An incredible discovery may change everything we thought we knew about ancient humans.
The Bruniquel Cave, located in southwestern France, was discovered in 1990. Inside, 1,100 feet from the cave’s entrance and within the largest chamber, nearly 400 stalagmite fragments were found purposefully arranged.
The broken rock formations had been constructed into two rings—one 13 feet by 23 feet across, the other 7 feet—and in four piles.
The rings, measuring at most just over a foot high, had some stalagmites wedged as vertical supports.
Ripped from the cave floor, a number of the sections showed signs of having been scorched, with blackened, reddened surfaces, cracked from heat damage. Burnt bones were also found.
Twenty-six years after the cave re-discovery, scientists have now pinpointed a date—give or take 2,000 years—of the edifices’ construction.
