, it’s essential to show that the oldest monuments have been situated on the coast of the interval in query. It’s subsequently attainable that submerged proof of a ‘main building interval’ courting from the tip of the Mesolithic interval in Brittany will someday be discovered,” the researchers write of their research.
Some students have recommended that “the primary alignments of standing stones in Brittany could have begun as early as the tip of the Mesolithic interval and that a few of these alignments had features apart from solely symbolic. From this era onwards, the quarries from which the stones got here have been fastidiously chosen, typically situated near the websites.”
In line with Professor Yvan Pailler of the College of Western Brittany, this discovery opens new avenues for underwater archaeology and enhances our understanding of how historical coastal communities have been structured. The location was first recognized in 2017 by retired geologist Yves Fouquet utilizing ocean-floor charts generated utilizing laser know-how.
Hyperlinks With The Legendary Metropolis Of Ys?
The stays now lie 9 meters under the present sea degree, however would have been accessible when sea ranges have been a lot decrease 1000’s of years in the past. Researchers consider that some constructions functioned as fish traps on what was then foreshore land or as defensive partitions in opposition to encroaching waters.
Apparently, this space can also be related to the native legend of the legendary submerged metropolis of Ys, which was stated to be protected by nice sea partitions earlier than being misplaced beneath the waves.
In line with historical legends, the town of Ys was famend as some of the lovely locations in Europe. It’s stated to have been constructed within the 4th century AD by Gradlon Mawr, also called Gradlon the Nice, who was the king of Cornouaille in Southern Brittany, France.
See additionally: Extra Archaeology Information
Most accounts find Ys in Douarnenez Bay. Because it was constructed under sea degree, the town relied on huge sea partitions for cover in opposition to flooding. Entry to its port was managed by a locked gate, and solely King Gradlon had the authority to resolve when it will be opened or closed for fishermen.
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Workers Author
