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Founded: 8900 B.C.Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Estonia
Historical period: The Mesolithic Period (Estonia)
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Pulli settlement is the oldest known human settlement in Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating, Pulli was settled around 11,000 years ago. A dog tooth found at the settlement is the first evidence for the existence of the domesticated dog in the territory of Estonia.
In all 1175 different items were excavated at the Pulli settlement, among them tools used by people of the Mesolithic period, most of them made of flint. Many items were arrowheads made of flint. A few items made of bone were found too, such as fishhooks and accessories made of animal claws.
The people who lived at Pulli probably moved there from the south after the ice had melted, moving along the Daugava river in Latvia, then along the Latvian-Estonian coast of the Baltic Sea, and finally to the mouth of the Pärnu river. In 9000 BC, the Pulli settlement was located exactly where the Pärnu river flows into the Baltic sea, but today it is about 14-16 kilometers upstream from the sea.
Through almost the entire Stone Age, the Estonian area is clearly discernible as an original technocomplex, in which quartz dominates as the material for small tools produced by a splitting technique. The only exception is the Pulli site with its extensive use of imported flint.
The Pulli settlement was discovered in 1967 during excavation of sand from the right bank of the River Pärnu. Archaeological excavations were carried out in 1968-73 and 1975-76 by the Estonian archaeologist L. Jaanits.
References:The Petersberg Citadel is one of the largest extant early-modern citadels in Europe and covers the whole north-western part of the Erfurt city centre. It was built after 1665 on Petersberg hill and was in military use until 1963. It dates from a time when Erfurt was ruled by the Electors of Mainz and is a unique example of the European style of fortress construction. Beneath the citadel is an underground maze of passageways that can be visited on guided tours organised by Erfurt Tourist Office.
The citadel was originally built on the site of a medieval Benedictine Monastery and the earliest parts of the complex date from the 12th century. Erfurt has also been ruled by Sweden, Prussia, Napoleon, the German Empire, the Nazis, and post-World War II Soviet occupying forces, and it was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). All of these regimes used Petersberg Citadel and had an influence on its development. The baroque fortress was in military use until 1963. Since German reunification in 1990, the citadel has undergone significant restoration and it is now open to the public as a historic site.