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Sohland Opferbecken
Date Added: 10th Nov 2024
Site Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Country: Germany (Saxony)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Nov 2024. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Sohland Opferbecken submitted by Noreen on 10th Nov 2024. Natural stone formation called Steinzeitkino (stone age cinema). There is an solar alignment visible from the Opferbecken stone along the formation towards equinox sunrise. There's a carving of a figure looking up towards the sky on the left upright stone.
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Log Text: coordinates taken on site: 51.035291N, 14.392977E
Beautifully situated natural stone formation. The main formation looks like a shelter, almost like it was man-made. Though no information about that is available. One stone has the carving of a figure looking up at the sky. Again, no information available about when it was carved. Possibly younger or modern.
Some meters away lays the Opferbecken (sacrificial basin), a stone with a wide indentation.
In the 2010s a local research team looked for solar alignments of natural and prehistoric sites in the region. They found an alignment between the Opferbecken and the rock shelter formation pointing towards sunrise at the equinoxes (looking from the Opferbecken towards the rock formation, the tip of the shelter is aligned to the sunrises). Due to this they named the rock formation Steinzeitkino (stone age cinema), which I personally find rather unfortunate. At the winter solstice at midday, a light beam enters through a gap into the formation and illuminates a spot on the carved figure. Thus, it was named Steinerner Astronom (lithic astronomer).
The site itself is rather quaint and beautiful. Nestled under old beech trees, the atmosphere and ambiance is really nice. It's possible to take a car up the hill and park there. From the car park of a nearby restaurant it's only about 100m. The site itself is discreetly landscaped with some smaller boulders along the perimeter to make it more visible.
Sohland Huehnengrab
Date Added: 10th Nov 2024
Site Type: Chambered Tomb
Country: Germany (Saxony)
Visited: Couldn't find on 3rd Nov 2024. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 1 Access 3
Sohland Huehnengrab submitted by Noreen on 10th Nov 2024. stone formation nearby at 51°01'28.0"N 14°23'28.5"E. Also facing apr. north-south.
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Log Text:
Summary:
coordinates taken on site: 51.025691N, 14.391768E
visited: Nov-03-2024
site almost destroyed, nor recognizable as a man-made structure
accessibility: parking within 500m of the site, but from there cross-country
Sadly, the site is almost completely destroyed. There are stones and boulders strewn across the area, but I could not distinguish natural boulders from those remaining from the original site. Some stones seem to lay in a straight line, others show no recognizable relation to each other.
Visibility on site is very bad. It's situated in the middle of a recently cleared north facing slope. The stones nestle between tree stumps, knee-high grass and brambles and almost blend together with the vegetation. This makes seeing what is going on even harder.
Very close to the coordinates to the west are two additional bigger outcrops of stones. One is situated in a strip of remaining forest, the other is in a cleared area as well. The one under the trees could also have been the chambered tomb. (51°01'28.0"N 14°23'28.5"E)
Even if nothing is identifiable as man-made now, something must have been there. Apart from this entry in the Street View map, the site is also marked as prehistoric in a hiking map.