Oldest-known Settlement Found in Bulgaria

It looks like a group of Hobbit-holes, except that it's way, way older than that.

Archaeologists working in Bulgaria have unearthed the oldest prehistoric town yet found on the European continent. The current estimate is that the structures go back as far as 4700 B.C. For those keeping score at home, that's more than a century and a half before those folks we call the Greeks got around to organizing themselves into city-states.

The settlement, named Solnitsata, is near the modern town of Provadia and has certainly proved itself to be a treasure trove, of more than one variety. About 40 years ago and not too far away, archaeologists found a huge hoard of golden objects, the oldest found anywhere, near a town called Varna.

Gold is certainly valuable today and would have been back then as well. But what the recent expedition has discovered at Provadia that would have been far more valuable back then is evidence of a large local salt supply.

Since the dawn of civilization, people have used salt as a preservative, most notably for food, and as a soothing additive to hot water for a restorative bath. Salt was for thousands of years a sought-after commodity. Roman soldiers were at one time paid in salt. (Indeed, the word salary comes from the word salt.)

Archaeologists also unearthed impressive reinforced houses and a stone wall, suggesting that the Solnitsatians went to some length to protect their salt stash.

Other expeditions have unearthed similar salt mines in nearby areas, near known copper and gold mines.