An incredible discovery made in the Brunickel Cave in southern France could change everything we knew about ancient people.
The Brunickel Cave was discovered in 1990. A recent re-investigation showed that 336 meters from the entrance and within its largest chamber, there are about 400 fragments of stalagmites, located in a certain way.
Pieces of rock formations are laid out in the form of two ovals: one of them is larger - 7 meters by 4 meters, the other a little more than two meters in diameter. There were also 4 scattered heaps of stalagmitic fragments.
The height of the walls is 40 cm. Some stalagmites are placed vertically, in the form of supports.
There are signs on the floor that a fire was being started: burned out dark spots and cracks from heat damage. Bones of wolves and bears were found nearby. Researchers speculate that the circles were for cooking and possibly rituals or some other purpose.
Now, 26 years after the discovery of the cave, scientists have determined that people inhabited it about two thousand years ago. Researchers rule out the possibility of animals creating these structures.
A study published May 25 in the journal Nature cites the date as 176,500 years, making these cave structures some of the earliest known man-made structures in the world.
The dating of these complex structures suggests that ancient human communities appeared much earlier than scientists thought. It is believed that only Neanderthals lived in Europe at that time.
Promotional video:
The structures in the Brunickel Cave, according to the researchers, indicate "a certain degree of social and spatial organization, as well as the use of fire." That is, it exceeds the idea of the possibilities of the people of that period, who mastered the caves as natural shelters from the cold and from animals.