28 August 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

Refurbishment at the Uffizi Gallery Revealed a Pair of Priceless Lost Renaissance Frescoes

24 April 2021

24 April 2021

A couple of construction workers discovered two Renaissance-era treasures while working on an extensive renovation project at Florence’s world-famous Uffizi...

Archaeologists discover Stargazer idol fragment in Turkey’s In the ancient city of Beçin

15 December 2021

15 December 2021

During archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Beçin in the Milas district of southern Turkey’s Muğla, the head of...

Archaeologists Discover Clay Figurines from Early Iron Age in Ukraine

17 December 2024

17 December 2024

Archaeologists have discovered clay figurines of young bulls from the Early Iron Age near the Metropolitan Chambers in the village...

4,500-Year-Old Three Warrior Graves Found in Germany, One Still Wearing an Arm Guard

30 January 2025

30 January 2025

Extraordinary discovery during the construction of a New Power Line: Archaeologists unearth a cemetery from the Copper Age with Three...

A Baptismal Surprise: Triton Baths in Southeastern Rome Converted into Early Christian Church

7 May 2025

7 May 2025

Recent archaeological excavations within the monumental complex of the Villa di Sette Bassi, situated in the southeastern outskirts of Rome,...

2,300-year-old Punic tomb complex found during works on car park for staff

26 October 2024

26 October 2024

A 2,300-year-old Punic tomb was discovered during work in a car park near Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta. The...

From Caves to Mounds: The Enigmatic Burial Practices of the Southern Jê in Brazil

25 February 2025

25 February 2025

A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology sheds light on the enigmatic burial practices of the Southern...

Largest Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered in Britain illuminates ‘Dark Ages’

16 June 2022

16 June 2022

Archaeologists working on HS2 (the purpose-built high-speed railway line) have discovered a rich Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, where almost...

4,000-year-old War Memorial of Banat-Bazi in Syria

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Archaeologists have identified a memorial monument built before 2300 BC in the Banat-Bazi region in Syria. Known as the “White...

Mystery of the ‘Deserted Castle’ Unraveled: Austria’s First Roman Bridgehead Fort Discovered

18 April 2025

18 April 2025

Researchers have identified the first confirmed Roman bridgehead fort in Austria, located near Stopfenreuth on the Lower Austrian Danube floodplains....

Archaeologists Find One of the Long-Lost Holy Cities in Jordan

13 July 2025

13 July 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery in Jordan has brought one of the Holy Land’s long-lost cities back to light. Researchers now...

Traces of fossilized crabs in the Zagros Mountains, Iran which may hint at a hotbed of biodiversity dating from 15 million years

18 April 2022

18 April 2022

A group of paleontologists from the  University of Tehran has discovered traces of fossilized crabs in the Iranian which may...

2,000-year-old stone faces and engravings emerge amid severe drought in Amazon

24 October 2023

24 October 2023

As a result of record-low water levels brought on by the region’s worst drought in over a century, faces carved...

Yale Archaeologist discovered an “arcade” of rock-cut ancient mancala game boards in Kenya

2 February 2024

2 February 2024

Veronica Waweru, a Yale University archaeologist conducting fieldwork in Kenya, discovered an “arcade” of ancient Mancala game boards carved into...

A new study reveals the Achaemenid Kingdom paid its workers silver

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

A new study on inscribed clay tablets that were used in the treasury archives of the Achaemenid Empire revealed that...