Traps set 2800 years ago found in France

(ORDO NEWS) — A mission from France‘s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) has excavated in the Moselle Valley and unearthed well-preserved traps set by Iron Age hunters.

A brief report on the discovery is published on the Inrap website. It is reported that excavations were carried out north of the town of Pont-a-Mousson, in the valley of the Moselle River. There, archaeologists found traces of an ancient settlement, as well as hunting traps.

The Neolithic hunting pit excavated by archaeologists attracts special attention. Scientists explain that hunting techniques have changed over time.

Due to climate change, the landscape has changed, and the structure of production has changed accordingly. In the early Iron Age, for example, in the Moselle valley, people hunted mainly herbivores.

During the Neolithic period, in the territories of the modern provinces of Champagne, Alsace and Lorraine, the hunting technique using pits with a V-shaped and Y-shaped profile became widespread.

They were intended for hunting large herbivores. Having entered such a trap, the animal could no longer get out of it. One group of hunters drove the animal into a trap, while the other hunted it there.

A pit of this type was discovered at the Pont-a-Mousson site. It was probably created in the period from 800 to 400 BC, since a settlement found nearby dates from the same period.

At that time, people were mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. But the found trap proves that they also actively used hunting. This probably allowed them to add variety to their diet.

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