Tag: Neolithic

  • 8,500-year-old human bones discovered in Istanbul

    8,500-year-old human bones discovered in Istanbul

    ISTANBUL, Jan. 10 — Human bones from the Neolithic period have been discovered in Pendik district of Turkish city Istanbul, local daily Radikal reported Thursday.

    marmaray-pendik

    The excavation, directed by the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, unearthed the human bones at a spot about 50 meters away form the coast, where a village was located 8,500 years ago, according to the report.

    Besides the graves where the human bones lay, cesspools and house bases, together with personal belongings like needles and spoons, pebble stones and terra cotta from the Byzantium period, were also discovered.

    Large amounts of seashells found in the cesspools are reportedly a sign of the consumption of seafood by the most ancient natives of Istanbul during the Neolithic period. The shells were also used as tools that enable the permeability, according to experts.

    The archeological discovery was made during the construction of a railway on the Yenikapi-Pendik line.

    Archeologists are now trying to discover the relation between the Yenikapi and Pendik inhabitants.

    via 8,500-year-old human bones discovered in Istanbul – NZweek.

  • The massive European network of Stone Age tunnels that weaves from Scotland to Turkey

    Going underground: The massive European network of Stone Age tunnels that weaves from Scotland to Turkey

    Evidence of tunnels has been found under hundreds of Neolithic settlements

    That so many tunnels have survived after 12,000 years shows that the original network must have been enormous

    By Daily Mail Reporter

    Stone Age man created a massive network of underground tunnels criss-crossing Europe from Scotland to Turkey, a new book on the ancient superhighways has claimed.

    German archaeologist Dr Heinrich Kusch said evidence of the tunnels has been found under hundreds of Neolithic settlements all over the continent.

    In his book – Secrets Of The Underground Door To An Ancient World – he claims the fact that so many have survived after 12,000 years shows that the original tunnel network must have been enormous.

    Evidence of Stone Age tunnels has been found under hundreds of Neolithic settlements all over Europe – the fact that so many have survived after 12,000 years shows the original tunnel network must have been huge

    ‘In Bavaria in Germany alone we have found 700metres of these underground tunnel networks. In Styria in Austria we have found 350metres,’ he said.

    ‘Across Europe there were thousands of them – from the north in Scotland down to the Mediterranean.

    ‘Most are not much larger than big wormholes – just 70cm wide – just wide enough for a person to wriggle along but nothing else.

    ‘They are interspersed with nooks, at some places it’s larger and there is seating, or storage chambers and rooms.

    ‘They do not all link up but taken together it is a massive underground network.’

    Not for the claustrophobic: Most of the tunnels are just 70cm wide – just wide enough for a person to slowly wriggle through

    Some experts believe the network was a way of protecting man from predators while others believe that some of the linked tunnels were used like motorways are today, for people to travel safely regardless of wars or violence or even weather above ground.

    The book notes that chapels were often built by the entrances perhaps because the Church were afraid of the heathen legacy the tunnels might have represented, and wanted to negate their influence.

    In some cases writings have been discovered referring to the tunnels seen as a gateway to the underworld.

    via The massive European network of Stone Age tunnels that weaves from Scotland to Turkey | Mail Online.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2022322/The-massive-European-network-Stone-Age-tunnels-weaves-Scotland-Turkey.html