Goseck Circle
Sonnenobservatorium Goseck | |
A view inside the reconstructed wooden palisade of the circle | |
| Location | Goseck, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany |
|---|---|
| Type | Circular Enclosure |
| Diameter | 75 meters |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 4900 BC |
| Periods | Neolithic |
| Site notes | |
| Discovered | 1991 by Otto Braasch |
| Excavation dates | 2002-2005 |
| Condition | reconstructed |
| Public access | yes |
The Goseck Circle (German: Sonnenobservatorium Goseck) is a Neolithic structure in Goseck in the Burgenlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
It was constructed around 4900 BC, and appears to have remained in use until around 4700 BC. Thus, it may be the oldest and best known of the circular enclosures associated with the Central European Neolithic. Currently, the site is presented officially by the state archaeologists and the local association that looks after it as a ritual or cult structure.
The circle consists of a concentric ditch 75 metres (246 feet) across and two palisade rings containing entrances in places aligned with sunrise and sunset on the winter solstice days and smaller entrances aligned with the summer solstice. Marketing materials have described the site as one of the oldest "Solar observatories" in the world, but sunrise and sunset during winter and summer solstices are the only evident astronomical alignments emphasized in the remains of the structure.
The existence of the site was made public in August 2003. It was opened for visitors in December 2005.