Not exactly helpful information, we know.
It took German archaeologists 11 more years to conclude that the circle was the remains of an ancient observatory, roughly 250 feet in diameter, and with gateways pointed toward sunset, sunrise, and the north. Slightly more informative! Other than that, though? Not a goddamned thing. We have no clue who built this thing, or how (because "Steve" and "carefully" don't make the history books). The structure is at least 7,000 years old -- older than, well, pretty much anything else around, really. Our ancestors back then weren't even supposed to know how wheels worked, never mind how to build something so huge, elaborate, and purposeful. They were supposed to be a bunch of murderous savages bashing each other to pieces. And hey, would you look at that? They totally were!
This wasn't just an elaborate clock, after all -- archaeologists also found the remains of ritual fires and human bones with cut marks on them. This indicates that this circle was not just great for stargazing, but also for human sacrifice.
Anthropology-resources.net
Ancient Germans did not kid around when it came to timeouts.
It makes sense: When you get bored gazing at the majestic stars, you can just do a 180 and take in a nice leisurely murder. So no, we don't know very much at all about the culture that built the circle; we do, however, know a bit about the people who revived it. In 2005, the Goseck people rebuilt the entire circle from scratch.
Karmapanda.com
There's always room for more astrology-themed slaughter, apparently.
We're not saying that the Gosecks are still engaging in brutal and bloody death rituals in an attempt to raise some horrible and ruthless Space God; we just think it's a little weird that no Goseck tourism pamphlet denies it either.
N. Christie is currently traveling the world to determine once and for all what the Seven Wonders of the World really are.
Related Reading: You'd be surprised at the sort of thing people can keep secret- like the secret spire in the Chrysler Building. If impossibly impressive ancient creations are more your bag, check out the dam built in 750 B.C. that worked for more than 1,000 years. Ready for the exciting future of batshit crazy architecture? Click here.
And to further expand your noggin, check out Cracked's De-Textbook: The Stuff You Didn't Know About the Stuff You Thought You Knew.


It's loaded with facts about history, your body, and the world around you that your teachers didn't want you to know. And as a bonus? We've also included the kinkiest sex acts ever described in the Bible.
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