Neolithic village uncovered near Mursalevo, Bulgaria

The remains of 60 large houses - some two storeys high - have been discovered as part of a Neolithic village built 8,000 years. The image above shows the extent of the village, which is currently being excavated by archaeologists in south west Bulgaria.

    

The stereotype of Stone Age men was cave dwelling brutes rather than sophisticated town planners who lived in two-storey houses.

But archaeologists have uncovered the remains of 60 large houses built 8,000 years ago as part of a Neolithic village, in south west Bulgaria.

Thought to be built by farmers, the town has three parallel streets with homes spread over five acres (215,278 square ft or 20,000 square metres).

The village also features a canal, a port for boats and an unusual cemetery.

Excavation of the site, located near the town of Mursalevo, is underway and has so far yielded pottery and jewellery as well as the fascinating buildings.

It came to light as work began on the construction of the Struma Highway - a main road intended to link the Bulgarian capital Sofia, with the Kulata Crossing on the border with Greece.

Archaeologists from the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences have unearthed prehistoric houses that would have stood 26 feet (eight metres) tall with two sloped roofs, Archaeology in Bulgaria reported.

Experts believe that the well-planned town, built between two gullies on the bank of the Struma River and consisting of 60 houses, was home to the earliest European civilisation.

The houses are made of wattle and clay with thin walls of eight inches (20cm) despite some of them being as large as 328 square feet (100 square metres), Professor Vasil Nikolov, lead archaeologist of the excavations told the Bulgarian daily newspaper, Standart.

Some of the 60 buildings had two storeys and stood 26 feet (eight metres) tall, 'which attests to high technological advancements at the time,' he said.

There are three main streets running parallel to each other, linking narrow streets with three to four houses on them, laid out to mirror the path of the sun.

Experts believe that the well-planned town, built between two gullies along the banks of the Struma River, consists of at least 60 houses.

    

The layout is thought to be unique and it's even believed that there was a canal running through the settlement that was used as a port for fishing boats.

In order to build such as well-ordered town, the ancient people living there must have had a strong societal structure and specialist builders and planners.

But there is an unusual and destructive feature to the town too.

The Bulgarian archaeologists have found evidence that some of the houses were deliberately burned down, confirming suspicions of this prehistoric practice, even if they can't explain why it was carried out.

According to Professor Krum Bachvarov, an expert in prehistoric history at the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology, individual homes were raised to the ground at different times.

The researchers found evidence that homes were filled with firewood - a scarce resource in the region - meaning that groups of people would have had to work together to fetch it.

This suggests the burning was possibly ritualistic and must have been deliberately planned in advance.

Interestingly, the practice has helped preserve some of the houses because the heat from fires baked and hardened the clay walls.

The well preserved remains have enabled the archaeologists to build up a detailed picture of what the houses looked like, including their size and placement of beams.

The village was probably built by farmers who worked the land, raised livestock and sometimes went hunting.

The houses are made of wattle and clay with thin walls of eight inches (20cm) despite some of them being as large as 328 square feet (100 square metres). You can see the boundaries of a house in this image

    

It's likely the ancient farmers followed a religion concerned with fertility and there are graves dating to the end of the sixth millennium BC, with one skeleton buried in a foetal position and covered with stones (pictured)

    

It is likely they followed a religion concerned with fertility and there are graves dating to the end of the sixth millennium BC.

In one grave archaeologists discovered a skeleton buried in a foetal position with tools, figurines and ceramic vessels.

An Ancient Thracian sanctuary consisting of 20 burial pits hold the remains of people including three skeletons of children who were victims of Thracian sacrifice between the 5th and 1st century BC.

It is thought the settlement was later home to Slavs in the Late Antiquity and Middle Ages.

Archaeologists intend to dismantle the homes in order to look deeper underground.

A team of more than 130 people - 30 of whom are experts - are working 10 hours a day and at weekends, because the highway has already been held up by the work.

There are plans to modify the route of the road so that an open air museum can be built on the important archaeological site.

The lead archaeologists have been asked by Bulgaria's Ministry of Culture to propose a plan for the site and the remains may be housed under a protective glass canopy.

Those leading the project have also said that they hope to reconstruct some of the homes to their original size.

Some of the buildings stood 26 feet (eight metres) tall, 'which attests to high technological advancements at the time,' one archaeologist said. The remaining stonework from one impressive building is shown above

    

FEATURES OF THE VILLAGE

Location: Near the town of Mursalevo in south west Bulgaria.

Size: The 8,000-year-old settlement was large, spreading over 20 dectares.

Plan: Its plan is unique in the area and it's arranged with three paralell streets and a network of smaller lanes.

Placement of the roads and houses mirror the path of the sun.

There was probably a canal that was used as a port for small boats, as well as a cemetary.

Houses: Some 60 houses have been revealed so far.

Some two-storey homes stood 26 feet (eight metres) tall and had two sloped roofs.

They were built from wattle and clay with thin walls of eight inches (20cm) despite some of them being as large as 328 square feet (100 square metres).

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE INHABITANTS

Archaeologists can only speculate about the daily lives of the farming inhabitants of the village 8,000 years ago.

But there's evidence they deliberately burned individual homes down, perhaps as some sort of sacrifice.

It's likely they followed a religion concerned with fertility and there are graves dating to the end of the sixth millennium BC, with one skeleton buried in a foetal position with tools, figurines and ceramic vessels.

A later addition to the village - a Thracian sanctuary consisting of 20 burial pits - hold the remains of people including three skeletons of children who were victims of Thracian sacrifice between the 5th and 1st century BC.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE TOWN?

Archaeologists intend to dismantle the homes in order to look deeper underground.

A team of more than 130 people - 30 of whom are experts - are working 10 hours a day and at weekends, because the highway has already been held up by the work.

There are plans to modify the route of the road so that an open air museum can be built on the important archaeological site.

The lead archaeologists have been asked by Bulgaria's Ministry of Culture to propose a plan for the site and the remains may be housed under a protective glass canopy.

Archaeologists have said they hope to also reconstruct some of the homes.

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