Sharjah24 – AFP: Beneath the turquoise waters of Lake Ohrid, the "Pearl of the Balkans", scientists have uncovered the remains of a settlement of stilt houses dating back 8,000 years, archaeologists believe, making it the oldest lakeside village in Europe discovered to date.
Commenting on this, Albert Hafner, Swiss archaeologist said, "In the northern Alps, the oldest sites date from around 4000 BC. In the south, in the Italian Alpine lakes (they date) around 5000 B.C. And here in the Balkans, we can count between 5800 and maybe 6000 B.C. So these are the oldest lake-dwelling sites in Europe."
Albert Hafner, Swiss archaeologist continued, "We're taking it very slowly and very carefully. And also, at the end, we'd like to understand the structure of the sites. And we can clearly say that these sites are not only interesting for the region here, but for the whole of south-eastern Europe. These are key prehistoric sites."
Adrian Anastasi, Albanian archaeologist stated, "Building their village on wooden stilts was a complex task, very complicated, very difficult, and it's important to understand why these people chose this type of architecture."
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