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By Elizabeth Rayne Published: Sep 09, 2026 8:30 AM EDT Save Article Share Article Listen (5 min) 5 min Michael Sroka / 500px // Getty Images Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: A team of archaeologists excavating close to Chleby in the Czech Republic unearthed a massive stone monument that was built to follow the solar and lunar cycles. The monument seems to have had a similar purpose to Stonehenge, with two main observation elements and other points that aligned with the axes of the moon and sun. Human remains were buried in a ditch surrounding the site, and the archaeological team will soon be examining these bones and soil samples to find out how people used this enclosure. A thousand years before Stonehenge , a monumental stone structure rose near what is now the municipality of Chleby in the Czech Republic. It was circular and purposely synced to the movements of the cosmos. One observation element of the structure’s two was meant to follow the lunar cycle , during which the moon travels toward more extreme positions until it reverses its course. The other was meant to capture sunrise at the summer solstice and sunset at the winter solstice. Like Stonehenge, the site had a ritual use as seasons waxed and waned—until it was forgotten. Archaeologist Petr Krištuf, of the University of West Bohemia, led the excavation that unearthed this 6,500-year-old structure and identified it as one of the earliest ritual centers that is known to exist in Central Europe. It basically functioned as an enormous calendar. In addition to the two main points for making astrological observations, Krištuf and his team found 12 openings around the perimeter that were linked to the axes of the solar and lunar cycles. Neolithic farmers are thought to have relied on it to guide their timeline of planting and harvesting crops. They would watch the first rays of sun filter in at dawn on the summer solstice, when the sun was high and everything was in bloom, and when the last rays faded in the chill of the winter solstice. It is an unprecedented find in the region. Related Story Archaeologists Dug Up Farmland’s Ancient Burials “For prehistoric farming communities, the connection between sunrise and the summer solstice symbolized a beginning, while sunset and the winter solstice represented an ending,” Krištuf said in a recent press release. “The same principle can be seen along Stonehenge’s main axis. We can now see that the sanctuary at Chleby was designed similarly. Still, more than a thousand years earlier, as we have established from the dating of organic material.” Built by the Bronze Age Únětice culture , the enclosure is surrounded by an eight-foot ditch in which both human and animal bones were found. Funerary rituals may have been associated with the 18 human burials. It appears that people were interred at the site over time, rather than all at once, though the reasons these individuals were chosen—and whether their social or religious status mattered—are still unknown. Near the main entrance, the archaeologists also found the skulls and bones of bulls, which sacred animals across much of prehistoric Europe—the cult of the bull extended from the Aegean Sea in the east to the Danube River in the west. Based on where they were found at the site, the archaeological team believes that the bull skulls used to be mounted at the gate, possibly to imbue the monument with the animals’ power. Related Story A Construction Survey Found an Ancient Celtic Town The Únětice culture occupied a huge area that now comprises western Poland, eastern Germany, the Czech Republic, western Slovakia, and the northern Austria. A combined total of 1,400 Únětice sites have been documented in the Czech Republic and Slovakia alone. Known to have traded Baltic amber along a trade route that brought the fossilized resin to places as far-flung as the graves of ancient Mycenaeans near the Aegean coast, the Únětice also dealt in imported copper and tin. They are thought to have developed the oldest European counting system in the form of tablets called Brotlaibidole (meaning “bread loaf idols”) by the German archaeologists who discovered them. These tablets were made of stone or clay and engraved with repeating geometric shapes meant to keep track of goods and transactions. Krištuf and his team will soon be examining the remains of the dead people buried here to see how they lived and what significance their place of burial had. The team will also analyze soil samples from the site to see what the chemical traces can tell them about how the site was used during different periods. While the structure saw continuous use over millennia, it seems that by the Iron Age , it no longer had the same significance it used to. Elizabeth Rayne Freelancer Elizabeth Rayne is a creature who writes. Her work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Ars Technica, SYFY WIRE, Space.com, Live Science, Den of Geek, Forbidden Futures and Collective Tales. She lurks right outside New York City with her parrot, Lestat. When not writing, she can be found drawing, playing the piano or shapeshifting. 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https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a73611511/stone-sky-calendar/
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