Pömmelte Ring Sanctuary
Ringheiligtum Pömmelte · Zackenheiligenberg
Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age·Bell Beaker → Únětice / Early Bronze Age·🇩🇪 Saxony-Anhalt, Salzlandkreis, Germany
About
About Pömmelte Ring Sanctuary
Late Neolithic / Early Bronze Age ring sanctuary near Schönebeck: seven concentric rings of posts/pits/ditches 115 m diameter, with successive palisades and enclosure ditches forming monumental timber-earth architecture dated c.2300 BCE (Bell Beaker / Early Únětice). Contains ritual pit deposits of children, adolescents and ceramics, and archaeoastronomical alignments. Described as German Stonehenge. Fully reconstructed post rows after excavation 2005-08 and careful experimental reconstruction.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Child sacrifices in pits — age-selected?
Theories
- 01Continuity from Neolithic circle tradition to Bronze Age Únětice power
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 2300 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age
- Culture
- Bell Beaker → Únětice / Early Bronze Age
- Purpose
- Ritual and burial sanctuary with astronomical orientation
- Abandoned
- c.2100 BCE
- Rediscovered
- Aerial 1999; excavation 2005-08 Spatzier
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 2300 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1265 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
51.9972° N · 11.8028° E · 52 m · 2 mapped features
Outer Ring Posts
post circleReconstructed outer timber posts 115 m diameter
51.9972° N · 11.8028° ERitual Pit Deposit
pitCentral pits with ceramic and human deposits
51.9971° N · 11.8027° E