Ancient Solar / Calendrical Observatories In The Americas

[Yithian]

Two Inca observatories discovered in Peru
From AFP
August 01, 2004
LIMA: US and Peruvian archaeologists have discovered two Inca observatories in central Peru, which they said are the most imposing of the stone structures found to date.

The discovery of the observatories, announced Friday, is the result of five years of searching in Huanuco province.

One of the two, known as Ushnu, is larger than the observatory of Cuzco, the largest previously found, archaeologist Juan Luis Pino told the local media. It measured 48m long, 32m wide and 4mhigh.

The observatory's principal function was to help the Incas decide where to build according to the positions of the sun and the moon, he said.

Pino said the site continues to be venerated by the local population, although it is no longer used as an observatory.

 

[EnolaGaia]

This recently recognized solar observatory in Peru (called Chankillo) pre-dates the Inca by circa 1,000 years.

Built by an Unknown Culture, This Is The Oldest Sun Observatory in The Americas

Long before the Incas rose to power in Peru and began to celebrate their sun god, a little known civilization was building the earliest known astronomical observatory in the Americas.

While not quite as old as sites like Stonehenge, these ancient ruins, known as Chankillo, are considered a "masterpiece of human creative genius", holding unique features not seen anywhere else in the world.

Based in the coastal desert of Peru, the archaeological site famously contains a row of 13 stone towers, which together trace the horizon of a hill, north to south, like a toothy bottom grin. ...

Apart from this remarkable structure, known as the Thirteen Towers, the ruins of the observatory also include a triple-walled hilltop complex called the Fortified Temple and two building complexes called the Observatory and the Administrative Center.

Completed over 2,300 years ago and abandoned in the first century of the common era, the site has remained a mystery to travelers for centuries.

Only when official excavations began at the turn of the 21st century, did archaeologists realize what they were looking at. ...

As the Sun rises in the east, an orb of light emerges somewhere along the ridge of towers. As the year proceeds, so too does the position of the sunrise, almost as though the light is flossing the toothy horizon.

On the summer solstice, for example, the sunrise emerges to the right of the rightmost tower. Whereas on the winter solstice, the sunrise emerges to the left of the leftmost tower.

The Towers of Chankillo were so carefully placed, that when an onlooker stands at a specific observation point below the ridge, they can predict the time of year within two or three days based just on sunrise or sunset. ...

The ancient civilization that designed the solar observatory is barely known, but it would have been one of the oldest cultures in the Americas. In fact, this culture predates the Inca culture, which also excelled at astronomy, by more than 1,000 years.

Because the Chankillo ruins attributed to this civilization are based in the coastal desert between Peru's Casma River and the Sechin river, the original builders are now known as the Casma-Sechin culture. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-ol...atory-in-the-americas-long-predates-the-incas

 

[EnolaGaia]

For more detail description (and photos) of the Chankillo site, see the UNESCO website:

https://www3.astronomicalheritage.net/index.php/show-entity?identity=51&idsubentity=1