Early people may need settled inside a cave on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, a gaggle of researchers have discovered. The discovery was made due to the identification of an historic submerged bridge, which is claimed to have been constructed roughly 6,000 years in the past. This discovery revises the beforehand accepted timeline of human settlement on the island, suggesting that the area was inhabited a lot sooner than beforehand believed. In 2000, researchers found the 25-foot-long (7.6 meters) bridge throughout a scuba-diving expedition in a flooded cave.
New Dating Techniques Reveal Earlier Human Presence
The bridge, constructed from massive limestone blocks, was initially regarded as about 4,400 years outdated based mostly on pottery fragments discovered throughout the cave. However, a latest evaluation led by Professor Bogdan Onac, a geology professor on the University of South Florida, has proven that this estimate was inaccurate.
To confirm the bridge’s true age, the research crew analysed a definite light-coloured band on the bridge’s higher part, fashioned by calcite encrustations. These deposits, often called speleothems, revealed sea-level modifications over time. By finding out these mineral deposits, the researchers concluded that the bridge was constructed round 6,000 years in the past, pushing again the timeline of human habitation on the island by 1,600 years.
Significance of the Discovery
This discovery is critical as a result of it means that people had been current on Mallorca a lot sooner than beforehand thought. The widespread perception within the scientific group is that the island, not like different Mediterranean islands like Cyprus and Crete, was one of many final to be settled.
The researchers imagine additional investigation is required to grasp why Mallorca was inhabited later than different islands within the area, suggesting that the island could have lacked important assets, akin to farmable land, vital for sustaining early human populations.
