Reconstruction (model) of the Künzing-Unternberg rondel, Museum Quintana,Künzing, Lower BavariaArchaeological cultures in Neolithic Europe of the late 5th millennium BC. The Central European cultures associated with roundels (Lengyel,Stroked Pottery,Rössen) are indicated in yellowReconstruction of circular ditches atHeldenberg,Lower AustriaTheGoseck circle, GermanySketch of the layout of theGoseck circle, with indication of the direction of sunrise and sunset onwinter solstice[1]Aerial image of a Neolithic rondel enclosure from Drzemlikowice, SW Poland
Only a few examples approximate a circular form; the majority are only very approximately circular or elliptic. One example atMeisternthal is an exact ellipse with identifiable focal points.The distribution of these structures seems to suggest a spread from the middle Danube (southern Slovakia and western Hungary) towards the west (Lower Austria,Lower Bavaria) along the Danube and to the northwest (Moravia,Bohemia,Saxony-Anhalt) following theElbe. They precede the comparable circularearthwork ortimber enclosures known fromGreat Britain andIreland, constructed much later during c. 3000 to 1000 BC (late Neolithic to Bronze Age).But, by contrast to the long lifetime of the "Megalithic" culture, the time window during which the NeolithicRoundels were in use is surprisingly narrow, lasting only for about 200–300 years (roughly 49th to 47th centuries BC).[3]
The earliest roundel to be described was the one at Krpy (Kropáčova Vrutice), Bohemia, byWoldřich 1886, but it was only with systematic aerial survey in the 1980s and the 1990s that their ubiquity in the region became apparent. Three types have been distinguished:
two semicircular ditches forming a circle and separated by causeways at opposing entrances.
multiple circuits of ditches interrupted with entrances at cardinal or astronomically-oriented points and also having an internal single or double timberpalisade.
The structures are mostly interpreted as having served acultic purpose.Most of them are aligned and seem to have served the function of acalendar (Kalenderbau), in the context ofarchaeoastronomy sometimes dubbed "observatory", with openings aligned with the points sunrise and/or sunset at thesolstices. This is the case with the "gates" or openings of the roundels ofQuenstedt,Goseck andQuedlinburg. The observational determination of the time of solstice would not have served a practical (agricultural) purpose, but could have been used to maintain alunisolar calendar (i.e. knowledge of the date of solstice allows an accurate handling ofintercalary months).[4]
Known Circular Enclosures:
The Lengyel-period rondell of Podhájska, Slovakia, was found in 2022.in Slovakia (Ivan Kuzma 2004): about 50 candidate sites from aerial surveys, not all of which are expected to date to the Neolithic. There are 15 known neolithic (Lengyel) sites (confirmed in 2024[5]). The largest of these are (with outer diameters of more than 100 m): Svodín 2 (140 m), Demandice (120 m), Bajtava (175 m), Podhájska (158 m), Horné Otrokovce (150 m), Podhorany-Mechenice (120 m), Cífer (127 m), Golianovo (210 m), Žitavce (145 m), Hosťovce (250–300 m), Prašník (175 m). Others include: Borovce, Bučany, Golianovo, Kľačany, Milanovce, Nitrianský Hrádok, Ružindol-Borová.
in Hungary: Aszód, Polgár-Csőszhalom, Sé, Vokány, Szemely-Hegyes.
in the Czech Republic (Jaroslav Ridky 2004): 15 known sites, all dated to the lateStroked pottery (Stk IVA). Běhařovice, Borkovany, Bulhary, Krpy, Křepice, Mašovice, Němčičky, Rašovice, Těšetice,[6] Vedrovice, Vinoř roundel near Prague[7]
in Austria (Doneus et al. 2004): 47 known sites with diameters between 40 and 180 m. Lower Austria:[8] Asparn an der Zaya, Altruppersdorf, Altruppersdorf, Au am Leithagebirge, Friebritz (2 sites), Gauderndorf, Glaubendorf (2 sites), Gnadendorf, Göllersdorf, Herzogbirbaum, Hornsburg, Immendorf, Kamegg, Karnabrunn, Kleedorf, Kleinrötz, Michelstetten, Moosbierbaum, Mühlbach am Manhartsberg, Oberthern, Perchtoldsdorf, Plank am Kamp, Porrau, Pottenbrunn, Pranhartsberg, Puch, Rosenburg, Schletz, Simonsfeld, Statzendorf, Steinabrunn, Stiefern, Straß im Straßertale, Strögen, Velm, Wetzleinsdorf, Wilhelmsdorf, Winden, Würnitz. Upper Austria:Ölkam.
^map in Daim and Neubauer 2005, p. 14; reprinted in Plath 2011, p. 24. Main distribution is between theDanube Bend and the middleElbe, say between Budapest and Brunswick (800 km). Including outliers, the area is somewhat larger, encompassing most ofCentral Europe, stretching over some 1100 km from theDanube-Drava confluence to the lower Rhine (Ruhr area).
^Ralf Schwarz,Kreisgrabenanlagen der Stichbandkeramikkultur in Sachsen-Anhalt, Neolithic Circular Enclosures in Europe, International Workshop in Goseck (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) 7.-9. Mai 2004 (abstract).
^Florian Eibl et al.:Die mittelneolithische Kreisgrabenanlage von Stephansposching, Lkr. Deggendorf zum Kenntnisstand nach den archäologischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen der Jahre 2008 und 2009. In: K. Schmotz (ed.):Vorträge des 28. Niederbayerischen Archäologentages. Rahden/Westf. 2010, 165-201
^Bayern-Viewer Denkmal des Landesamtes für Denkmalschutz des Freistaates Bayern[1]
Neolithic Circular Enclosures in Europe, International Workshop in Goseck (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) 7.-9. Mai 2004 (abstracts).
Gillian Varndell, Peter Topping (eds.),Enclosures in Neolithic Europe, Oxbow, 2002,ISBN9781842170687.
Peter F. Biel, "Measuring time in the European Neolithic? The function and meaning of Central European circular enclosures" in: Iain Morley, Colin Renfrew (eds.),The Archaeology of Measurement: Comprehending Heaven, Earth and Time in Ancient Societies, Cambridge University Press, 2010,ISBN9780521119900,229-243.
Thomas Plath,Zur Problematik der Nutzungsinterpretation mittelneolithischer Kreisgrabenanlagen, diss. Hamburg University, 2011.[4]
Falko Daim,Wolfgang Neubauer [de],Zeitreise Heldenberg – Geheimnisvolle Kreisgräben. Horn, Wien : Berger, 2005 (Katalog des Niederösterreichischen Landesmuseums, N. F. 459).
André Spatzier, Systematische Untersuchungen der Kreisgrabenanlage von Pömmelte-Zackmünde, Salzlandkreis. Zum Abschluss der Grabungen an mitteldeutschen Rondellen im Rahmen der Forschergruppe FOR:550. In: H. Meller (Hrsg.), Zusammengegraben - Kooperationsprojekte in Sachsen-Anhalt. Tagung vom 17. bis 20. Mai 2009 im Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). Arch. Sachsen-Anhalt Sonderbd. 13 (Halle/Saale 2012), 89-98.
