The Neolithic people created artificial islands from ... 5,600 years ago

Hundreds of small islands around Scotland do not arise naturally . A new study shows that they are extremely early artificial products created from the rocks, clay and wood of the Neolithic people about 5,600 years ago.

The researchers actually knew about these artificial islands, called crannogs , for decades. But many archaeologists think that the crannogs were created more recently, in the Iron Age around 2,800 years ago.

One of the artificial islands in Scotland.

This new finding not only shows that the dates of these artificial islands are much earlier than previously thought but are also likely to be "special places " for Neolithic people, according to ceramic pieces. Nearby is found by modern divers, researchers write.

Initially, many researchers thought that these special products were built around 800 BC and were reused until post-medieval times in 1700. But in the 1980s, suggestions made Early appearances that some of these islands were made much earlier.

In addition, in 2012, Chris Murray, a former Royal Navy divers, found new well-preserved stone pots at the bottom of the lake near some of these islands and he reported to a local museum. about this discovery.

For further investigation, two British archaeologists, Duncan Garrow from the University of Reading and Fraser Sturt from the University of Southampton, collaborated in 2016 and 2017 to get a comprehensive view of some of the crannies in the Outer Hebrides, an artificial island off the coast of northern Scotland.

The location of artificial islands is quite small.

Specifically, they considered small islands in three lakes: Loch Arquer, Loch Bhorgastail and Loch Langabhat. Chronically radioactive carbon, 4 of the crannogs were created between 3640 and 3360 BC. Other evidence, including ground and underwater surveys, excavation and environmental excavation, supported the idea that these particular small islands date from the Neolithic period.

Archaeologists have yet to find any new rock structures on the islands, and they say more excavations are needed. But divers have found dozens of Neolithic pottery pieces, some of them burned, around small islands in Bhorgastail and Langabhat.

The pots are likely to fall into the water deliberately, possibly for a ritual, the researchers said.

Each artificial island is quite small, about 10 meters wide. A small island in Loch Bhorgastail even has a stone embankment connected to the mainland. It certainly takes a lot of effort to create these artificial islands, which are obviously very important to the ancient people.

Researchers said, so far, only 10% of crannogs in Scotland have been verified with radioactive carbon, meaning that there may be more ancient crannog than current findings.