The site was named “Dobřeň” after the central Bohemian village nearby. It consists of four long huts with well-preserved ground plans: five lines made of stones.

These were about five meters wide and 10 to 20 meters long, which “were quite big for the time,” Daniel Pilař, from the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, told public broadcaster Radio Prague International.

Pits were also found. They are believed to have been used to extract clay to construct huts and were later reused to store waste.

Pilař said that this in particular is important “because it offers a perfect insight into the everyday life of the Neolithic people.”

“These people used flint blades for hunting or harvesting grain, and pottery for cooking and storage.”

Polished stone tools, such as stone axes, were also found which are believed to have been used for carpentry or milling grain.

“It’s a miracle that this site was not overlaid or destroyed in later millennia,” Pilař said.

Since prehistoric settlements are usually located on fertile ground, other later settlements, for example in the Bronze Age or Iron Age, would normally be established in the same place.

That is why, according to Pilař, “Neolithic settlements are very often destroyed or are harder to read from the archaeological point of view.”

However, this isn’t the case in “Dobřeň.” Researchers are excited that the site could offer new insights into the way our early ancestors lived.