Network of Military Defenses Found in Central Syria

PARIS, FRANCE—International Business Times reports that researchers from the University of Lyon and the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria have spotted a 4,000-year-old network of military structures in northern Syria on satellite images. The fortresses and towers were detected within a search area of 4,000 square miles. Some were constructed alongside a mountain ridge, and the network is thought to have been designed in general to protect urban areas and trade routes during the Bronze Age. Built with giant, unfinished blocks of basalt, the buildings stood within sight of each other so that soldiers would have been able to communicate with smoke signals. For more, go to “Bronze Age Bling.”