- Title: Europe's drought exposes ancient stones, World War Two ships as waters fall
- Date: 20th August 2022
- Summary: SIRMIONE, ITALY (AUGUST 16, 2022) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE FLYING OVER ROCKY BEACH EMERGED FROM THE WATER OF LAKE GARDA VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON EMERGED BEACH PRAHOVO, SERBIA (AUGUST 18, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS DRONE FOOTAGE OF REVEALED WORLD WAR TWO SHIPWRECKS ON SAND ISLAND IN MIDDLE OF DANUBE RIVER
- Embargoed: 3rd September 2022 08:09
- Keywords: Europe Germany Italy Serbia Spain Stone Henge bomb discoveries drought hunger stones weather
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Environment,Weather,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA005931518082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A brutally hot summer has caused havoc for many areas around Europe, with countries suffering their worst droughts in decades.
But one unexpected side effect has been the uncovering of history that had been hidden for years under some of the biggest bodies of water.
Weeks of baking temperatures and scant rainfall have drained water levels in some of the continent’s biggest lakes and rivers, causing delays to shipping and destroying farmers’ livelihoods. But the low water levels have also uncovered some seldom seen pieces of history.
In Spain’s central province of Caceres, archaeologists were delighted when the water in the Valdecanas reservoir receded so far it exposed the rarely visible Dolmen of Guadalperal.
Dubbed the Spanish Stonehenge, the circle of dozens of megalithic stones is believed to date back to 5000 BC.
It was discovered by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in 1926, but the area was flooded in 1963 in a rural development project under Francisco Franco's dictatorship.
Since then it has only become fully visible four times.
Similarly in Germany, the water level in the River Rhine has dropped to reveal usually submerged boulders with decades-old dates carved into them.
However, the reappearance of the so-called ‘hunger stones’ has not been welcome among Germans who see it as a warning and reminder of the hardships people faced during former droughts.
The Italian army in early August was called in to carry out a controlled explosion of a World War Two bomb discovered in the low water after the River Po dried up.
The country is facing its worst drought in 70 years and the areas around the Po have declared a state of emergency.
The 1000-pound bomb was discovered by fishermen in the small northern town of Borgo Virgilio on July 25.
The 3,000 residents had to be evacuated and the bomb squads transferred the device, which contained 240 kilograms of explosive, to a quarry.
Italy’s largest lake and major tourist destination Lake Garda has also suffered in the drought and recently a rocky beach emerged in Sirmione.
The bed of rocks had not been revealed for many years and tourists were seen enjoying the newly discovered beach.
Europe's worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of dozens of explosives-laden German warships sunk during World War Two near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo.
The vessels were among hundreds scuttled along the Danube by Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet in 1944 as they retreated from advancing Soviet forces, and still hamper river traffic during low water levels.
However, this year's drought - viewed by scientists as a consequence of global warming - has exposed more than 20 hulks on a stretch of the Danube near Prahovo in eastern Serbia, many of which still contain tonnes of ammunition and explosives and pose a danger to shipping.
(Production: Mindy Burrows, Natasa Bansagi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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