The German research team, led by geophysicist Jacob Gersen, from the University of Kiel, believes the structure was built 10,000 years ago to aid the hunting efforts of the hunter-gatherer people who inhabited the area during the Paleolithic Age.
“The site represents one of the oldest man-made hunting structures ever documented on Earth, and is among the largest Stone Age structures known in Europe,” the scientists wrote in the paper.
Gersen and his team found Blenkerwall using high-resolution hydroacoustic imagingan autonomous underwater vehicle and human divers to explore the bay and map the extent of the structure.
The data collected revealed a long stretch of about 1,670 individual stones, extending for about 971 metres. These stones tend to be less than a meter high and less than two meters wide, and are placed side by side along the length of the structure.
To lead the flocks
Based on the information available, the most plausible possibility is that the Blinkwall was built and used as an architectural solution for hunting activities.With the aim of helping drive herds of reindeer or bison.
