This is cool.
Europe's oldest prehistoric town found in BulgariaArchaeologists in eastern Bulgaria have unearthed the oldest prehistoric town ever found in Europe and an ancient salt production site that may explain massive riches discovered in the region.
Excavations at the site near the modern-day town of Provadia have so far uncovered the remains of a settlement of two-storey houses, a series of pits used for rituals, as well as parts of a gate, bastion structures and three later fortification walls - all carbon dated between the middle and late Chalcolithic age from 4,700 to 4,200 BC.
"We are not talking about a town like the Greek city-states, ancient Rome or medieval settlements, but about what archaeologists agree constituted a town in the fifth millennium BC," said Vasil Nikolov, a researcher with Bulgaria's National Institute of Archaeology, after announcing the findings earlier this month.
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"The huge walls around the settlement, which were built very tall and with stone blocks... are also something unseen in excavations of prehistoric sites in south-east Europe so far," Dr Bachvarov added.
Well fortified, a religious centre and most importantly, a major production centre for a specialised commodity that was traded far and wide, the settlement of about 350 people met all the conditions to be considered the oldest known "prehistoric town" in Europe.
"At a time when people did not know the wheel and cart, these people hauled huge rocks and built massive walls. Why? What did they hide behind them? [It was for one reason] - salt," Dr Nikolov said.
The rest of the article mentions that initially archaeologists were wondering how the town got so rich, in an area that wasn't on known trade routes and appeared to have no natural resources. Salt. There you go.
![yes](https://www.councilofexmuslims.com/Smileys/custom/yes.gif)
Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West.