An extraordinary discovery in southern Serbia sheds light on the origins of sedentary life in Europe. Archaeologists have uncovered an 8,000-year-old house in Svinjarička Čuka, providing new insights into early agricultural societies and the spread of Neolithic innovations in the Balkans. Were the first farming societies in Europe nomadic, or were they (seasonally) sedentary? How did sedentary life spread between Anatolia and Europe, and how did the first sedentary people influence agricultural techniques on our continent? An Austrian-Serbian team of archaeologists, led by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), discovered the remains of a rectangular house in Svinjarička Čuka, built around 8,000 years ago. “The new finds in Svinjarička Čuka provide significantly new insights and data that are likely to change previous models on the development of settlement in the Balkans,” says Barbara Horejs, archaeologist and scientific director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the ÖAW. The building, constructed from wattle and daub combined with wooden posts and exceptionally well-preserved by fire, offers crucial clues to the construction methods and way of life of these early agricultural pioneers. Read moreSection: NewsHistory & ArchaeologyAncient PlacesEuropeRead Later