Neolithic constructions, Roman bridges and complete basilicas are among the archaeological sites revealed by the global drought.

Photo: Pablo Bláquez Domínguez / Getty Images.

Neolithic constructions, Roman bridges and complete basilicas are among the archaeological sites revealed by the global drought.

At the same time that the north of the American continent is facing a widespread mega-drought, a phenomenon of a similar magnitude is hitting Europe.

After the impact of the Anzores anticyclone —a meteorological phenomenon that typically regulates the planet's rainy season—, a series of archaeological sites have emerged from the extreme drought.

These are just some of them.

Guadalperal Dolmen, in Spain

A circle of prehistoric stones was discovered in the bed of the Tagus River, almost completely dry.

Photo: Pablo Bláquez Domínguez / Getty Images.

The extreme drought that is plaguing the entire European continent is taking a significant toll on access to water for millions of people.

Cáceres, the second largest province in Spain, is not exempt from the consequences of the extreme heat wave in the country.

On the contrary, after suffering historical lows in its main bodies of fresh water,

a circle of prehistoric stones was discovered in the bed of the Tagus River, almost completely dry.

Officially known as the Guadalperal Dolmen, this could be the largest Neolithic site ever found on the Iberian Peninsula.

Archaeologists refer to it as the 'Spanish Stonehenge', due to its size and estimated age.

Lowering into a local reservoir completely exposed it, allowing researchers to take a closer look.

Therefore, this is one of the best examples of archaeological sites that emerged after the global drought.

Pons Neronianus, in Italy

Pons Neronianus: one of the iconic bridges built by Emperor Nero, 2,000 years ago.

Photo: Oliver Weiken/picture alliance via Getty Images.

The drought has manifested itself in Italy with increasingly abrasive periods.

The Tiber River has been one of the most notorious victims in the entire country, due to the millenary history that its flow carries.

Only with respect to the previous year, documents the AFP, the volume of the river fell by a full meter.

Naturally, Italian rivers are not the only ones that suffer from climatic conditions.

Other bodies of water, such as ancient lakes and ponds, are also feeling ecological pressure.

Almost by accident, lack of water is bringing ancient Roman structures to life.

Perhaps the most imposing of these is the Pons Neronianus: one of the iconic bridges built by Emperor Nero 2,000 years ago.

Bronze Age city in Iraq

While entire towns in the UK are disappearing beneath the waves, Bronze Age cities are emerging in the Middle East.

Photo: University of Tübingen / eScience Center / Kurdistan Archeology Organization.

Southern Iraq is one of the regions most affected by the climate crisis.

To prevent crops from drying out, local farmers have chosen to draw considerable volumes of water from the Tigris River, which has never been this dry in millennia.

Specifically, from the Mosul reservoir: one of the most important freshwater reserves in the country.

While entire towns in the UK are disappearing beneath the waves, Bronze Age cities are emerging in the Middle East.

Due to the intense drought that the Tigris River is suffering, a city built 3,400 years ago appeared in southern Iraq.

In the center of it, archaeologists from the University of Tübingen found a perfectly preserved ancient palace.

This has been one of the most notorious archaeological sites that the drought has revealed.

Temple of Quechula, in Mexico

Some of its main walls collapsed due to environmental conditions, but the skeleton of the basilica remains.

Photo: MARIO VAZQUEZ DE LA TORRE / AFP.

The Dominican order arrived in New Spain with a single mission: to colonize the souls of the original settlers in the New World.

With this premise, the priests of the order of Santo Domingo arrived in America in the 16th century, and spread throughout the current Mexican territory.

One of his most significant conquests was that of present-day southeastern Mexico.

The colonial heritage of the Dominican order can be seen in multiple temples and basilicas that were erected on the site of former local places of worship.

This is how the Quechula temple was built.

For centuries, the river water kept the temple below the surface.

However, it was exposed for the first time after the construction of the Malpaso dam in 1966. Some of its main walls collapsed due to environmental conditions, but the skeleton of the basilica remains.

So much so that, due to the drought that afflicts Grijalva today, more than half of the Temple of Santiago has been left uncovered.

If in the 16th century it was crowned by ostentatious quarry ornaments, today the ruins are crowned by herons that fish in the flow.

The 'Hunger Stones' in the Czech Republic

The Hunger Stones, in the Czech Republic.

They are interpreted as a warning that difficult times and shortages are approaching due to the damage that has occurred to the crops.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In a chilling harbinger of things to come, so-called hunger stones have also appeared in the Elbe River near the town of Děčín in the Czech Republic, according to The New York Times.

One of the stones found here has caused great commotion, this was engraved for the first time in the fifteenth century and emerged until 1616. At that time, the people who lived near the river engraved the phrase: If you see me, cry.

These types of marks were left by past populations to remember the droughts they faced.

They are also interpreted as a warning that difficult times and shortages are approaching due to the damage that has occurred to the crops.

Ships of the Second World War, in Serbia

More than a dozen German ships from World War II have surfaced in Serbia's Danube River due to low water levels.

Photo: Getty Images.

More than a dozen German ships from World War II have surfaced in Serbia's Danube River due to low water levels.

The drought has once again exposed the ships of the Nazi fleet that sunk in 1944. Although they are not actually archaeological sites, they have only been investigated after the drought.

As a reminder of what happened more than 70 years ago, these ships, located near the city of Prahovo, are still loaded with almost 10 thousand pieces of explosives that were not used after the withdrawal of the Germans before the advancing Soviet army.

A bomb from the same war was found by fishermen in the Po River in Italy.

According to the BBC, experts removed the 450-kilogram device and made it explode safely, for which some 3,000 people were evacuated from a town near the city of Mantua.

(Taken from National Geographic)

See also:

Drought in China reveals hidden statues under the Yangtze River

Drought in Europe leaves shocking images of its famous rivers without water