KUTNÁ HORA, CZECH REPUBLIC—Newsweek reports that an early farming settlement dated to about 7,000 years ago has been discovered on a plain between two streams in the central Czech Republic. Daniel Pilař of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic said that the well-preserved settlement, including traces of longhouses and pits full of pottery and tools, was identified during the construction of a barn. The site is thought to have been home to perhaps a dozen people who cultivated plants and raised cattle, yet still hunted and gathered food as well. “Regarding the use of houses, it must be noted that until recently, most daily activities took place outside the house and people moved inside because of the cold or rain,” Pilař said. “In the summer, most activities took place outside, from food preparation to crafts. Not least because it was simply dark in the houses,” he explained. The early farmers who lived at the site are thought to have migrated to Central Europe from the Balkans region of southeastern Europe, he concluded. To read about an early Neolithic well unearthed in East Bohemia, go to "Around the World: Czech Republic."
