World's oldest calendar discovered.

British archaeologists believe they have found the world's oldest lunar calendar, dating back approximately 10,000 years, in a field in Scotland.

This illustrates how pits would work in a Scottish field. Photo: BBC.

A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham, during excavations, discovered 12 pits in a field near Crathes Castle. These pits depicted the phases of the moon and tracked the lunar months. Scientists concluded that this ancient structure was created during the hunter-gatherer era 10,000 years ago, according to the BBC.

The series of pits at Warren Field were first discovered in 2004. Experts analyzed them as the remnants of wooden stakes that were previously driven into the ground. This calendar dates back to the Stone Age, more than a thousand years older than other timekeeping structures in Mesopotamia.

Professor Vince Gaffney, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham who led the research project, said: “The evidence suggests that hunter-gatherer societies in Scotland had the need and ability to accurately track the lunar calendar by season nearly 5,000 years ago, before the first known formal calendars emerged in the Near East.”

“The discovery provides exciting new evidence for the early Stone Age in Scotland,” said Dr. Richard Bates of the University of St Andrews.

Archaeologist Dr. Shannon Fraser said: "This is a remarkable site that offers a glimpse into the cultural life of people 10,000 years ago, enriching our understanding of people in the past, their relationship with time and the sky."

According to VnExpress - VT