10,500-Year-Old Wooden Structures Discovered in German Lake Arendsee

Archaeologists have recovered wooden artifacts dating back 10,500 years from the bottom of Lake Arendsee in northern Germany. Divers working at a depth of 20 meters retrieved carved posts and planks preserved by the lake’s unique geological formation. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about Mesolithic settlement patterns in Central Europe.

The Discovery

The team from the State Office for Monument Protection and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt found a 1.6-meter post with clear tool marks, alongside split boards up to 1.3 meters long. While stone tools and animal bones are common finds from this era, wood rarely survives. These artifacts suggest possible structural supports for dwellings or camps. If confirmed as permanent structures, they would predate the earliest known agricultural longhouses in the region by approximately 3,000 years. Until now, evidence of Mesolithic construction was limited to indirect soil discolorations.

Geological Preservation

The exceptional preservation is due to the lake sitting atop a subsurface salt dome. Unlike typical lakes that fill with sediment and become shallower over millennia, groundwater dissolves the salt, causing the rock layers above to collapse. This process creates sinkholes that deepen the lake bed. Historical records note such collapses occurred in 822 AD and 1685. As the bottom sank, ancient shorelines were submerged and sealed under thin sediment layers, protecting the wood from decay.

Implications

Marcel Weiß, project lead, notes that if these are indeed constructed shelters, it rewrites the narrative of hunter-gatherer mobility. It suggests intensive landscape modification before the arrival of farmers around 5500 BCE. Harald Meller emphasizes that this sheds new light on the Middle Stone Age. Future research using high-resolution sonar will aim to map further remains, potentially revealing more of this submerged archive.

Source: Gizmodo Source: Euronews (Español)