Pile dwellings as a way of human existence in a specific microenvironment are particularly characteristic of the prehistoric period, from the Neolithic-Young Stone Age, Eneolithic-Copper Age, Bronze and Iron Ages. In 1977, the first underwater archeological excavations in Macedonia were carried out at the site of Ploca Micov Grad, in the Bay of Bones, along the southern coast of the Gradiste peninsula, near the village of Pestani. Researchers at the bottom of the lake recorded 6,000 wooden stakes in research campaigns conducted occasionally from 1997 to 2005.
At a depth of three to five meters, numerous wooden piles were discovered hanging at the bottom of the lake and numerous movable archeological material with chronological affiliation at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, ie from 1200 BC. to 700 AD It is assumed that this and other similar settlements on Lake Ohrid belong to the time when the first tribal populations began to be profiled, ie, to the time of the existence of the Brigids, the oldest tribal community in this area, which is, in fact, an integral element of the ancient Macedonian ethnic substratum.
Based on the measurements of the large area of the settlement, it was concluded that it covered an area of about 8500 m2. The remains of the settlement were discovered ten meters from the shore of the Bay of Bones, on the southern shore of the Gradiste peninsula, in a length of 155 meters (west-east) and 55 meters (north-south). It was built on a platform placed on wooden piles nailed to the bottom of the lake, and with a wooden bridge the settlement was connected to the mainland. Research has shown that at the bottom of the lake in the area of this settlement there is a striking concentration of targets, especially fragmented ceramic vessels, stone artifacts and fragmented animal bones. Circular ceramic tiles of different diameters with two, three or four circular openings are especially present within the moving archeological material. It is assumed that these items were used as fishing gear by the then inhabitants of the settlement. From the ceramic objects there are also various forms of vertebrae, conical and biconical, as well as objects for ritual needs-altars. Stone tools are mainly fragments of hand-held grain mills, as well as whole, smooth elliptical stone objects that have certainly served as tools for washing clothes. Among the many bone fragments of domestic animals, there are fragments of deer antlers that probably served as tools. Within this museum complex on the flattened plateau is presented a fortress-Roman castle from the III century BC. which allows us to consider another time in Macedonian history and archeology.