In Current World Archaeology 127, October 2024 [see https://www.world-archaeology.com] we have an article on excavations around the ring sanctuary of Pommelte in Saxony-Anhalt. It is a rich area of monuments and settlements on what is the flood plain of the river Elbe. Aerial photographs in 1991 revealed a circular enclosure. Excavations began somewhat later – in 2005. In 2008 the enclosure had been fully uncovered and it revealed a wooden henge like structure dating from the late 3rd millennium BC. It became known to the media as the German Stonehenge and research has discovered some remarkable similarities. Both structures are roughly the same size and are composed of complex ring sequences made up of ditches, banks and palisades. Also, both have a similar date in construction – around 2500BC [ignoring the earlier henge monument] and finally, there is the connection between the two builders of both monuments [the sarsen rings and Pommelte] and that is the presence of the Bell Beaker culture people.
There are differences – between the contents of the Aubrey Holes and the circular ditch at Pommelte. The latter contained 29 deep shafts filled carefully with selected deposits such as grinding stones, cattle bones and storage and drinking vessels. There were also seven human skeletons that may represent human sacrifice – or some other reason. In contrast, the Aubrey Holes at Stonehenge produced Neolithic cremation burials. Why they were interred at Stonehenge is a mystery. Stonehenge made use of the sarsen stones littering Salisbury Plain but at Pommelte they used wood.
The Unetice culture emerged after 2250BC [the culture that is associated withe the Nebra Sky Disc]. The monuments appear to have been built when an oxbow bend in the Elbe – whereas Stonehenge is closely associated with the river Avon, another similarity. Having said all that it was the Corded Ware culture people that built the first small sanctuary at Pommelte, around 2800BC – again a date coinciding with activity at Stonehenge. The final stage of Corded Ware is dated 2500-2300BC. There are also two clusters of pits used to store differnt types of grain. The contents of just one of them could have fed 700 people for a single year.
Starting next year a DNA analysis will take place.