Archaeologists say they have discovered an “unprecedented” monument in France.<\/p>\n
They outlined the discovery on the French-language site Inrap.<\/a><\/p>\n That is the\u00a0French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.<\/p>\n “The archaeologists of the Inrap conducted an excavation in Marliens, about 20 kilometers east of Dijon, before the extension of a gravel (Eqiom) in the valley of the Ouh, a tributary of the Sa\u00f4ne,” the site wrote in a lengthy statement that included photos.<\/p>\n They described the finding as one-of-a-kind, writing,\u00a0\u201cThis type of monument seems unprecedented and currently no comparison has been possible.”<\/p>\n According to Popular Mechanics<\/a>, the scientists found a “never-seen-before mix of enclosures,” and a site that “was in use across at least three distinct time periods.”<\/p>\n The Inrap article says the monument might have been linked to burials, but the archaeologists are doing more work to confirm that.<\/p>\n “The only artifacts discovered in the ditches correspond to cut flints that would suggest a chrono-culture attribution to the Neolithic period,” the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n They excavated three areas and made discoveries of settlements “from the Neolithic to the first Iron Age.”<\/p>\n The oldest settlement was “characterized by a monument consisting of three nested enclosures…At the centre of the monument was a circular enclosure 11 m in diameter. To the north, an 8 m long horseshoe-shaped enclosure paired with the circular enclosure and the south, an open enclosure that dents the central enclosure,” they wrote.<\/p>\n “The presence of a layer of gravel, observed in the filling of the two lateral enclosures, testifies to the existence of a palisade. The various stratigraphic sections produced indicate that the three enclosures are contemporary,” they added.<\/p>\n The statement notes, “Traces of ‘iron oxide’ have been observed on one of the cuffs corresponding to pyrite, which is essential for lighting a fire. This series of objects most often accompanies a burial, however, due to its stratigraphic position at the base of the ploughing, this hypothesis could not be confirmed.”<\/p>\n Related: Major Count Dracula Finding Rewrites History<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n