A new study using advanced remote sensing and data analysis technology has found that it is unlikely that Rujm el-Hiri, an ancient megalithic stone structure that is located in the Golan Heights, was used as an observatory, as a number of people had assumed.
Using “geomagnetic analyzes and tectonic reconstruction work” of land movements on the Golan over time, a team from Tel Aviv University found that Rujm el-Hiri had moved, pivoting at a rate average of 8 to 15 millimeters per year – meaning the site has moved several tens of meters since its construction, which took place around 3000-2700 B.C. the common era.
Rujm el-Hiri is located on a plateau in the central part of the Golan Heights, approximately 16 kilometers from Lake Galilee. Although the site is open to the public, it is only accessible by dirt roads.
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“This discovery challenges the widely held theory that the structure was used as an observatory for astronomy purposes – as the original alignment of the walls and entrances does not match celestial observations, as had previously been assumed.” , said the university.
In the study, the researchers noted that “the Rujm el-Hiri site rotated counterclockwise and shifted several tens of meters from its initial location,” so speculation that the site was “aligned with past celestial bodies is unfounded.”
The study, which is titled “Elements for discussion of the remote sensing study and integrated analysis of the archaeological landscape of Rujm el-Hiri,” was published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Remote Sensing.
-It was carried out by Olga Khabarova, from the Department of Geosciences at Tel Aviv University; by Michal Birkenfeld, Department of Archeology, Ben-Gurion University, and Lev Eppelbaum, Department of Geophysics, Azerbaijan University of Oil and Industry, a state higher education institution.
The site of Rujm el-Hiri – sometimes nicknamed “the Stonehenge of the Levant” – is a series of concentric stone circles surrounding a central mound, with a small chamber. Built using up to 40,000 tonnes of rock, the site has no reason to exist – but some researchers had speculated that it was used for religious rituals linked to the solstices.
Passage to the inner chamber, in the center of the megalithic stone circles of Rujm el-Hiri, in the Golan. (Courtesy of Watkins Publishing)
By “aligning the directions of the solstices, equinoxes and other celestial bodies as they appeared between the year 2500 and 3500 BCE, with the symmetry and entrances of Rujm el-Hiri in its present position… The “The results show that the entrances and radial walls were entirely different during this historical period, which raises the question of the site’s purpose,” the researchers said.
In the plain surrounding Rujm el-Hiri there are many man-made structures dating from the same period – and using satellite technology and remote sensing tools, the team was able to provide “the first comprehensive mapping of the landscape archaeological” of the region, according to the study.
The team discovered “unique features of the landscape” including “circular structures of 40 to 90 meters in diameter, thick walls and round enclosures of approximately 20 meters in diameter, which appeared to be used for agriculture or breeding. Dozens of burial mounds have been documented in the region. Some probably served as warehouses, shelters or dwellings, in addition to their traditional role as burial sites,” the researchers explained.
In their conclusions, the scientists noted that their results invited “comparative studies with other megalithic structures and burial mounds around the world”, emphasizing “the need for continued interdisciplinary research combining archaeological, geophysical and paleo-environmental data in order to better understand the origins and purposes of these monuments.”
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