The site at Nowe Objezierze offers a deeper understanding of the cultural and ritualistic practices of early farming communities, website Archaeology Magazine stated.
Directed by professor Lech Czerniak of the University of Gdańsk, the excavation reveals the sophisticated construction, symbolic meanings and societal dynamics associated with these ancient structures.
Rondels are circular enclosures defined by concentric ditches and wooden palisades. They served as distinctive ceremonial hubs of Danubian Neolithic societies beginning around 4800 BCE.
The structures have been found across a wide area, extending from the middle Danube to the Vistula and Rhine rivers.
Believed to have hosted communal rituals aligned with astronomical phenomena like the winter solstice, rondels were integral to Neolithic life for some 300 years.
Their prominence began to wane around 4500 BCE, likely due to changing social dynamics and environmental conditions.
The rondel at Nowe Objezierze is notable for its size and intricate design. With a diameter of 112 meters, it features four concentric ditches and numerous trenches that once supported wooden structures, professor Czerniak noted in his paper ‘Construction, Maintenance and Ritual Practices on the Neolithic Rondel at Nowe Objezierze: The chaîne opératoire of Rondel’s Architecture’.
Researchers conducted a detailed study into the craftsmanship involved and uncovered a detailed process that would have required careful planning and technical skill.
The construction likely required the efforts of hundreds of community members over several years. Wooden structures, likely reinforced with clay and with reed roofs, were erected over the trenches to endure environmental challenges.
