Archaeologists discover ancient monument 'unlike anything they have seen before'

Archaeologists working in France have discovered a site that could upend what we know about parts of early human history.

The team from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) was working on an area near Marliens, which sits about 20 kilometers away from Dijon, when they discovered a pretty astounding set of structures.

Buried in the ground, they found the remains of settlements that might have come from the Neolithic Age (which spanned around 10000BC to 2200BC), as well as evidence of later settlements from the Iron Age (roughly 1200BC to 550BC).

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Amazingly, the very oldest ruins they detected are the most interesting, as they seem to be a very large connected set of structures.

The ruin is almost in the shape of the number eight, but with an extra hook out from it, and comprises one central circular area, a horseshoe-like appendage to it, and then an open loop on the other side.

That central area is around 11 meters across, so it's quite a sizeable structure, whatever it was.

It's believed at this stage that all three parts are from the same time period, though, and a layer of gravel found at one side suggests there was a fence to enclose the whole thing.

And the team hasn't held back its excitement, calling it an "unprecedented" discovery.

This means that there will be plenty of more work to do before strong theories about what the compound actually was can be conjured up.

The structure wasn't all the team found, as it also unearthed bundles of smaller artefacts, including seven flint arrowheads, two bracers for archers, a flint lighter, and a copper alloy dagger.

That dagger will be quite important, apparently, as it could help the team learn about commercial exchanges from its time.

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While this sort of bundle of goods often would be found in burial chambers and near the sites of burials, it's apparently too early to make confident assertions about this.

Regardless, though, it looks like this is a major new site of interest, and it's perfectly possible that it'll yield more discoveries as time passes.

Bronze Age wells have also been discovered in the vicinity, along with a cemetery filled with burial urns from the Iron Age.

So, if you're a fan of archaeology, it might be time to start paying attention to Marliens.