The Goseck Circle is an unusual Neolithic structure in Goseck (Burgenlandkrais district, Saxony-Anhalt). The Goseck circle was accidentally discovered in 1991 while surveying the area from an airplane, and it was then that the pilots noticed mysterious outlines in a wheat field. Unfortunately, the preservation of the ancient building has been badly worn by the time, but the reconstruction has returned it to its original appearance.
The Gosek circle, consisting of two log circles with three gates in well-defined places, is ringed with a small moat. On certain days, the sun's rays penetrate through these gates, which confirms the theory of scientists: this Neolithic structure is one of the oldest observatories in the world.
The excavations were carried out by experts from the University of Halle-Wittenberg in 2002. Researchers were able to establish that the southern passages accurately mark the days of the summer and winter solstices. The accuracy and quality of the calculation of the circle indicate that the ancient creators of the "celestial calendar" had a fairly good knowledge of astronomy, but its exact use is an inexhaustible source of the most heated debate.
It is estimated that the observatory was built in 4900 BC. and most likely was the first of its kind. In ancient Europe, the "solar cult" was widespread, so the building was used in a special ritual, possibly with the introduction of human sacrifices. During the initial investigation of the Gosek circle, archaeologists unearthed several human bones, including a decapitated skeleton.
It is worth noting that a disk was found 25 km from Gosek, on which one of the world's oldest ideas about our solar system was displayed. In the place where it was found, there was a similar structure in the shape of a ring, which is 14-15 centuries younger than the Gosek circle. There is no doubt that the cosmological scheme depicted on the disc is the result of centuries of sky observations, the basis of which was laid in the Goseck circle.
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It is also surprising that in such dark, by our standards, times, people sought to gain knowledge about the structure of the universe outside the already unexplored Earth. But who or what could have prompted people to such thoughts is a question that no one will answer.