Goseck Circle – The Oldest Solar Observatory in the World

The strange Goseck Circle is also known as the Goseck Henge, a Neolithic Circle Structure, perhaps one of the oldest solar observatories in the world. The site is located in Goseck in Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony Anhalt in Germany.

The Goseck Circle is known as Circular Enclosures associated with the Central European Neolithic. The Goseck Circle comprises a set of concentric ditches almost 75 meters across and two palisade rings containing gates in places aligned with sunrise and sunset on the solstice days.

It is thought to be built dated to c. 4900 BC and remained useless until 4600 BC. Therefore, Excavators are keenly interested to know the purpose of the Goseck Circle and found the remains of ritual fires, animal-human bones, and headless skeletons adjacent to the southeastern gate. So, many researchers believed, that place could be interpreted as traces of human sacrifice or a specific burial ritual.

Hence there is no sign of fire or of other destruction. Moreover, the place that was abandoned is not confirmed, however later on villagers built a defensive moat following the ditches of the old enclosure. The Goseck ring is one of the best-preserved structures built around the same time. Therefore archaeologists generally agree that the Goseck circle was built for the observation of the course of the Sun in the course of the solar year. Thus, traces of the original configuration disclose, Goseck Ring comprises four concentric circles a mound, a ditch, and two wooden palisades.

In 1991, local surveyors found the structure accidentally, by taking aerial photographs of the area, and then they spotted a gargantuan circular ridge-like structure underneath a wheat field. However, in 2002, a major excavation found palisades had three gates, one facing north, one facing southwest, and the third one facing southeast.

You cannot say it’s a unique circle, as there’re hundreds of similar circles have been found in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Therefore, The Goseck Ring is the largest and most well-preserved one. Moreover, more than two hundred and fifty circular ditches have been found with the help of aerial surveys. Another very noteworthy point is that both Goseck Circle and Stonehenge are on the same latitude.

The wooden palisades were reconstructed before it was opened to the public in 2005. Goseck Circle reveals how ancient people were sophisticated and capable of measuring time, date, and years. The solar observatory has a unique milestone in astronomical history and challenges the stereotypes in archaeology.