The Oldest Town in Europe

Bulgarian archaeologists working near Provadia announced the discovery of what they declare to be Europe’s oldest town. The fifth-millennium B.C.E. prehistoric settlement housed up to 350 people, and discoveries at the site include a nearby necropolis, ritual pits, two-story houses and a large stone wall, a rare feature for a prehistoric villages in the region. According to the site’s archaeologists, who say that the walls were built between 4,700 and 4,200 B.C.E., the area was a center for ancient salt mining and distribution, an important resource at the time. The site’s antiquity and established structure suggest that it is likely associated with the world’s earliest known gold hoard, discovered just 20 miles away near the town of Varna.

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