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Rujm el-Hiri, Israel’s Mysterious “Stonehenge of the East” Is Not Alone, New Research Reveals

Israel’s strange Wheel of Ghosts, first discovered in 1968, turns out not to be so unusual after all, as new research combining remote sensing and AI now confirms the presence of many similar sites in the region.

Situated in the Golan Heights and composed of 40,000 tons of rock, archaeologists estimate the structure to date back between 3,500 and 6,500 years. Commonly referred to as the “Stonehenge of the East,” the site’s official name is Rujm el-Hiri, and it is cast in a decidedly new light in a recent paper published in PLOS One, revealing many similar structures.

Interpreting the Wheel of Ghosts

Existing interpretations have diverged in their explanations of what the Wheel of Ghosts meant to the people who built it. Those explanations run the gamut of what is generally assumed of these mysterious ancient sites: a ceremonial space, a burial mound, or an astronomical observatory.

However, these interpretations all relied on a major assumption that has proven false: that the Wheel of Ghosts is unique to the area.

That basic assumption has now been turned on its head by an international multidisciplinary team of physicists and archaeologists. Their work was rooted in remote sensing, a broad category of tools that have allowed archaeologists to view areas at broad scales, and even image beneath the ground. While such technologies have long existed, their increased adoption among archaeologists has led to major discoveries in the last two decades.

Newly discovered sites surrounding the Wheel of Ghosts maintained the round motif of the original. Credit: M. Birkenfeld
Newly discovered sites surrounding the Wheel of Ghosts maintained the round motif of the original. Credit: M. Birkenfeld

Read Full Article Here… | The Debrief


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