The Old World is a reference to those parts of Earth known to Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus; it includes Europe, Asia and Africa.
Of course whenever a building is found which has no immediately obvious purpose the archaeologists fall back on "ritual" in order to have a handy label.
Discovery of 4,000-Year-Old Structure in Greece Stumps Archaeologists and Threatens Major Airport Construction
The mystifying Minoan structure, unearthed on a hilltop in Crete, is one of 35 newly announced archaeological finds in the area
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
I read that article some time ago. This is not an extreme or rare case. When I made a similar remark under a different article, one person who responded told me that his archaeology professor taught the students to do that. He said the professor said 'if you do not understand it, make it religious' (paraphrased)
I see this taking place in a variety of discoveries however, the most recent discovery in Saudi Arabia the archaeologists actually labeled the standing stones as support for homes. While I like this twist for a change, those structures could have housed businesses as well.
When I visited the Roman/Greek ruins at Pompeii, Ephesos and Corinth the guides made it a point to note that where businesses were established on the ground floors on the various streets (this version of Corinth was the Roman city after the Romans had leveled the Greek city in 147 BCE) they would point to holes on the upper walls. Those holes served to anchor support beams for an upper floor. There it was said that the family which operated the business would live.
So the concept of business and residential property was somewhat intertwined. Similarly, in rural settings, people tended to live on the upper floor of houses and would bring the animals into the ground floor at night for safety.
But you are right. It is refreshing that they didn't just call it an "altar!"
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.