CHLEBY, CZECH REPUBLIC—A monumental structure built some 6,500 years ago has been identified as one of the oldest ritual centers in central Europe, according to a La Brújula Verde report. Located in the central Czech Republic, the circular enclosure measures more than 750 feet in diameter and features a ditch more than eight feet deep. Twelve openings in the perimeter were carefully set in a pattern linked to the cycles of the sun and the moon, explained Petr Krištuf of the University of West Bohemia. Within the enclosure, Krištuf and his colleagues identified two main observation points for tracking the rising and setting of the moon, the sunrise at summer solstice, and the sunset at winter solstice. These axes are also aligned with openings in the enclosure. This monumental calendar would have been used to mark ceremonial activities, as represented by the discovery of bull skulls and horns at the site, and the farming cycle, Krištuf explained. To read about grand funerary monuments built some 7,000 years ago in the Paris Basin, go to "Letter from France: Neolithic Cultural Revolution."
