欧州最古級の高床式集落か　周囲は要塞化　アルバニア

【リン（アルバニア）ＡＦＰ＝時事】「バルカン半島の真珠」と称されるオフリド湖で、欧州最古級の可能性がある高床式住居の集落が発見された。周囲は、くいの突き出た板で防御され、要塞（ようさい）化されていたとみられる。（写真はアルバニア南東部にあるオフリド湖で考古資料を探すダイバーたち）
　放射性炭素年代測定によって、この遺跡は紀元前６０００～５８００年のものと判明した。欧州の湖畔でこれまで見つかった集落遺跡としては最古だという。
　スイス・ベルン大学の考古学者アルベルト・ハフナー教授は「これまでに知られている地中海やアルプス地方の湖畔の集落遺跡より数百年古い。われわれの知る限り欧州最古だ」とＡＦＰに語った。
　この集落には２００～５００人が住んでいたと考えられている。高床式住居は湖面の上や、定期的に増水する場所に建てられていた。
　■要塞化
　さらに驚くことに最近の潜水調査で、この集落が無数のくいが付いた板をバリケードとして使い、要塞化されていたことを示唆する証拠が発見された。「彼らは自己防衛するために森を伐採する必要があった」とハフナー氏は言う。
　しかし、村人たちがなぜ大規模な要塞を築く必要があったのかという謎については、今も考古学者たちが答えを探している。
　オフリド湖のアルバニア側にある村リンの沖合の湖底には、約１０万本のくいが沈んでいると推定される。ハフナー氏はこの発見を「研究にとって真の宝の山」と呼んでいる。
　■「スイス時計のように正確」
　考古学者たちはプロダイバーの支援を受けて湖底を探索し、これまで化石化した木片や貴重なオーク材のかけらを発見してきた。
　樹木の年輪を分析すれば、日常生活を再現し、当時の気候や環境条件について「貴重な洞察」が得られるとアルバニアの考古学者アドリアン・アナスタシ氏はいう。「オークはスイス時計のように非常に正確で、カレンダーのようなものだ」
　「先史時代の遺跡を傷つけることなく、その構造を理解するために、私たちは非常に慎重にゆっくり調査を進めている」
　同氏は「高床式住居の建築は、複雑な作業で非常に難しい。この集落の住民がなぜそれを選択したのか、理解することが重要だ」とも述べた。
　遺跡からさまざまな種子や植物、野生動物や家畜の骨が見つかっていることから、食料は耕作と家畜に依存していたと仮定できるという。しかし発掘調査や分析を完了し、最終的な結論を出せるまでにはさらに２０年はかかる見込みだ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/08/25-16:43）

Beneath the turquoise waters of Lake Ohrid, the Pearl of the Balkans, scientists have uncovered what may be one of Europe's earliest sedentary communities, and are trying to solve the mystery of why it sheltered behind a fortress of defensive spikes.
A stretch of the Albanian shore of the lake once hosted a settlement of stilt houses some 8,000 years ago, archaeologists believe, making it the oldest lakeside village in Europe discovered to date.
Radiocarbon dating from the site puts it at between 6000 and 5800 BC.
It is several hundred years older than previously known lake-dwelling sites in the Mediterranean and Alpine regions, said Albert Hafner, a professor of archaeology from Switzerland's University of Bern.
To our knowledge, it is the oldest in Europe, he told AFP.
The most ancient other such villages were discovered in the Italian Alps and date to around 5000 BC, said the expert in European Neolithic lake dwellings.
Hafner and his team of Swiss and Albanian archaeologists have spent the past four years carrying out excavations at Lin on the Albanian side of Lake Ohrid, which straddles the mountainous border of North Macedonia and Albania.
The settlement is believed to have been home to between 200 and 500, with houses built on stilts above the lake's surface or in areas regularly flooded by rising waters.
- Fortress of spikes -
And it is slowly revealing some astonishing secrets.
During a recent dive, archaeologists uncovered evidence suggesting the settlement was fortified with thousands of spiked planks used as defensive barricades.
To protect themselves in this way, they had to cut down a forest, said Hafner.
But why did the villagers need to build such extensive fortifications to defend themselves? Archaeologists are still searching for an answer to the elusive question.
Researchers estimate that roughly 100,000 spikes were driven into the bottom of the lake off Lin, with Hafner calling the discovery a real treasure trove for research.
Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world and has been around for more than a million years.
Assisted by professional divers, archaeologists have been picking through the bottom of the lake often uncovering fossilised fragments of wood and prized pieces of oak.
- 'Like a Swiss watch' -
Analysis of the tree rings helps the team reconstruct the daily life of the area's inhabitants -- providing valuable insights into the climatic and environmental conditions from the period, said Albanian archaeologist Adrian Anastasi.
Oak is like a Swiss watch, very precise, like a calendar, said Hafner.
In order to understand the structure of this prehistoric site without damaging it, we are conducting very meticulous research, moving very slowly and very carefully, added Anastasi, who heads the team of Albanian researchers.
The lush vegetation at the site makes the work painstaking slow at times.
Building their village on stilts was a complex task, very complicated, very difficult, and it's important to understand why these people made this choice, said Anastasi.
For the time being, scientists say it is possible to assume that the village relied on agriculture and domesticated livestock for food.
We found various seeds, plants and the bones of wild and domesticated animals, said Ilir Gjepali, an Albanian archaeology professor working at the site.
But it will take another two decades for site to be fully explored and studied and for final conclusions to be drawn.
According to Anastasi, each excavation trip yields valuable information, enabling the team to piece together a picture of life along Lake Ohrid's shores thousands of years ago -- from the architecture of the dwellings to the structure of their community.
These are key prehistoric sites that are of interest not only to the region but to the whole of southwest Europe, said Hafner.