7,000-Year-Old Well Conserved in Czech Republic

OLOMOUC, CZECH REPUBLIC—Radio Prague International reports that archaeologists are working to preserve a waterlogged wood-lined well discovered in 2016 during road construction. Analysis of the growth rings in the oak used to line the structure indicates the trees were felled during the years 5256 and 5255 B.C. “The construction of this well is unique,” added archaeologist Jaroslav Peška of the Archaeological Center in Olomouc. “It bears marks of construction techniques used in the Bronze and Iron Ages and even the Roman Age. We had no idea that the first farmers, who only had tools made of stone, bones, horns, or wood, were able to process the surface of felled trunks with such precision.” Peška said the well’s planks have been submerged in a sugar-water solution so that the sucrose could stabilize the wood’s damaged cellulose. When the two-year restoration project is complete, the structure will go on display in the Pardubice Museum. To read about another Neolithic well unearthed in eastern Germany, go to "The Neolithic Toolkit."