Archaeologists have mapped a lost village that was hidden under a lake for 3,000 years

Here’s what you’ll learn after reading this story:

• Underwater archaeologists have identified 600 wooden posts on which an ancient village once stood.

• The Italian community living near Lake Mezzano left many Bronze Age artifacts.

• The history of fire in this place is shown even in the bronze works.

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A Bronze Age village resting – literally – on top of an Italian lake, has been lost to time. But underwater archaeologists are now reconstructing the history of that village.

A team of experts delved beneath Italy’s Lake Mezzano, a small, volcanically formed lake in northern Lazio, where they not only mapped 600 underwater pillars that once supported a pile-dwelling village, but also from a Bronze Age site that existed between 1700 and 11500.

A team of divers led by the Regional Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape Service explored the ancient, now underwater settlement in order to document and preserve the remains of the lake village. According to a translated statement, the team found more than 600 wooden poles embedded in heavy clay soil, delineating an area covering about a third of the known area of ​​the settlement. After removing the sediment with suction hoses, crews were able to begin modeling what the site once looked like, outlining the structure of the village.

The posts found ranged in depth from eight to more than 32 feet, showing not only how the lake bed was once on uneven ground, but also how the water level has changed over the 600 years the village has existed. In places, the pillars were covered with stones until they almost reached the height of the present bank.

Targeted excavation interventions were carried out in places where ancient deposits still remain under a thick layer of compact clay. However, sometimes bronze objects, possible remnants of an ancient landslide, have been found among the lava stones.

More than 25 well-preserved clay artefacts were found, including multi-edged axes, spears, brooches, rings, a pin, a sickle and other decorative objects. The found bronze ingots used in casting indicate that a metallurgical workshop probably existed in the village.

Some of the bronze items appear to have been caught in the fire, and experts speculate that the items may have fallen into the water during a possible fire or were simply abandoned when the wooden structure burned.

The team posted a video on YouTube showing divers working through the water in search of wooden poles and bronze artifacts.

The work, led by the Stewardship Underwater Archeology Service, aims to continue excavating and documenting the site in the hope that it will help the team better understand the exact location of the village and how the community once functioned.

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