There are many different ancient monuments throughout the world, many of which we have no idea why they were originally constructed. One example of this is known as Rujm el-Hiri, though it is often called the wheel of Ghosts or the Levantine Stonehenge.

This large monument is believed to be about 5000 years old. It was first uncovered in 1968.

The structure has a central cairn, with several concentric circles around it. It is made up of basalt stones, and the circles are connected together with several radial walls. This is a large monument with the outer circumference being around 500 meters (1640 feet) and a diameter of 150 meters (492 feet).

A study came out in 1998 that suggested that the axes and the entrances of the structure  were aligned with celestial bodies such as the solstices, equinoxes, Sirius, and others. This led most experts to believe that the monument was used for astronomical purposes.

More recently, however, researchers found that the tectonic blocks in this area move slowly over time, which would mean that the monument did not line up as previously thought. The tectonic blocks move around 8-15 millimeters (.3-.6 inches) per year.

The researchers who discovered this published a study in the journal Remote Sensing, and said:

“The region’s integrated geophysical analysis […] reveals that the Rujm el-Hiri site has rotated counterclockwise and shifted from its original location by tens of meters. This means that the current orientation of the radial walls and entrances was not the same as ~4000–2000 BCE, and the speculations that they were aligned with celestial bodies of the past are not supported.”

With these findings, it is unlikely that the monument was used as an observatory or anything else to do with astronomy.

While learning more about any ancient monument is good, this essentially puts researchers back at square one when it comes to determining what the monument was built for.

Whatever it was for, this is a cool monument.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?