Ohrid history mystery: archaeologists dive into an Albanian lake to study neolithic homes

Dating back 8,000 years, the homes built on stilts could be the oldest lakeside settlement ever found in Europe.

Transcript

00:00 It could be the oldest lakeside village in Europe and it's been found beneath the blue

00:06 waters of Albania's Lake Orid, known as the Pern of the Balkans.

00:12 Archaeologists diving into the lake have discovered the remains of a settlement built on stilts,

00:16 a community that dates back 8,000 years.

00:20 Radiocarbon tests date it to between 6,000 and 5,800 BC.

00:25 "It's a more complex, more sophisticated, more advanced development, which should explain

00:32 why people chose this type of architecture."

00:39 One hypothesis is that the people who built the settlement wanted to protect themselves.

00:43 During one of the many dives, archaeologists found evidence suggesting thousands of wooden

00:47 spikes were used as defensive barricades.

00:50 It could take archaeologists decades of study to find out just what filled those Neolithic

00:54 home builders with such fear and dread.

00:57 [Whoosh]