MONOLITHS: the work of time has affected the fragile tuft rock, but the handiwork of men is still clearly visible on these precious monoliths.

SEXTANT: This rock is engraved with the direction of the star Thuban, which was the guiding star of the Egyptians and primitive cultures of the area, the Rinaldoniani.

WINTER SOLSTICE: photos from February 8, 2008, the day of winter solstice 4,300 years ago. As you can see the rising sun, only on this day of the year, lies exactly in the middle of the gap dug into the rock.

MIRROR: It seems that for primitive cultures water and the sky were symbolically linked. Mirror for the sky or the water basin?

The stonenhenge of Poggio Rota: Four thousand years could not erase the human intelligence which existed in the past. At the time of Egyptians, other little known civilizations, such as the Rinaldoniani, lived here, along the Fiora Valley, and studied the sky for valuable information about the coming seasons and future time, proving that they possessed an unexpected level of knowledge, not assessed before the discovery of this site.

But how did man think at this time? Living in contact with nature made him a careful observer. Surely he would have been intrigued by the fact that the sun doesn’t set in the same place day after day, but shifts to the right as winter comes and to the left when the hot season comes.

He must have thought then, by referencing the hill which the sun sets behind, to build a rudimentary viewfinder, digging a groove into the rock between two fixed points. Looking through the hole he could see when and where the sun sets and know that at a certain point of the year, in the cold season, when the sunset had reached its peak on the right, that the days would become short and cold.

From that day, the sunsets would then move to the left. Indicating that from this day the cold and darkness would began to give way to light, the warmth, the reawakening of nature.

For us today is known as the winter solstice, for ancient cilivilasations this was a magical day, dedicated to cults and rites that comemerated the beginning of a period of abundance and prosperity. The slow path of the sun across the horizon ended months later, the days were long and warm and generous nature was of fruit and libations. Our ancient man, meanwhile, had engraved notches on an old trunk, one for each day passed and he realized that the next solstice would come in 365 days. Thus he had not only learned to measure the advance of time in a year long periods, but had gone further.

Progressing into the unknown expanses of woods often resulted in someone getting lost. During the day the sun would lead him, but at night? He realised that the stars were the solution, what is better than what shines up there to indicate the way back? Our ancient man carefully observed the sky and saw that there was more light in specific points in the sky than others and could be used as a guide, the reference was right.

One of the loyal lights, always indicated the same direction and called Thuban, our North Pole. This discovery was so important for our ancient man that he felt the need to mark a rock with the direction of this star, leaving forever a sign. He sculpts something similar to what we now call Sextans.

He had now revealed many mysteries but others still remained. The natural phenomenas, including the rain, wind, thunder and lightning in the dark nights, were beyond a logical explanation. His instinct for survival was afraid of the unknown world, he feared death and night of being. He turned to the the rock for comfort. It served as a way to communicate with the supernatural. It even became a way of explaining all the unknown seeing into the world of the spirits. Only they could reassure him by giving explanations for the unexplainable.

Thus he sculpts the water basin. Here he performed rites and who known, maybe thanksgiving sacrifices as well. Or he could have used it in the same way we use a mirror, to read into the heavens and communicate with them. He did all this in a place that was sacred to him. Four thousand years ago a thought began to sprout in his head, the seed of faith.

Alessandro Biondi