Service Big opening weekend for 200 years of Museumsinsel Berlin (30. May – 1. June 2025): Ticket sales started! With the Island Festival Ticket you can visit all the museums on Museum Island for one day Berlin’s Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte has been involved in an international archaeological research project in Romania where the largest prehistoric settlement in Europe uncovered to date is currently being examined The site is protected by four defensive walls with a total length of 33 km and covers an area of 17.2 square kilometres After sondages (trial trenches) were dug over a period of five years from 2007 to 2013 archaeologists were able to date the fortifications to the late Bronze Age (about 14th or 13th century BC) Through magnetometer surveys and systematic surface surveys it was possible to establish that dwellings once covered large areas inside the walls and that a city-like settlement must have existed Further excavations are planned for the coming years The main focus of the investigation will be on the structures within the fortifications: how were the dwellings constructed; how were they arranged the question arises as to what caused the demise of the huge settlement in the early Iron Age Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) since 2013  Duration: since 2010 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin It took a birds' eye view for archaeologists to realize prehistoric communities of Central and Eastern Europe were still thriving during the Late Bronze Age because these Carpathian Basin societies were thought to be in a state of fragmentation and collapse at that time In fact, most of the civilizations that encircled the Mediterranean and its adjacent seas were headed towards disaster, known as the Late Bronze Age collapse led by archaeologist Barry Molloy from University College Dublin started their investigation on the ground doing surveys But it wasn't until they stitched together aerial photographs and satellite images of the south Carpathian Basin in Central Europe – known for its cache of prehistoric forts – that the full picture was revealed "Some of the largest sites, we call these mega-forts, have been known for a few years now, such as Gradište Iđoš, Csanádpalota, Sântana or the mind-blowing Corneşti Iarcuri," Molloy said Corneşti Iarcuri – the largest Bronze Age fortress in Europe – is enclosed by 33km (20.5 miles) of ditches and ramparts far larger than the citadels and fortifications of other Bronze Age civilizations like the Hittites which has led archaeologists to assume the society totally collapsed foreshadowing the fate of many civilizations in the Late Bronze Age Molloy and his team no longer think this was entirely the case for the Carpathian basin societies – at least they were part of a dense network of closely related and codependent communities the people living within this lower Pannonian network of sites must have numbered into the tens of thousands." Although these enormous centers of power were in decline in 1600-1450 BCE people in the south Pannonian Plain were forming their own polities into a network of monumental settlements and smaller sites Molloy and his team discovered over 100 of these densely-spaced settlements in the low-lying region which appear to have relied on adjacent waterways and wetlands for resources That might have helped these people postpone some of the climate-related impacts that catalyzed the collapse of other Late Bronze Age settlements although by around 1250 BCE the lack of rain began to take its toll on these wetland-oriented societies virtually all of these sites were abandoned en masse "It is fascinating to discover these new polities and to see how they were related to well-known influential societies yet sobering to see how they ultimately suffered a similar fate in a wave of crises that struck this wider region," says Molloy. These societies challenge many aspects of European prehistory and appear to have been an important center of innovation The researchers describe these communities as mutually dependent and closely interwoven with complex social institutions and attendant power structures to manage interaction "[We] have been able to define an entire settled landscape, complete with maps of the size and layout of sites, even down to the locations of people's homes within them," Molloy said "This really gives an unprecedented view of how these Bronze Age people lived with each other and their many neighbors." The research was published in PLOS ONE. Cosmos » Archaeology Archaeologists have found a previously unknown network of massive Bronze Age sites in Central Europe that could explain so-called Bronze Age “megaforts.” The research is published in the journal PLOS ONE Europe’s megaforts are the largest constructions prior to the Iron Age (1200–550 BCE) Sântana [Hungary] or the mind-blowing Corneşti Iarcuri [Romania] enclosed by 33km of ditches and eclipsing in size the contemporary citadels and fortifications of the Hittites Mycenaeans or Egyptians,” says lead author Barry Molloy an associate professor at University College Dublin (UCD) “What is new, however, is finding that these massive sites did not stand alone, they were part of a dense network of closely related and codependent communities. At their peak, the people living within this lower Pannonian network of sites must have numbered into the tens of thousands.” Using satellite images and aerial photography, the archaeologists were able to piece together the Bronze Age south Carpathian Basin They discovered more than 100 sites belonging to a complex society The sites are located in behind the shores of the Tisza river The previously unknown communities are now called the Tisza Site Group (TSG) excavations and geophysical scans reveal most of the sites were established between 1600 and 1450 BCE The study authors believe the TSG were an important centre of innovation and were a regional hub between 1500 and 1200 BCE during the height of famous civilisations including the Mycenaeans on Crete the Hittites in modern-day Turkey and New Kingdom in Egypt which includes archaeologists from Serbia and Slovenia say their research changes the way we think about European prehistory Bronze Age Europe appears to have seen a major turning point during the second millennium BCE Advanced military and earthwork technologies spread across Europe after 1200 BCE Similarities between culture and iconography across the continent could be explained by the importance and influence of groups like the TSG While the more than 100 sites are likely not ancient warring chiefdoms Molloy says the period was less than peaceful The TSG were clearly powerful and well equipped to defend themselves “1200 BC was a striking turning point in Old World prehistory and whole societies collapsing within a few decades throughout a vast area of southwest Asia “It is fascinating to discover these new polities and to see how they were related to well-known influential societies yet sobering to see how they ultimately suffered a similar fate in wave of crises that struck this wider region.” Cosmos is a not-for-profit science newsroom that provides free access to thousands of stories, podcasts and videos every year. 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