A new book that was recently published claims that ancient North American natives used a series of stones and rocks, stretching over 30 square kilometers, as an ancient calendar to mark the changing of seasons and the phases of the lunar cycle.

A manmade pile of stones lies at the center of the site, which is surrounded by 28 radiating stone lines. Four of those stone lines line up in the cardinal directions from the central cairn.

There are also secondary cairns on nearby hills and rock formations that appear to correspond to constellations. Sunrise and sunsets on both the summer solstice and winter solstice line up with v-shaped notches in the rocks. The longest day of the year occurs on the summer solstice, while the shortest day of the year occurs on the winter solstice.

Intriguingly, the formation has been dated back approximately 5,000 years, which would make it 2,500 years older than England's Stonehenge.

The site, approximately 70 kilometers from Calgary, Alberta, was partially excavated in 1971.

The book was written by Gordon Freeman, a retired professor who was previously Chairman of the University of Alberta's Physical and Theoretical Chemistry department. He holds an M.A. from the University of Saskatchewan, a Ph.D. from McGill University, and a D.Phil. from Oxford University. Doctor Freeman has published over 450 papers on chemistry, physics, and various other subjects.

The 78 year old has been studying the site for the last 28 years, ever since he first visited the site in 1980.

In the book, Freeman discusses other discoveries he has made from applying his techniques and theories to other similar sites, such as Stonehenge itself, Preseli Mountain in southwestern Wales, and Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

The book is titled "Canada's Stonehenge: Astounding Archaeological Discoveries in Canada, England, and Wales", and is published by Kingsley Publishing, ISBN 978-0-978-4526-1-2.