An ancient and enigmatic Middle Eastern stone circle may not be a prehistoric astronomical observatory after all, according to a new study of satellite images. But some criticism may be wrong, an expert in ancient astronomy told Live Science.
Archaeologists believe that the oldest parts of Rujm el-Hiri (meaning “Wild Cat Stone Pile” in Arabic) were built more than 6,000 years ago. The site is in the disputed Golan Heights region, claimed by both Israel and Syria.
Some previous investigations have suggested that the gaps in the stone circle correspond to astronomical events, such as summer and winter solstices – the shortest and longest nights, respectively – and the monument has been compared to the monument in England Stonehenge.
But the new study’s geomagnetic analysis and tectonic reconstruction indicate that the entire landscape around Rujm el-Hiri and the neighboring Sea of Galilee has changed over time, according to the study published Nov. 14 in the review Remote sensing.
“The location of Rujm el-Hiri has moved tens of meters from its original position over the thousands of years of the object’s existence,” the authors wrote – a discovery that raises the question of whether it served as an ancient astronomical observatory.
But the astronomer CE Kruppdirector of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, told Live Science that the dislocation had not been quantified in the new research, so she could not determine whether Rujm el-Hiri had previously shown astronomical alignments.
The ancient stones of Rujm el-Hiri
Lead author of the study Olga Khabarovaspace physicist at Tel Aviv University in Israel, told Live Science that researchers used satellite photographs to study Rujm el-Hiri and the surrounding landscape – a method particularly useful in remote areas or politically sensitive territories like the Golan Heights.
Research revealed that Rujm el-Hiri was just one of thousands of prehistoric structures that had been built in the area, including circular structures; stone-walled enclosures that appear to have been used for agriculture; and “tumuli”, mounds which may have been used for burials, habitations or storehouses.
The ancient stone circle is in the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967, but the territory is still claimed by Syria. It consists of several concentric circles, the largest of which is approximately 150 meters in diameter, made of piles of basalt stones that reach another 8 feet (2.5 m) high.
The monument is called Gilgal Refaim in Hebrew (meaning “Wheel of the Giants”) and is open to the public, but it can only be accessed by dirt roads and few people venture there anymore, Khabarova said. Even when the stone circle was built, the area was expected to be a rugged mountainous region next to the more favorable shores of the Sea of Galilee, she said.
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Contested alignments
Khabarova said the new analysis indicated that geological processes had rotated the nearby landscape counterclockwise after the construction of Rujm el-Hiri, meaning an alignment was unlikely. valid astronomical value can be deduced from its current position.
The analysis of Rujm el-Hiri’s location is only a short section of the new paper, but the astronomical angle has been picked up by several media outlets, including the Israel Times.
Krupp, expert in ancient astronomy and author of “Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations” (Dover, 2003), noted that the article from 1998 who proposed astronomical alignments at Rujm el-Hiri had not claimed that it was a prehistoric observatory. Instead, that article only asserted that Rujm el-Hiri may have been “a ritual space that incorporated certain celestial alignments to serve a symbolic function,” it said in an email.
Additionally, the latest research paper did not quantify the extent of landscape rotation or the distance traveled from its original position. It was therefore not possible to determine whether the proposed astronomical alignments were incorrect, Krupp said.