Kokino is located in about 19 kilometers northeast of the city Kumanovo, in what is administratively known as the municipality of Staro Nagornicane. It was discovered in 2001 by Jovica Stankovski from the National museum of Kumanovo- Macedonia. At first, nothing about this site blends in with the surroundings. Standing tall in the middle of nowhere, it appears quite outlandish. One look, and it is easy to see why.

Occupying almost 5000 square meters, it rests on two scale-like established platforms, beneath the mountaintop Taticev Kamen with an altitude of 1013 meters. The entirety of the observatory is volcanic rock. But carving and shapes alone, though interesting, are of significantly less value when compared to what this site once served for.

Namely, it has seven markers that were once used for following the Sun and the Moon in order to understand astronomy. Three of the marker cuttings were intended to mark the rising of the Sun in the day of the summer solstice, the autumn and the spring equinox and the winter solstice.

The six remaining marker cuttings marked the spots of the rising of the full Moon in the days when it has the smallest and the biggest declination during winter and summer. The two marker cuttings that were used for measuring the length of the lunar months can be seen from here. They were utilized for the making of a calendar for a periodic cycle of 19 lunar years. By far we can speculate, within reasonable limits, that Kokino observatory served just as much of a ritual purpose as it did for observing and measuring the cycles.

Especially significant is the stone block with a separate marker cutting on its top. It was made for ritual function with an explicit solar character. In mid-summer (end of July) a sun ray from the sunrise that penetrated through the opening of the stone marker cutting and passed by the right edge of the artificially formed trench, illuminated the ruler alone, who set on one of the four stone thrones, made especially for rite needs. The illumination of the face of the ruler, in all likelihood, signified ritual union with the Sun God and returning/renewing of his ruling power.