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A submerged structure in the Baltic Sea has reignited investigations into prehistoric landscapes covered by the advancing sea and may help scientists understand hunting methods used by Stone Age human groups.
The bottom of the Baltic Sea has returned to the center of archaeological research after scientists initiated a new phase of studies on a row of stones submerged at a depth of 21 meters in the Bay of Mecklenburg, northern Germany.
The structure, known as Blinkerwall, was discovered in 2021, described in a study published in PNAS in 2024, and now serves as a starting point for a broader investigation into possible prehistoric landscapes preserved under the sea.
The SEASCAPE project, launched in May 2025 by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde, aims to analyze the Blinkerwall and search for other similar structures on the Baltic seabed.
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The initiative brings together archaeology, marine geophysics, and paleoenvironmental studies to reconstruct areas that were once dry land before being covered by rising sea levels.
The wall is located about 10 kilometers from Rerik and is almost 1 kilometer long.
According to researchers, the regular alignment of more than 1,500 stones makes a natural formation unlikely and indicates that hunter-gatherer groups may have used the structure to drive reindeer during hunts over 10,000 years ago.
The new phase of studies does not change the original date of the discovery but updates the research context.
The Blinkerwall has ceased to be just an isolated find and has become a guide in the search for other submerged Stone Age remains in the Baltic, including areas indicated by old hydroacoustic records in the Flensburg Fjord and the Fehmarn Belt.
Wall in the Baltic Sea was on dry land before being submerged
Although it is now at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the area was part of a terrestrial landscape at the end of the last glacial period.
The wall is on the southwest side of a natural ridge, near a depression interpreted by researchers as an ancient lake or swamp.
This position helps support the hunting use hypothesis.
According to the study’s authors, the wall and the water’s edge could form a narrow corridor, capable of guiding the movement of animals towards a capture point.
The construction would have occurred before the last major sea level rise in the region, about 8,500 years ago.
Since reindeer disappeared from these latitudes around 11,000 years ago, when the climate warmed and forests advanced, the team considers it likely that the structure was erected before this period.
This interval places the Blinkerwall among the oldest records of human structures ever identified in the Baltic.
The finding also differs from other known Stone Age archaeological sites on the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern coast, which are usually in shallower waters and generally belong to later phases, such as the Mesolithic and Neolithic.
Stones may have been used to guide reindeer during hunts
The main interpretation presented by the scientists is that the row functioned as a guiding barrier.
Instead of indicating a defensive or residential structure, the alignment would have served to guide reindeer in seasonal movement to a choke point, between the wall and the edge of a lake, or even into the water.
Marcel Bradtmöller, from the University of Rostock, stated in material released by the University of Kiel that reindeer were among the main food sources for the human groups living in that post-glacial landscape.
According to him, the wall probably helped direct the animals to a place where Stone Age hunters could more easily kill them.
The interpretation also takes into account comparisons with prehistoric structures identified in other regions.
An example cited by the researchers is Lake Huron, in Michigan, United States, where archaeologists documented submerged stone walls and hunting shelters associated with the capture of caribou, animals equivalent to reindeer in North America.
In the case of the Baltic, the observed similarity lies in the relationship between the wall, the topography, and the ancient water’s edge.
In both environments, according to the study, the structures appear in elevated areas of the terrain and follow natural lines that could limit or guide the movement of herds.
Discovery of the Blinkerwall began during a geological expedition
The identification of the Blinkerwall did not occur in a traditional archaeological excavation.
The first record emerged during a marine geophysics campaign by the University of Kiel, when equipment used to map the seabed revealed the linear pattern of stones.
After the discovery, the researchers communicated the finding to the state agency for culture and monument preservation of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, responsible for coordinating further investigations.
From there, teams from different institutions began to combine geophysical methods, sediment analysis, 3D modeling, and scientific dives to examine the structure and its surroundings.
The studies involved the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde, the University of Kiel, the University of Rostock, the Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, the German Aerospace Center, the Alfred Wegener Institute, and the state preservation agency of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The participation of different areas occurred because the site is submerged and requires investigation methods specific to archaeology and marine geosciences.
Jacob Geersen, the principal author of the study and a researcher at the Leibniz Institute, stated that investigations indicate a low probability of the row having a natural or modern origin.
He mentioned hypotheses such as works related to submarine cables or stone removal, but said that the organization of smaller blocks connecting larger rocks weighs against these explanations.
Research seeks other Stone Age traces at the bottom of the Baltic
The researchers still treat the dating of the structure with caution.
The estimated age is based on the geological context, the reconstruction of the ancient landscape, and the historical presence of reindeer in the region, but new analyses may make this range more precise.
Among the stages mentioned by the team are surveys with side-scan sonar, multibeam echosounders, sediment analysis, and new diving campaigns.
Archaeologists also intend to search for artifacts around the wall that could help interpret the structure.
Another method mentioned by the researchers is luminescence dating, capable of indicating when the surface of a stone was last exposed to sunlight.
If applied to the Blinkerwall, the technique could help estimate more precisely the period in which the blocks were positioned.
The team also reported evidence of similar structures at other points in the Bay of Mecklenburg.
The confirmation of new alignments could expand the available data on spatial organization, cooperation, and hunting methods of hunter-gatherer groups that lived in northern Europe during the transition period between the end of the glacial era and the advance of the sea.
