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“Woodhenge” – the first calculations of time
In 1991 in the district of Weißenfels, aerial archaeologists discovered the outlines of a 7000-year-old solar observatory. The massive circular ditch compound precedes Stonehenge by 2000 years and is the oldest known solar observatory in Europe.
For the authentic reconstruction of the solar observatory, 1,675 three-meter-long oak logs were rammed into the ground in the open field.
In Goseck, Neolithic magicians once studied the heavens. Around 4800 BC, the descendants of Europe’s first farmers determined the times for planting and harvesting with the help of the wooden sun temple. Finds seem to indicate that to ensure a good harvest and the protection of the gods, the priests in Goseck resorted to human sacrifice.
For the authentic reconstruction of the solar observatory, 1675 three-meter-long oak logs were rammed into the ground in the open field. Two thousand meters of hand-twisted hemp rope were used to secure them. In addition, the entire palisade was encircled by an almost 1.5 meter deep and 3.5 meter wide ditch and an earthen mound. It is hard to imagine how Stone Age builders with no writing system and with tools made of stone, bone and wood were able to accomplish this feat.
Their 75-meter diameter observatory had three gates. The south gate enabled them to locate the exact point of the sunrise on the December 21st winter solstice around 5000 BC. The southwest gate is directed toward the point where the sun set. In the wooden palisade of the circular compound there are special apertures, so-called time markers, through which the sun’s rays fall on certain days of the year. These include April 9th, May 1st, August 1st and September 4th. On these days 7000 years ago, the people gathered for ritual fests and paid homage to their fertility religion with shamanism. In the 6000 square meter areal, archaeologists found, along with human bones in two sacrificial pits, hundresds of pottery shards and numerous cattle bones confirming this.
A snapshot of the Stone Age
The find in Goseck is a snapshot of the intellectual-religious world of this time period. On the day preceding the longest night of the year, the people watched the life-giving sun set through the southwest gate. At the end of this night, they expectantly awaited the rebirth of the light through the southeast gate. The possibility of determining these days calendrically was the beginning of time calculation for the Stone Age people. Furthermore, the compound served as a market, a place for executions and burials, and a refuge during attacks. There are 200 similar but scarcely excavated sites from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in Europe; 18 of them are in southern Saxony-Anhalt. The reason that the Goseck solar observatory is not as well-known as the barely 3600-year-old stone circle of Stonehenge has to do with building methods. Wooden palisades rot. The Goseck site was only discovered because airborne archaeologists spotted conspicuous discolourations on the field in 1991. Stonehenge, on the other hand, is very hard to overlook.
The solar observatory is the legacy of a culture that is older than Egypt’s pyramids and that in many respects is still shrouded in mystery. A special information centre has been set up in nearby Goseck Castle belonging to the Foundation for Palaces, Castles and Gardens of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. It provides visitors with information about the history of the observatory, its discovery and reconstruction, and the most up-to-date scientific knowledge.
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