Kidane ruins

The Kidane stone ruins, also called Adara’s clock, are a national heritage site in the Kingdom of Yarim devolution in southeastern Adwa. The site was originally declared a national monument by Emperor Merhanu Zara in 1565 AC. The ruins are thought to be remains of the ancient Adwa Yarim people who settled the region beginning around 1000 BC and who altered the landscape to increase agricultural yields in the southeastern highlands. The stone rings were first believed to have been used as enclosures for cattle, but are believed to have been made for astrological uses today.

The Kidane stone ruins are among a number of stone circle ruins located in southeastern Adwa over an area of approximately 150 km2, a number of which are facing threats to conservation. Information about the peoples who created these stone circles and terraces was omitted from Adwan historical sources during the Salih Dynasty due to pressure from the ruling Ichorian merchant class.

Overview
The site is aptly named Adara’s clock after Saros Adara, the Ichorian archaeologist who discovered and surveyed the site in the 14th century AC. This nickname is due to the stones’ placement, as Adara was among the first to theorize that they were used to track the movement of the sun, which in turn casted shadows on the rocks. The site still works for this purpose today as a calendar by following the shadow of the sitting sun, which is cast by the taller, central monolith onto the flat stone beside it. The area surrounding the site is rich in gold, which attracted settlers and prospectors who dug mining shafts in the area. Not only did the rich gold deposits attract attention in the 14th century, but the evidence of early historic civilizations mining for minerals were described in writings by the settlers at this time.

History
The Kidane ruins evolved in several construction phases, spanning at least 1500 years between 1000 BC to 500 AC. There is evidence of large-scale construction around the area of the monument extending upwards of 3500 years ago. Dating and understanding the various phases of activity are complicated by human and animal inhabitants, poor quality early excavation records, and a lack of accurate, scientifically verified dates. Most modern archaeologists think that the first stage of the site was built by Adwa’s indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of migrants during the Trans-Diharan Estradian migrations, while the second site was supplemented by such peoples.

The first monument consisted of a circular bank and ditch enclosure, measuring 110 m in diameter, with a large entrance to the northeast and a smaller one to the south. It stood in open grassland on a slightly sloping spot. The builders placed the bones of antelope and buffalo in the bottom of the ditch, as well as some worked flint tools. The bones were considerably older than the antler picks used to dig the ditch, and those who buried them had looked after them for some time prior to burial. The ditch was continuous but dug in sections, its first stage dug around around 1100 BC, after which the ditch began to silt up naturally. Within the outer edge of the enclosed area is a circle of 56 pits, each about 1 m in diameter, known as Adara holes after Saros Adara, the 15th century antiquarian who was thought to have identified them. The pits may have contained standing timbers creating a timber circle, although there is not excavated evidence of them.

During the next major phase of activity, several large stones were brought to the site, believed to have been quarried from around 25km south of the site. The stones were dressed and fashioned with mortise and tenon joints before being erected in a 33 m diameter circle of standing stones. Each of the two main standing stones had been worked with the final visual effect in mind, widening slightly toward the top in order for their perspective to remain constant when viewed from the ground, while other, smaller ones curve slightly to continue the circular appearance of the earlier monument. The inward-facing surfaces of the stones are smoother and more finely worked than the other surfaces. The average thickness of the stones is 1.1m and the average distance between them is 1 m. A total of 60 stones would’ve been needed to complete the circle.

Structure and function
The Kidane ruins were produced by a culture that left no written records. Many aspects of the site, such as how it was built and for what purposes it was used, remain subject to debate in certain circles. A number of myths surround the stones; the site is aligned to the sunset of the summer solstice and the opposing sunrise of the winter solstice. A natural landform at the monument’s location followed this line, and may have inspired its construction. The excavated remains of culled animal bones suggest that people may have gathered at the site for the winter rather than the summer. Further astronomical associations, and the precise astronomical significance of the site for its people, are a matter of speculation and debate.

There is little/no direct evidence revealing the construction techniques utilized by the Kidane builders. Over the years, various authors have suggested a list of anachronistic or even supernatural methods were used, usually asserting that the stones were nigh-impossible for the locals to move otherwise due to their massive size. However, conventional techniques using technology of the era has been demonstrably effective and moving and placing stones of similar size. Proposed functions for the site include usage as an astronomical observatory, or as a religious site. More recently, two new theories have been proposed. President of the Royal Antiquarian Society of Kedala Getahun Yilemna has suggested that the site was a place of healing, arguing that this accounts for the high number of burials in the area and for the evidence of trauma deformity in some of the graves. However, Yilemna has conceded that the site was probably multifunctional and used for ancestor worship as well. Isotope analysis indicates that some of the buried individuals were from as far away as The Vatuvu. On the other hand, Kirubel Biru of Bedin University has suggested the site was part of a ritual landscape, suggesting that the surrounding areas were places of the living, while Kidane was the domain of the dead. A journey along the nearby Asrat river to reach the site was a part of a wider ritual passage from life to death, to celebrate past ancestors and the recently deceased. Whatever religious, mystical, or spiritual elements were central to Kidane, its design includes a celestial observatory function, which might have allowed prediction of eclipses, solstices, equinoxes, and other celestial events important to a contemporary religion.

There are other hypotheses and theories held about the site. According to a team of Ichorian researchers led by Miral Mereon and the University of Azhara, the site may have been built as a symbol of “peace and unity”, indicated in part by the fact that at the time of its second era of construction, Adwa’s various peoples were experiencing a period of cultural unification. Kidane’s composite stones include smaller bluestones and larger sandstones. The bluestones are composed of dolerite, tuff, or rhyolite, generally. The igneous bluestones appear to have originated in the mountains of northwestern Adwa, several hundred kilometers from the site. Researchers from the Imperial College of the Arts in Kedala have discovered that the monument’s igneous bluestones possess “unusual acoustic properties.” When struck, they respond with a “deep, loud clanging noise.”  According to the team, this could explain why they were hauled such a long distance - a major technical accomplishment at the time. In certain ancient Diharan cultures, rocks that ring out were believed to contain mystic or healing powers. The presence of these “ringing rocks” seems to support the hypothesis that the site was seen as a “place of healing.”