Work on preserving the ancient observatory at Kokino, 30km from Kumanovo, in northern Macedonia, will finish this year, the National Museum in Kumanovo announced. "Works include the outer wall as well as the astronomical platform, which will be presented to the public so that visitors can understand what happened a long time ago in Kokino," the director of the National Museum in Kumanovo, Jovica Stankovski, said. Stankovski described this as the final phase of research at the archeological site, which was discovered in 2001.
     The Bronze Age site is about 100 metres in diameter and is on two levels underneath the Tatikev Kamen mountain, at an altitude of 1,013 metres. Research suggests it was a sacred place and was used to observe celestial objects. Among the important findings are stone markers used to track the movement of the sun and moon, the winter and summer solstices, as well as the equinox. Excavations carried out on the upper platform have uncovered ceramic objects, animal bones, pyramidal weights and fragments of grinding stones.
     Stankovski said that after conservation work is finished, the site will be presented to scientists and experts. Several universities are already negotiating with the musem to visit Kokino.

Edited from Balkan Insight (22 February 2013)