Ancient stone complex is 'solar observatory'
Friday, 02 Mar 2007 07:57
Archaeologists say the Thirteen Towers provided a calendar accurate to within a few days
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Archaeologists believe an ancient stone structure in Peru is evidence that indigenous sun cults in South America predate the Incas by more than 1,800 years.
The 2,300-year-old Thirteen Towers of Chankillo, 400km north of the capital Lima, has previously been identified as a fort, a redoubt, a sacrificial temple and a staging ground for ceremonial battles.
But archaeologists from Lima's PUCP university are confident their new analysis shows the coastal ruin was used to mark the summer and winter solstices, as well as providing a calendar accurate to within a few days.
The eponymous thirteen towers are situated north to south on a hill in the centre of the complex, with sites to the east and west adorned with relics supposedly acting as viewing locations.
New research into the site, which lies in the Casma-Sechin river basin, was led by PUCP's Ivan Ghezzi.
But Clive Ruggles, an archaeo-astronomer at the University of Leicester, admitted he was initially sceptical over the presence of a solar observatory in the Americas in 300BC.
"When Ivan said I had to come and see this site that might be an observatory, inside I was thinking, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah'—people are always saying this to me," he said.
The oldest solar observatory in the world is thought to be the 7,000-year-old Goseck circle in Germany, while Britain's Stonehenge is believed to be up to 4,500 years-old.