An archaeological site in Peru features mounds and linear geoglyphs likely used to mark the summer solstice and other cultural activities in an ancient society, according to a study co-authored by SFI External Professor Charles Stanish of UCLA.
The earliest known settlements in Peru’s Chincha Valley were part of the Paracas culture, which existed from 800 BCE to 100 BCE. Previously researchers had described a complex of mounds built by the Paracas in the lower Chincha Valley.
Stanish and colleagues surveyed the mounds and documented 71 geoglyph lines at a group of five mounds and found that the mounds formed ray centers from which the geoglyphs radiated and were oriented toward the location of the sun during the June solstice.
Evidence from pottery artifacts suggests that the mounds pre-date the well-known Nasca lines by three centuries.
The results suggest that geoglyphs may have served various purposes in ancient civilizations, including marking the times of recurring events and attracting participants to specific locations for events.
The specific location of the geoglyphs, in the desert between the highlands and the coast, may have served to culturally integrate coastal and mountain populations, according to the authors.
Read the paper in PNAS (May 5, 2014)
Read the article in The Huffington Post (May 5, 2014)
Read the article in National Geographic (May 5, 2014)
Read the article in Fox News (May 6, 2014)
Read the article on EarthSky.org (May 6, 2014)
Read the article on Discovery News (May 6, 2014)