Archaeologists excavate an ancient Iron Age house in Torikos, Greece - the oldest ever found.

The archaeology team got a real surprise

When they dug at a well-known Mycenaean site in Greece, located south of Athens. Excavating near Torikos, researchers from the University of Göttingen in Germany discovered the ruins of a large house dating back to the 9th or 10th century B.C. - the period of the ancient Greek Iron Age.

Some incredibly ancient ruins have been found on the Attic Peninsula around Athens

But it is the oldest surviving structure of this time found in the region. Archaeologists are now investigating this unique Bronze Age and Greek Iron Age building.

The house, some 3,000 years old, was discovered in an area where silver mining was common in ancient times

Located about 60 kilometers south of Athens, near the eastern coast of mainland Greece, the abandoned silver mine complex of Torikos has already produced some amazing finds, including tombs and the remains of a large ancient settlement with houses, factories, religious sanctuaries, a theater and a cemetery, dating back to the time of the Mycenaean Bronze Age (1750-1050 BC). The Mycenaeans created the first truly Greek modern culture on mainland Greece, which served as the basis for the later Archaic era of ancient Greek civilization that arose in the area.

Structures dating back to the Mycenaean era were discovered in an unexpected location just 20 meters from the nearest beach

This means that sea levels were lower in this area 3,000 years ago and there was no danger of flooding. In the eighth century B.C., the inhabitants of this area began to build their buildings about 100 meters above sea level, indicating that sea levels rose at this time. In 2019, archaeologists from the University of Göttingen discovered what they assumed was a fifth-century B.C. wall corner protrusion on the southeast hillside, which made sense given the known changes in building methods over the past three centuries. But when they began to investigate this anomalous wall, the German researchers realized that they had misidentified what had been found. And, more importantly, they had gotten the dating wrong. "It turned out that there was no burial there, but a building from the 10th to 9th centuries B.C.," said Dr. Johannes Bergemann, director of the Archaeological Institute at the University of Göttingen.

Over the past 12 months, the archaeological team has been busy completing the excavation and investigation of this unique ancient structure

The scientists found that the building consisted of five or six rooms, and the largest space was an extensive paved courtyard.

The early Greek Iron Age is often referred to as the Greek Dark Age

This is related to the trauma associated with the relatively sudden collapse of Mycenaean Greek culture, after which the region returned to a more fragmented and chaotic state. After more than 200 years of turmoil, the eighth century BC witnessed a gradual revival of a more unified and recognizable Greek culture, marked by population growth and the formation of new states and cities, as well as a return to literacy, artistry, and monumental architecture. Although the recently discovered structure was built during the so-called Dark Age, there is no doubt that at least some knowledge inherited from the Mycenaeans was preserved. The structure on the hillside was likely built by people of considerable means, indicating that the so-called Dark Age of Greece was not as dark as previously thought. In the coming months, excavations will resume at the newly discovered site of the early Greek Iron Age. Under the patronage of the Gerda Henkel Foundation in Düsseldorf, archaeologists from the University of Göttingen will seek to uncover more secrets about the mysterious culture of the early Greek Iron Age in mainland Greece.

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