Archaeological discoveries reveal unknown siege in Czechia and ancient desert tombs

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a previously unknown siege at Pernštejn Castle in the Czech Republic. During excavations at the first outer bailey, researchers from Archaia Brno discovered over 60 fragments of stone cannonballs. These findings validate a single historical chronicle describing a 1424 siege of the Hussite castle by Catholics, an event previously dismissed by historians as fiction.

The excavation also revealed a large economic building dating from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries and unique defensive fortifications featuring ‘trousers embrasures’ (kalhotové střílny), which are rare in the Czech Republic. Other artifacts found include coins, ceramics, and metalwork.

In North Africa, satellite imagery has revealed nearly 300 massive stone circles in the Atbais Desert, spanning southern Egypt and northeastern Sudan. Researchers suggest these structures, some exceeding 80 meters in diameter, served as tombs for an elite nomadic culture that existed roughly 7,000 years ago, predating the Egyptian pyramids.

These stone circles provide insight into pastoralist communities that inhabited the region during a period of intense desertification. Experts note that while nomadic groups did not build permanent temples, they established significant funerary monuments, filling a major gap in the archaeological map of prehistoric Northeast Africa.