Rescue excavations in Burgenland, Austria, have uncovered monumental earthwork circles dating back more than 6,500 years. The discoveries, made in Rechnitz, are part of a project known as the “Circular Enclosure and Stone Age Village,” carried out under the province’s Archaeology Master Plan.
Burgenland Governor Hans Peter Doskozil stated the excavations are the final step before construction of a new archaeological visitor center begins.
A rare cluster of circular enclosures
Archaeologists detected three Middle Neolithic circular enclosures on the edge of Rechnitz through aerial surveys and geophysical studies. The structures, built between 4850 and 4500 BC, reach up to 105 meters (344.5 feet) in diameter.
The existence of several of these monumental buildings in proximity makes Rechnitz a supra-regional center of the Middle Neolithic, explained Nikolaus Franz, head of Archäologie Burgenland in the Department of Education, Culture and Science.
He noted that construction poses risks to the buried remains, making systematic excavation and documentation essential.
Traces of early farming communities
The site also overlaps with two Neolithic settlements. Most uncovered house plans date to the Early Neolithic, the period of the so-called Neolithic Revolution, when communities began farming and raising animals. Some houses suggest settlement continued into the Middle Neolithic, the time when the earthworks were built.
These excavations open a real window into the Stone Age, Franz explained. According to him, they are learning about settler families who introduced agriculture and livestock to the region circa the 6th millennium BC. After hundreds of thousands of years of hunting and gathering, the shift to a sedentary lifestyle was truly revolutionary.
Excavation work and soil research
The excavations, conducted with the municipality of Rechnitz and the specialist firm PANNARCH, will continue until early September.
Archaeologists have already uncovered pits, postholes, and ceramic fragments that point to a Neolithic settlement. They also confirmed the ditches of an Early Neolithic earthwork previously known only from geomagnetic surveys.
Samples collected from the site will undergo bioarchaeological analysis. Soil profiles are also being studied at the University of Vienna’s Institute of Geography and Regional Research to trace the development of farmland and underlying geology.
Older than the pyramids and Stonehenge
Earlier surveys between 2011 and 2017 revealed four monumental earthworks in Rechnitz’s southern municipal area. Three were circular enclosures, barely visible on the surface, but clearly recorded through geomagnetic imaging.
At more than 6,500 years old, these monuments predate the Pyramids of Giza and the Stonehenge circle by about 2,000 years, adding a striking chapter to Europe’s prehistoric past.
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