18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Using Google Earth and aircraft reconnaissance, archaeologists identify unknown sites and Serbia’s hidden Bronze Age megastructures

Using Google Earth and aircraft reconnaissance, archaeologists at University College Dublin identified more than 100 previously unknown sites.

Satellite remote sensing has become a valuable tool in archaeology, allowing for the monitoring of existing sites as well as the discovery of new ones, as well as the study of their surroundings.

During the Bronze Age, people across Eurasia formed massive trade networks that linked the continent together. However, the Pannonian Plain, an open expanse that now includes parts of Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, was thought to be a distant hinterland. That was true even after archaeologists discovered a handful of massive Bronze Age enclosures, some protected by kilometers-long walls and ditches, two decades ago.

Although sporadic discoveries of bronze artifacts suggested the enclosures weren’t entirely isolated, no one was certain how the structures related to cultural advancements occurring elsewhere in Europe.

“They were seen as unicorns on the landscape,” says Barry Molloy, an archaeologist at University College Dublin. “This was thought of as a backwater.”

Researchers used Google Earth to identify circular earthworks and deep ditches like this one in northern Serbia, which covers at least 40 hectares.BARRY MOLLOY AND DARJA GROSMAN
Researchers used Google Earth to identify circular earthworks and deep ditches like this one in northern Serbia, which covers at least 40 hectares.BARRY MOLLOY AND DARJA GROSMAN

Molloy and other archaeologists turned to satellite imagery to see whether they could spot more structures that ground-based investigations had missed.

Last week, in PLOS ONE, they reported finding more than 100 of these distinct enclosures in what is today Serbia.

They form a 150-kilometer-long belt along the Tisza River, a major north-south artery that divides the Pannonian Plain. The findings indicate that the structures were part of a vast network of settlements that participated in a thriving, continent-wide bronze trade that flourished around 3600 years ago.

The structures, many identified for the first time, have been hiding in plain sight. Many are invisible from the ground because they were plowed nearly flat after decades of intensive agriculture or destroyed in prehistoric times. After identifying the enclosures in Google Earth photos, Molloy and his team flew over the area in a small airplane, then visited as many of the sites as possible by foot. “We spent a lot of time trudging through mud,” Molloy says.

The twenty-four locales identified from the satellite data and confirmed as archaeological sites represent.  Images by M. Estanqueiro.
The twenty-four locales identified from the satellite data and confirmed as archaeological sites represent. Images by M. Estanqueiro.

They found pottery fragments, stones for grinding grain, and animal bones littering the surface—ancient artifacts churned up by decades of intensive plowing. Test pits revealed even more such artifacts. Comparing pottery to known sites in the region, the researchers estimated the enclosures dated to between 1550 B.C.E. and 1200 B.C.E. Radiocarbon dates from the animal bones confirmed that range.

The sheer size of the enclosures means they may remain enigmatic for years to come. But researchers helping fill in a blank spot on the map of Bronze Age Europe.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104188

Science

Cover Photo: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SERBIA

Related Articles

A ‘very rare’ clay figurine of god Mercury and a previously unknown Roman settlement were discovered at the excavation site in Kent

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

At a previously unknown Roman settlement that was formerly next to a busy port but is now 10 miles from...

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in tomb of Maya King in Guatemala

28 January 2024

28 January 2024

Archaeologists excavating a looted pyramid tomb in the ruins of a Mayan city in Peten, northeast Guatemala, have discovered a...

A woman who had brain surgery 9500 years ago will be brought revived

12 September 2021

12 September 2021

A “revival” effort is underway on a woman’s skull unearthed in 1989 during archaeological digs at the Aşıklı Mound in...

Lost medieval road thought to have been used by famous Scottish king Robert the Bruce found

27 June 2021

27 June 2021

Excavating a hill considered to have played a critical part in the Battle of Bannockburn, archaeologists discovered a forgotten medieval...

Czech experimental archaeologists successfully completed their 1-month voyage in the Aegean Sea using a replica of a prehistoric vessel

17 July 2023

17 July 2023

Radomír Tichý, an archeology professor at the University of Hradec Králové who is also the director of the Všestary Archeopark,...

Archaeologists discover Europe’s longest prehistoric mound in the Czechia

22 June 2024

22 June 2024

Czech archaeologists in the Hradec Králové area in East Bohemia have discovered what is probably the longest prehistoric mound in...

First Female Viking Grave Discovered In Swedish Mountains

21 August 2022

21 August 2022

A mountain hiker in Jämtland, in central Sweden, on his way camping in Kalffällen, made a surprising discovery. The discovery...

Isles of Scilly Iron Age warrior buried with a mirror and sword was probably a woman

27 July 2023

27 July 2023

Archaeologists conducted a DNA analysis of the tooth enamel of a person who died more than two millennia ago on...

1,600-year-old Roman-era wine shop unearthed in Greece

29 January 2024

29 January 2024

A team led by Scott Gallimore of Wilfrid Laurier University and Martin Wells of Austin College discovered a 1,600-year-old Roman-era...

Iconic 2,500-Year-Old Coțofenești Helmet and Dacian Treasures Stolen from Dutch Museum

26 January 2025

26 January 2025

A heist at the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, has resulted in the theft of several invaluable artifacts from the...

Water Cultu in Hittites and Eflatunpınar Hittite Water Monument

4 February 2021

4 February 2021

The Hittites, which left their mark on the Bronze Age period in Anatolia, is a society that draws attention with...

A new study reveals that “Bog Bodies” were part of a Millennia-old tradition

10 January 2023

10 January 2023

Archaeologists have studied hundreds of ancient “Bog Bodies” discovered in Europe’s wetlands, revealing that they were part of a millennia-old...

The 1,000-year-old Church found under a cornfield in Germany

2 July 2021

2 July 2021

The foundation walls of the large church of the rediscovered Royal Palace of Helfta in Eisleben in the German state...

Ancient Celtic Bone Pen Found in Southern Germany

14 December 2024

14 December 2024

From August to October this year, the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (LAD) in the Stuttgart Regional Council...

The Mysterious Horsemen of Pir Panjal: Secrets of an Ancient Legacy in Jammu and Kashmir

24 April 2025

24 April 2025

Deep within the rugged Pir Panjal range in Jammu and Kashmir, India, lies a captivating mystery known as the Mysterious...