Case file · Sacred site
Kokino 'megalithic observatory'
A volcanic hilltop at Kokino in North Macedonia, with finds from about the 19th century BC, was proposed in 2002 as a Bronze Age sacred site whose stone markers tracked sunrises and moonrises.
1,800 BCE · 42.26, 21.95 · status: disputed
The account
Archaeologist Jovica Stankovski found the site in 2001. Its fame grew after a NASA education poster listed it among ancient observatories in 2005, which the press reported as a 'fourth place in a NASA list'.
The sceptical view
A 2015 survey called Kokino 'a particularly problematic case', and its 2011 UNESCO nomination failed partly because so many possible sightlines can produce alignments by chance.