Did Stone Age people build a large labyrinth in Denmark?

1/8. (Danish Geodata Agency / Pernille Rohde Sloth)

Archaeologists have discovered a large enclosure from the Neolithic period near Stevns in Denmark--but the purpose of the site is a mystery.

A series of Stone Age palisade enclosures have been discovered in Denmark in recent years and archaeologists are still wondering what they were used for.

One of the latest additions is a huge construction, discovered by archaeologists from the Museum Southeast Denmark. The fence dates from the Neolithic period and seems to frame an oval area of nearly 18,000 square meters.

“It was actually somewhat overwhelming to experience that it is possible to reveal the traces of such a huge building from the Neolithic period. There are many suggestions for what they could’ve been used for, but to put it simply, we just don’t know,” says archaeologist Pernille Rohde Sloth who leads the excavation.

What was the space used for?

One of the most remarkable things about the fencing at Stevns is the way the entrances have been constructed. The fence is in fact built in five rows that extend outwards, and the opening in each row appears to be offset from the others.

Sloth suspects the uneven design was deliberate.

“The openings don’t seem to sit next to each of the post rows, and we're slightly amazed by that. But maybe it functioned as a sort of labyrinth--at least that’s how we imagine it. That way you weren’t able to look inside the common space, which may have been an advantage,” she says. [...] ScienceNordic


Actualización: Arqueólogos encuentran un gran laberinto neolítico en Dinamarca
El descubrimiento se suma a otros recintos de la Edad de Piedra hallados recientemente en el país, cuya función continua siendo un misterio.

Se trata de una enorme estructura originalmente formada por postes de madera, de forma oval y que abarca una superficie de casi 18.000 metros cuadrados, situada en la localidad de Stevns, en la costa Este de la isla de Selandia.

Según la arqueóloga que dirige las excavaciones, Pernille Rohde Sloth, la experiencia de revelar las huellas de una construcción tan grande del Neolítico ha sido abrumadora. Tenemos muchas sugerencias de para que podría haber sido usado, pero simplemente no tenemos ni idea de su función original.

La estructura estaba formada por cinco hileras concéntricas de empalizadas, pero con la particularidad de que sus entradas no estaban alineadas unas con otras, lo cual lleva a los investigadores a pensar que pudo haber sido una especie de laberinto.

Es más, es posible que deliberadamente se construyera el laberinto para proteger algo oculto en el recinto. Sin embargo todavía no se ha hallado nada en su interior, salvo algunos pozos de diferentes tamaños que contienen herramientas de pedernal, residuos y fragmentos de cerámica...