Study reveals Rujm el-Hiri’s historic observatory function unlikely

A brand new research by Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reveals groundbreaking findings concerning the well-known Rujm el-Hiri web site (generally known as the “Wheel of Ghosts”) within the Golan Heights. Based on geomagnetic evaluation and tectonic reconstruction, the researchers decided that geodynamic motion over 150 million years, at a mean fee of 8–15 mm per 12 months, brought on important shifts within the floor, rotating and reorienting it over millennia.

This discovering challenges the extensively held idea that the construction was used as an astronomical observatory, as the unique alignment of the partitions and entrances doesn’t correspond to celestial observations, as beforehand hypothesized.

The research was led by a analysis crew headed by Dr. Olga Khabarova and Prof. Lev Eppelbaum of the Department of Geophysics on the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Dr. Michal Birkenfeld of the Department of Archaeology at Ben-Gurion University. The article was revealed within the journal Remote Sensing.

The researchers employed geophysical strategies and distant sensing strategies to exhibit that Rujm el-Hiri’s present orientation differs from its authentic place as a consequence of hundreds of years of geodynamic shifts. This discovery raises new questions concerning the positioning’s potential identification as an observatory.

The crew performed preliminary mapping and documentation of the archaeological panorama inside 30 kilometers across the Sea of Galilee. It visually analyzed the area to establish typical panorama options related to historic human exercise and the reconstruction of archaeological objects.

According to the analysis crew, “The research was based mostly on calculations of the sky map and aligning the instructions of the solstices, equinoxes, and different celestial our bodies as they appeared between 2500–3500 BCE, coordinated with the symmetry and entrances of Rujm el-Hiri in its present place. The findings present that the entrances and radial partitions throughout that historic interval had been completely totally different, reopening the query of the positioning’s goal.”

The research additionally gives the primary complete mapping of the archaeological panorama surrounding Rujm El-Hiri, utilizing superior satellite tv for pc expertise. Unique panorama options had been recognized, together with round buildings with 40–90 meters diameters, thick partitions, and spherical enclosures roughly 20 meters in diameter, which appeared to serve agricultural or herding functions. Dozens of burial mounds (tumuli) had been documented within the space, a few of which had been seemingly used as storage amenities, shelters, or dwellings, along with their conventional function as burial websites.

The researchers conclude, “This new research not solely opens a window to understanding Rujm el-Hiri but in addition enriches our information of historic life within the Golan Heights and the connections between numerous archaeological findings within the space.”