Major Neolithic Monuments Identified in Austria

Archaeology Magazine ^ | September 23, 2025 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

According to a report from All That's Interesting, a team from Archäologie Burgenland unearthed a set of massive circular monuments in Rechnitz along the Hungarian border that has provided an unprecedented glimpse at life there during the Neolithic period. The features were first tentatively identified several years ago through aerial photography and geophysical survey, but researchers are only now understanding how extensive the site truly is. Excavations have uncovered at least three monumental earthen enclosures, some measuring 350 feet across, formed by a series of concentric circular ditches and wooden palisades that were built between 4850 and 4500 b.c. The team also discovered two Neolithic settlements that are even older, with houses nearby that were likely built by some of the region's first farmers. The concentration of so many significant sites in such a small area indicates that the location was a major social, cultural, and ritual center more than 6,500 years ago. "We are learning a great deal about the Neolithic settler clans who found this a favorable location to establish the cultural techniques of agriculture and livestock farming in what is now Burgenland in the 6th millennium b.c.," said Nikolaus Franz, director of Archäologie Burgenland. To read about the earliest known pair of identical twins, whose remains were uncovered in northeastern Austria, go to "A Twin Burial."

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: austria; godsgravesglyphs; neolithic

[SunkenCiv]

Aerial view of Neolithic earthen enclosure, Rechnitz, Austria

Office of the Burgenland State Government/Nikolaus Franz

[SunkenCiv]

[Red Badger]

Looks like a fortification not a monument..................

[Larry Lucido]

Or a cockfighting arena. I think I see a food court in the corner.

[BradyLS]

I agree. A circle fort. Some light, temporary fencing inside that perhaps the team put up. Maybe delineating possible pens for cattle in neolithic times…?

[Red Badger]

Or it’s a Neolithic ‘Corn Maze’....................

[BradyLS]

Oddly, there’s a sunken road below the level of the site itself at the top of the photo.

[Larry Lucido]

What was that commercial? Oh, yeah. “You call it corn. We call it maze.”

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Agreed. Did they say why they thought it was a monument?

I’m amazed that such primitive societies could move the hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of earth to build such things. I asked Grok...

Neolithic societies, which flourished roughly between 10,000 and 4,000 BCE, constructed impressive earthworks such as mounds, barrows, ditches, and enclosures, often for burial, ceremonial, or defensive purposes. These projects involved moving vast quantities of earth—sometimes hundreds of thousands of tons—without metal tools or machinery, relying instead on organized communal labor and simple, locally available implements.

Tools Used for Earth Moving
Neolithic people primarily used tools made from stone, wood, bone, and antler, as metalworking had not yet been developed. Key examples include:Antler picks and bone shovels: Antlers from deer or elk were shaped into picks for breaking up hard soil or chalk, while shoulder blades from large animals served as rudimentary shovels for scooping.

Wooden digging sticks and spatulas: Branches or logs were fashioned into levers or flat tools for prying and shifting dirt.

Baskets, hides, and sledges: Woven baskets or animal skins were used to carry soil in small loads, often over short distances. In some cases, wooden sledges or rollers might have facilitated transport of larger volumes, though evidence is limited for earth specifically (more common for stones).

These tools were labor-intensive, requiring large groups to dig, carry, and pile earth incrementally.

[Red Badger]

Basket brigades were probably used, or animals pulling sledges loaded with dirt............

[Reily]

Its amazing how unwilling many people are to give our ancient ancestors any credit. They didn’t just sit around grunt and scratch fleas. They were as ingenuous in their solutions as we are today. Indeed some of the difficulty may have inspired them to look for other means to solve.

Hey Og you see those big things over there 4 legs big horns. Maybe they’re more then walking steaks. Maybe we can use them to move some of these big rocks.