The Pömmelte ring sanctuary was discovered through aerial photographs. Scientists from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology investigated the site. The ring sanctuary was completely excavated and reconstructed. The complex structure consists of various wooden palisade rings, pits and ramparts. At the end of the Stone Age and the beginning of the Bronze Age, the 115 m large complex was used as a central sanctuary. Here, people of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age celebrated seasonal festivals. However, the circular ditch also served as a burial place and sacrificial site. Sacrificial pits and ritual deposits bear witness to this. Drinking vessels, animal bones, grinding stones, stone axes as well as parts of human bodies were found. The archaeological finds testify to a lively world of rituals and ancestors. Original finds from the site are presented in the neighboring Salzlandmuseum in Schönebeck. Astronomical aspects also characterize the structure of the sanctuary. The two main entrances of the complex are oriented to the points of sunrise and sunset of the days between the solstices and the equinoxes. With its orientation, the complex marked the seasons, the harvest season, and New Year and funerary festivals. The ring sanctuary was abandoned around 2050 BC. However, the people of the Bronze Age did not simply let the place of worship fall into disrepair. As part of a sacrificial ceremony, all the posts were removed from the earth and burned in a large fire.