Massive Lost Prehistoric Stone Megastructures Discovered in Europe's Adriatic Hinterland

The Debrief ^ | October 21, 2025 | Tim McMillan

[SunkenCiv]

For thousands of years, the rugged limestone highlands of Slovenia's Karst Plateau have kept a stunning secret buried beneath forests and rocky sinkholes.

Now, new research has revealed that this landscape once hosted massive, purpose-built stone megastructures that appear to have guided and trapped wild herds in one of Europe's earliest examples of large-scale communal hunting.

This discovery not only sheds light on prehistoric hunting practices but also challenges our understanding of early European societies and their capabilities.

The discovery, led by archaeologists from the University of Ljubljana, was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Using airborne laser scanning (ALS), researchers identified four monumental dry-stone "megastructures" spanning over 15 miles (25 km) of the Adriatic hinterland. This revealed an unprecedented glimpse into the ingenuity and cooperation of prehistoric societies in southern Europe...

When the researchers mapped roughly 335 square miles (870 km) using ALS imagery, they unexpectedly discovered four vast funnel-shaped systems of low stone walls converging into deep, concealed enclosures...

In plan view, the layouts resemble enormous "V" or funnel shapes, echoing the desert kites found across the arid landscapes of Southwest Asia and North Africa. These monumental stone traps were used to capture gazelles and other herd animals during communal hunts thousands of years ago.

Until now, no comparable "hunting kites" had been found in temperate Europe.

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; huntingkites; slovenia

[SunkenCiv]

(A) 3D perspective view of structure K01, illustrating its integration with the surrounding topography. (B–D) Visual analyses of the structure and its landscape. (Image Source: Vrhovnik, Et al., PNAS)

Image Source: Vrhovnik, Et al., PNAS

[SunkenCiv]

Hunting traps.

[hinckley buzzard]

I’m not convinced. This may be a case of people seeing what they want to see.

[Carry_Okie]

Looks like a simple LIDAR search.

[SunkenCiv]

No, that’s FR. 😊

[BenLurkin]

World’s biggest spiderweb discovered inside ‘Sulfur Cave’ with 111,000 arachnids living in pitch black

https://www.livescience.com/animals/spiders/worlds-biggest-spiderweb-discovered-inside-sulfur-cave-with-111-000-arachnids-living-in-pitch-black

[fidelis]

World’s biggest spiderweb discovered inside ‘Sulfur Cave’ with 111,000 arachnids living in pitch black

I've run into electrical rooms during fire inspections that were almost as bad. Those were mostly Black Widows, though.

[NewMexLurker]

I watched a good show on PBS (yeah, yeah, I know) last week about the “desert kite” version of these structures found in some desert locations in current day middle east and northeast Africa. I found the evidence and argument that these structures were truly designed to funnel running herd animals into deep kill pits to be very convincing. One of the better PBS science shows I’ve seen recently.

[SunkenCiv]

head-smashed-in hunting trap

https://search.brave.com/search?q=head-smashed-in+hunting+trap