Developments on Wooden Construction Elements Found at La Draga Site

During the most recent excavation season at the Neolithic settlement of La Draga in northeastern Catalonia, archaeologists unearthed a significant set of wooden ruins that provide new insights into the architectural design strategies and construction methods of the ancient inhabitants of this historically important site.

The discoveries included several wooden planks and other structural elements that would have supported houses and possibly other buildings as well. This is according to a statement issued by the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, which has helped sponsor the La Draga excavations.

New Neolithic Construction Secrets Revealed in Catalonia

First discovered in 1990 near the shores of the Lake of Banyoles in the city of Banyoles, La Draga is the only prehistoric lakeside settlement that has ever been found on the Iberian Peninsula. The site was occupied between 5,290 and 5,200 BC, and then again between 5,100 and 4,800 BC (the occupation was interrupted for 100 years by flooding).

Over the years archaeological excavations at La Draga have produced an impressive collection of ruins and artifacts, which shed light on the lives and lifestyles of the Early Neolithic occupants of the Iberian Mediterranean basin. These were some of the region’s earliest farmers and herders, and that makes La Draga endlessly fascinating to researchers seeking to learn more about the earliest agricultural communities that arose in southwestern Europe.

Photograph excavation at the Draga site (Banyoles). (Archaeology Museum of Catalonia)

Latest Discoveries

In June of this year, archaeologists unearthed the large wooden planks and structural supports that are currently creating so much excitement. These elements apparently came from the walls and floors of Neolithic huts, and were made from several different types of wood, primarily boxwood, oak and yew. They were very well-preserved despite the great passage of time, because of the waterlogged, anaerobic (low-oxygen) state of La Draga’s soil (the settlement was built on the Lake of the Banyoles floodplain).

There were further discoveries made during these excavations, as the archaeologists unearthed several types of domestic objects and tools. The list of interesting finds includes various wooden handles, a whisk, a beater, and parts of a shattered basket. It is clear that the Early Neolithic inhabitants of La Draga were skilled woodworkers, and knew how to cut, carve, and shave wood into many useful shapes.

Because of how intact and pristine these wooden objects are, researchers studying them expect to gain many valuable insights into the building practices and daily lifestyle habits of the ancient inhabitants of Catalonia. The structural elements from buildings are some of the largest ever recovered at the site, and as such they are unique items that will deepen archaeology’s understanding of how La Draga was constructed and on what scale.

Items previously found at the La Draga site (Banyoles). (Banyoles City Council/IPHES)

The Story of La Draga, a Truly Rare Neolithic Community

Located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, La Draga is an extraordinarily important Early Neolithic site. Settlements that date back to this era are rarely found in the Mediterranean region (the site is 22 miles or 35 kilometers from that inland sea), and that makes La Draga useful for archaeologists who want to compare developments here with Neolithic innovations from different parts of Europe.

During the first stage of the site’s occupation, residents lived in elevated pile dwellings or stilt houses, which were presumably ideal for living along the shoreline of a lake prone to flooding. Unfortunately, the flooding got bad enough that the site was still abandoned for a century around 5,200 BC.

When occupants returned to La Draga, they continued to live in wooden houses. But they also began to use stone as a building material, especially to make pavement that would have given them firmer ground to build on in the vicinity of the lake.

At its population peak, the second version of the La Draga community was the largest settlement in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. It covered about 3.7 acres (1.5 hectares) of land, some of which is now fully submerged beneath the Lake of Banyoles.

Overall the cultural and material traditions of the earlier and later settlers were the same, indicating that the people who returned to the site were the descendants of those who left it 7,200 years ago.

Whatever challenges it might have created for its Neolithic occupants, La Draga’s lakeside location is ideal for archaeologists, because of the protective qualities of the site’s waterlogged soil. Researchers have been able to recover impressive collections of well-preserved organic materials from the oxygen-depleted earth, including bones, fibers, textiles, seeds, mushrooms, leaves, and of course wood, like that found during the most recent excavations.

One of the most exciting past discoveries at the site was a cache of wooden bows, which are the oldest Neolithic bows ever found in Europe.

A Prehistoric Puzzle Painstakingly Reconstructed

The La Draga project is a collaborative affair involving researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Spanish National Research Council, the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia, the Underwater Archaeology Center of Catalonia, and the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution. Excavations will continue through 2025, as experts continue to put together the pieces of a puzzle that will reveal detailed data about how the prehistoric residents of Catalonia and Spain constructed and maintained their early agricultural communities.

Top image: Excavation at the La Draga archaeological site as of June 2024.      Source: Archaeology Museum of Catalonia

By Nathan Falde