Between 200 and 500 people were believed to live in the newly re-discovered settlement with houses built on stilts along Albania’s shoreline. It is currently the oldest site of this kind in Europe.

Scientists have possibly found one of Europe’s earliest sedentary communities sheltered behind a fortress of defensive spikes beneath one of the oldest lakes in the world.

The discovery beneath Lake Ohrid in the village of Lin, Albania, confirms that lakeshore settlements of the region, which straddles the mountainous border of North Macedonia, are much older than archaeologists’ expected, said Albert Hafner, a professor of archaeology from Switzerland’s University of Bern, in an interview with the university.

The findings made by Swiss and Albanian archaeologists’ with the help of professional divers indicate that Lin served as a hub for the development of agriculture, craftsmanship and fishing around 8,500 years ago, making it the oldest lakeside village discovered to date and even older than similar ones found in southern Italy and throughout Europe.

(According to USA-TODAY)