Ancient ‘megastructure’ submerged under the sea discovered by archaeologists

Historians and archaeologists know that human civilisations have existed for thousands of years before us, and their latest discovery is a huge step forward.

Scientists now believe they have found a groundbreaking discovery with an ancient 'megastructure' that is thought to date back 11,000 years.

A stonewall found beneath the Baltic Sea is thought to have unlocked secrets of the Stone Age, and researchers believe they may have once used the wall for hunting reindeers.

The 'Blinkerwall' is over 11,000 years old. (The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

Archaeologists explained their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, having made their discovery in the surface of the Bay of Mecklenburg, on the northern coast of Germany.

The area is known for historical discoveries, and people in the Stone Age are thought to have settled in the area on and off due to the sea's high and low rising tides.

The one kilometer-long wall, which has been named Blinkerwall, was first uncovered in 2021 as scientists scanned the sea floor using sound waves.

They next sent down an autonomous underwater vehicle and archeological divers to find out more and map out a 3D plan of the discovery.

On further investigations, they realised the wall wasn't small and actually was made of around 1,600 stones, some heavier than 100 kilograms. Studying the way it was put together and how heavy the stones are, archaeologists don't think the wall can have been built by natural flooding but by Stone Age humans.

Lead author Jacob Geersen explained in a statement: "Our investigations indicate that a natural origin of the underwater stone wall as well as a construction in modern times, for instance, in connection with submarine cable laying or stone harvesting are not very likely."

The discovery was in the Baltic Sea, where many other historical finds have been uncovered. (The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

Further investigations by the team have seen them date the wall to being built between 11,700 and 11,000 years ago.

Co-author Marcel Bradtmöller, from the University of Rostock, added: "The wall was probably used to guide the reindeer into a bottleneck between the adjacent lakeshore and the wall, or even into the lake, where the Stone Age hunters could kill them more easily with their weapons."

The team also think there could be a second wall running parallel, and they believe it would have acted like a funnel towards the lake where hunters in boats would have waited.

The team plan to send more divers to the site to see if they can discover more about the area and the Stone Age activities. They also plan to use more advanced dating techniques to figure out a precise date for when the wall was built.