Mysterious 7,000-year-old complex discovered that could have been the centre of a 'religious cult'

With new discoveries happening every day, we keep uncovering the evidence of the humans that lived centuries ago. And a new discovery has yet again come to light, researchers in Prague have stumbled upon a massive rounded structure called a roundel and it’s fascinating.

Massive round architecture

Although the site was uncovered by construction workers in the 1980s as they were digging around it to install water and gas pipelines underground, scientists have just recently uncovered the entire 180 feet (55 meters) of the structure. As reported by Live Science, the structure is called a roundel and dates back by 7000 years, which is even older than the mysterious Stonehenge and the pyramids.

The exact purpose of this late Neolithic monument remains unclear, however, archaeologists suspect that a group of local farmers might have inhabited this area. Accordion to Artnet, Jaroslav Řídký, from the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, said:

Roundels are the oldest evidence of architecture in all of Europe

What is the purpose of roundel?

Although no clear explanation has been stated as to why these structures were built the way they are and what their purpose is, archaeologists have come up with their own theories to justify the structure's existence. They shared that the structure was constructed during the stone age when humans had yet to discover iron, hence they were left with limited tools made of animal bones and stone.

Miroslav Kraus, who was part of the excavation and also supervised it, said:

It could have been used as an economic center, a center of trade. It could also have been a center of some religious cult, where rites of passage or rituals connected to the time of year were performed

Not much has been recorded about the people who built this roundel but researchers suspect that they might have existed from about 4900 B.C.E. to 4400 B.C.E. and were part of the Stroked Pottery culture.

Sources used:

Live Science: 7,000-year-old structure near Prague is older than Stonehenge, Egyptian pyramids

Artnet: Archaeologists Have Uncovered a Mysterious Stone Roundel in Prague That’s Older Than Stonehenge and the Pyramids

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