A kilometre-long stone wall has recently been discovered in the Baltic Sea near Germany. Archaeologists believe that the wall, built in the Stone Age, is the oldest man-made structure in Europe.

In February 2024, the Guardian reported that some students went to a place 10km from the Bay of Mecklenburg or the Mecklenburg Bay or Mecklenburg Bight (a long narrow basin making up the southwestern finger-like arm of the Baltic Sea, between the shores of Germany to the south and the Danish islands of Lolland, Falster and Møn to the north, the shores of Jutland to the west, and joining the largest part of the Baltic to the east) on an educational trip. Some scientists were accompanying those students. They discovered the wall while observing some other things under the sea. According to scientists, the height of this wall, made of 1,673 stones, is less than one metre, and the length is 971 metres. They have claimed that Stone Age people used about 300 large boulders and 1,500 small rocks to construct the wall.

The size and weight of those rocks have amazed the scientists. There were no machines when the wall was built. Hence, how people built the wall with those rocks remains a mystery. Scientists are convinced by the size and structure of the wall that it was not made by natural means. Neither tsunamis nor glaciers formed this wall. Glaciers often accumulate sediments and create reefs under the sea. During a tsunami, sand and silt are washed away with the waves and deposited in the seabed. They, too, can create a wall. However, the Baltic Sea wall was not built that way. This is a man-made one.

Researchers are of the opinion that the wall was built on the edge of a lake about 10,000 years ago mainly to hunt reindeers. In fact, Stone Age people used this wall as a trap. There was another wall near this huge one. Researchers believe that the second wall is buried under the sediments. People used to hunt reindeers with bows and arrows when the animals crossed the second wall. The reindeers could not run away because of that huge wall.

After examining that wall, researchers came to know that it sank under the sea about 8,500 years ago due to the rise in sea level. The discovery has helped them to get an idea about human lifestyle in the Stone Age. They are surprised to know about techniques of hunting 10,000 years ago, as well as the advanced thought process of people at that time. Now, researchers are trying to find animal bones around that wall in order to collect more evidence in support of their claims.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das