| Type: | Stadtteil |
| Town: | Barby |
| Image Coa: | Wappen Poemmelte.png |
| Coordinates: | 51.9972°N 11.7997°W |
| State: | Sachsen-Anhalt |
| District: | Salzlandkreis |
| Elevation: | 49 |
| Area: | 12.35 |
| Population: | 660 |
| Stand: | 2006-12-31 |
| Postal Code: | 39249 |
| Area Code: | 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]
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]