Now, however, archaeologists from University College Dublin, along with colleagues from Serbia and Slovenia, have used satellite images and aerial photographs to uncover a network of more than 100 previously hidden Bronze Age sites across the Serbian plain.
Complex society
This discovery suggests that these structures were part of a complex society with an extensive network of communities that was part of a thriving continental trade around 3,600 years ago. In addition, it is believed that these newly identified settlements could shed light on the origins of the megafortresses of the same period, the largest prehistoric structures before the Iron Age.
“Some of the largest archaeological sites that we call megafortresses have been known for years, such as Gradište Iđoš, Csanádpalota, Sântana or the incredible Corneşti Iarcuri, surrounded by 33 kilometers of moats and surpassing in size the contemporary citadels and fortifications of the Hittites, Mycenaeans or Egyptians,” Molloy, lead author of the study published in the journal Plos One, said in a statement.
“What is new, however, is the discovery that these vast sites were not isolated, but part of a dense network of closely connected and interdependent communities. At its peak, this network of subPannonian localities must have tens of thousands of inhabitants,” the expert added.
The study details how archaeologists first identified these enclosures in 2015 by examining images from Google Earth. The text highlights the uniqueness of obtaining such a comprehensive level of detail about the distribution and organization of these settlements in a given area.