 Mt. Lykaion, Arcadia is known from ancient literature as one of the mythological birthplaces of Zeus, the other being on Crete.
New pottery evidence from excavations of the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project indicates that the ash altar -- a cone of earth located atop the southern peak of Mt Lykaion where dedications were made in antiquity -- was in use as early as 5,000 years ago—at least 1,000 years before the early Greeks began to worship the god Zeus.
The fact that the ash altar to Zeus includes early material dating back to 3000 BCE suggests that the tradition of devotion to some divinity on that spot is very ancient. The altar is long standing and may in fact pre-date the introduction of Zeus in the Greek world. It's not yet know how the altar was first used, and whether it was used in connection with natural phenomena such as wind, rain, light or earthquakes, possibly to worship some kind of divinity male or female or a personification representing forces of nature. Below the altar in a mountain meadow is an ancient hippodrome, a stadium and buildings related to the ancient athletic festival that rivaled the neighboring sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia.
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