14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the University of Tübingen in Germany claim to have discovered the remains of an ancient human settlement in Spain's Azután region.
What the archaeologists actually found were bits and pieces of stone tools and other man-made objects scattered over an area of about 90 hectares.
Based on this evidence, it was concluded that, thousands of years ago, the region was inhabited by a well-put together community of early humans.
Having analyzed the stone tools and the other objects they recovered at this archaeological site, the University of Tübingen researchers found that the settlement was active about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
This means that it was established by people living in the Copper Age, i.e. a period in our history that followed the Stone Age, but that preceded the discovery that it is possible to obtain bronze by adding tin to copper.
Prior to the discovery of these stone tools and man-made objects, it was believed that, during the Copper Age, humans chiefly populated the Iberian Peninsula's coastline.
“With the new finds at Azután, we can confirm that there was intensive copperworking and settlement also in central Spain. Until now, it was thought that such activity was mostly limited to the fertile coastal regions in the south of the Iberian Peninsula,” explains researcher Felicitas Schmitt.
Looking to gain a better understanding of what this ancient settlement looked like in its heydays, specialist Felicitas Schmitt and colleagues took several aerial photographs of the region. The photos should help them make heads or Tails of the settlement's structure and size.