Several unexpected discoveries showing a significant Neolithic settlement in a Swiss municipality have prompted officials to start a multi-million-pound excavation project in the region.

Archaeologists have been called into a dig in and around the municipality of Naters in the Swiss canton of Valais after several spectacular and unexpected finds, including a 3,000-year-old dolmen under the Don Bosco Celtic burial grounds in 2018.

They also discovered an almost six-Millennia-old settlement in 2004 in the site in the municipality of Naters, but that excavation was stopped due to rising groundwater levels.

However, now money has been put aside specifically to investigate archaeological heritage with Swiss officials putting aside a grant of CHF 8 Million (GBP 6,3 Million) not only for the excavation project of the settlements but for future research and analyses as well.

The team say they are excited to see how a planned approach to excavating the regions archaeological history will work out given the significance of the finds already found entirely by accident.

The dolmen was discovered during construction work on an underground car park of the Don Bosco site in Sion, while the Neolithic settlements were initially found 17 years ago in the city of Naters during an expansion of the city’s senior citizen centre.

Ever since its discovery researchers have examined the dolmen’s stone slabs to see if they were engraved and try and ascertain if human remains are still present, or if these have been washed away during the flooding of the La Sionne river. The Neolithic dolmen is considered a prehistoric masterwork of Europe-wide significance.

Archaeologists have so far found many artefacts including fragments of ornate ceramic vases, blades and arrowheads made of flint and rock crystals at the Naters archaeological site.

The current project covers a total area of 3,500 square metres (over 37,000 square feet) which should be explored by 20 specialists over a period of 20 months (2021-2022).

Former Swiss National Museum curator and Neolithic scientists Samuel van Willigen who is taking part in the project said: “The settlements were located on the alluvial fan of the Kelchback river.”

“It is now up to us to find all the artefacts and understand the structure of these settlements and in the long term, perhaps find out the reason for their disappearance.”