Marine archaeologists using high-resolution sonar and underwater LiDAR have identified a massive complex of Neolithic fish weirs and stone circular foundations submerged off the coast of Anglesey, Wales. The structures, dating back approximately 5,500 years, provide unprecedented evidence of permanent maritime subsistence strategies among early British farming communities during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period.
The site includes over thirty stone-walled traps and the remains of five timber-framed dwellings preserved in the anaerobic silt of the Irish Sea. This discovery suggests that late Neolithic populations were far more sedentary and reliant on sophisticated coastal engineering than previously hypothesized, maintaining fixed infrastructure to exploit seasonal fish migrations.