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2d ago

7,000-Year-Old Undersea Wall Off Brittany Confirmed in Peer-Reviewed Study

The study dates a 120-meter granite barrier with scores of monoliths near Île de Sein to roughly 5,800–5,300 BC.

Photos taken on the TAF1 structure during winter 2023.
Archaeologists discovered an undersea wall that measures almost 400 feet in length, the biggest underwater construction ever found in France.

Overview

  • Published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, the find is described as the largest underwater construction yet identified in France.
  • The site was first flagged on seabed maps in 2017 by retired geologist Yves Fouquet, then surveyed by divers between 2022 and 2024 using LIDAR and sonar.
  • Researchers report a wall about 120 meters long, roughly 20 meters wide and 2 meters high, now around 9 meters underwater, built from stacked granite and reinforced by about 60 monoliths set in two lines.
  • Analyses suggest the structure functioned as a fish trap or a protective dyke, with monoliths possibly supporting nets, and about a dozen additional submerged features indicating fish weirs.
  • The construction predates Brittany’s known Neolithic megaliths by several centuries, implying organized coastal hunter-gatherer communities and expanding evidence from Europe’s growing record of submerged prehistoric sites.