https://www.sci.news/archaeology/stone-age-hunting-megastructure-baltic-sea-12687.html

The Stone Age megastructure was discovered
in the Bay of Mecklenburg, about 10 km
northwest off Rerik, Germany.

The stonewall is made of 1,673 individual
stones which are usually less than 1 m in
height, placed side by side over a distance
of 971 m in a way that argues against a
natural origin by glacial transport or ice
push ridges.

Dubbed Blinkerwall, it was built by
hunter-gatherers that roamed the region
after the retreat of the Weichselian Ice
Sheet.

Running adjacent to the sunken shoreline
of a paleolake (or bog), whose youngest
phase was dated to 9,143 years ago, the
structure was likely used for hunting the
Eurasian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus).

“At the time, the entire population across
northern Europe was likely below 5,000
people,” said Dr. Marcel Bradtmöller, a
researcher at the University of Rostock.

“One of their main food sources were herds
of reindeer, which migrated seasonally
through the sparsely vegetated post-glacial
landscape.”

“The wall was probably used to guide the
reindeer into a bottleneck between the
adjacent lakeshore and the wall, or even
into the lake, where the Stone Age hunters
could kill them more easily with their
weapons.”

The Blinkerwall represents one of the
oldest documented man-made hunting
structures on Earth, and ranges among the
largest known Stone Age structure in
Europe.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2312008121

Significance
Structures from the Stone Age can provide
unique insights into Late Glacial and
Mesolithic cultures around the Baltic Sea.
Such structures, however, usually did not
survive within the densely populated
Central European subcontinent. Here, we
explore a Stone Age megastructure, that
has preserved under water in the Western
Baltic Sea. It was likely constructed by
hunter–gatherer groups more than 10000 y
ago and ultimately drowned during the
Littorina transgression at 8500 y B.P.
Since then, it remained hidden at the
seafloor, leading to a pristine
preservation that will inspire research
on the lifestyle and territorial
development in the larger area.

Abstract
The Baltic Sea basins, some of which
only submerged in the mid-Holocene,
preserve Stone Age structures that did
not survive on land. Yet, the discovery
of these features is challenging and
requires cross-disciplinary approaches
between archeology and marine
geosciences. Here, we combine shipborne
and autonomousunderwater vehicle
hydroacoustic data with up to a
centimeter range resolution,
sedimentological samples, and optical
images to explore a Stone Age
megastructure located in 21 m water
depth in the Bay of Mecklenburg,
Germany. The structure is made of
1,673 individual stones which are
usually less than 1 m in height, placed
side by side over a distance of 971 m
in a way that argues against a natural
origin by glacial transport or ice push
ridges. Running adjacent to the sunken
shoreline of a paleolake (or bog), whose
youngest phase was dated to 9,143 ±36 ka
B.P., the stonewall was likely used for
hunting the Eurasian reindeer (Rangifer
tarandus) during the Younger Dryas or
early Pre-Boreal. It was built by
hunter–gatherer groups that roamed the
region after the retreat of the
Weichselian Ice Sheet. Comparable Stone
Age megastructures have become known
worldwide in recent times but are almost
unknown in Europe. The site represents
one of the oldest documented man-made
hunting structures on Earth, and ranges
among the largest known Stone Age
structure in Europe. It will become
important for understanding subsistence
strategies, mobility patterns, and
inspire discussions concerning the
territorial development in the Western
Baltic Sea region.