TOP 10 EXTREME OBSERVATORIES

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1. Stonehenge

In a sense, archaeology is much like astronomy. Scientists attempt to understand the birth of the universe through the remnants of long-dead stars, while some archaeologists try to fathom the people of 2000 B.C. by examining the ruins of Stonehenge in the United Kingdom.

There in the English county of Wiltshire, enormous 50-ton stones form a 320-foot diameter ring. Although the monument's true purpose remains a mystery, some researchers theorize that the ancient site constitutes one of the world's first observatories. English astronomer Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer gave this theory some credence by demonstrating that Stonehenge's northeast axis aligns with the sunrise at the summer solstice. Prehistoric humans may have used the stones to predict what times of the year to perform various agricultural tasks or religious rituals -- a kind of calendar.

Other theories abound as well. Was it a burial ground? A tribute to a fertility goddess? Try to imagine the world 5,000 years from now. If they lacked records of life in the 21st century, what might they make of the ruins of Arecibo, Super-K or any of the other observatories on this list?

Read "How Archaeology Works" to learn just how these scientists gaze into the distant past.

Image credit: Frederic Vincent