Pömmelte

Pömmelte
Pömmelte
Stadtteil of Barby
	Coat of arms
	Location of Pömmelte
	Pömmelte Pömmelte
	Coordinates: 51°59′50″N 11°47′59″E / 51.99722°N 11.79972°E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Salzlandkreis
Town	Barby
Area
• Total	12.35 km2 (4.77 sq mi)
Elevation	49 m (161 ft)
Population (2006-12-31)
• Total	660
• Density	53/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	39249
Dialling codes	039298
Website	www.stadt-barby.de/; gem/poemmelte.html

Pömmelte is a village and a former municipality in the district Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Barby.^[1] The modern settlement is first documented in 1292 and probably was founded not too long before, probably by Sorbian settlers. Prehistorical dwelling structures, dating from 2800 - 2200 BC and associated with the Bell Beaker and Unetice cultures, have also been identified.^[2]

Pömmelte ring sanctuary

During the Bronze Age, around the late third millennium BC, Pömmelte was the site of an astronomical observatory (Ringheiligtum Pömmelte) with a function and design similar to Stonehenge, built in wood, with radiocarbon dates indicating 2300 BC as the earliest phase of the ritual centre.^[3]^[4]^[5] The Pömmelte observatory/sanctuary is associated with the Bell Beaker culture and subsequent Unetice culture. Speculation among anthropologists in 2018 is considering recognition of a cultural tie broadly throughout Europe and the British Isles associating the traditions from which these structures arose to those much earlier, in places such as such as the 7000-year-old Goseck circle in Germany.^[6]