Nabta Playa: The World’s First Astronomical Site Was Built in Africa and Is Older Than Stonehenge | Discover Magazine
▻https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/nabta-playa-the-worlds-first-astronomical-site-was-built-in-africa
The stone circle of Nabta Playa marks the summer solstice, a time that coincided with the arrival of monsoon rains in the Sahara Desert thousands of years ago.
Credit: Wikimedia Commonslégende sur WP : Cercle de pierres orientées de Nabta Playa, reconstitution dans les jardins du musée de la Nubie à Assouan.
This 7,000-year-old stone circle tracked the summer solstice and the arrival of the annual monsoon season. It’s the oldest known astronomical site on Earth.
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Located in Africa, Nabta Playa stands some 700 miles south of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. It was built more than 7,000 years ago, making Nabta Playa the oldest stone circle in the world — and possibly Earth’s oldest astronomical observatory. It was constructed by a cattle worshiping cult of nomadic people to mark the summer solstice and the arrival of the monsoons.
“Here is human beings’ first attempt to make some serious connection with the heavens," says J. McKim Malville, a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado and archaeoastronomy expert.