Chanquillo Peru and the
technique of observation of the Pillars of the Sun, the oldest solar
observatory in America, located in Casma, Peru.
CHANQUILLO PERU
THE OLDEST SOLAR OBSERVATORY IN AMERICA
It was built more than 2,000 years ago,
in the coastal area of the Peru and only 400 kms. from Lima, according
to a study published by the magazine Science.
The observatory is formed by thirteen on-line lifted towers, from north
to south on the summit of Mount Chanquillo that indicated the annual
displacement of the Sun, accurately, as well as the solstices and the
equinoxes. Also, it contains two artificial points of observation
separated by 200 meters with a kind of a fortress surrounded by three
concentric rings.
It's construction reveals that the knowledge of astronomy existed in the
region before the Inca Empire, according to the archaeologists Ivan
Ghezzi, of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica of Peru, and Charles
Ruggles, of the University of Leicester, in the United Kingdom. It also
demonstrates that there, it was carried out religious rituals linked
with the astronomical phenomena.
THE PILLARS OF THE SUN
Up to now, according to the stories of
the first cronists, it was believed that the first solar observatories
were in the region of the Coricancha, near Cuzco, or they had been built
by the Moche Culture, 600 years after Chanquillo. However, those
denominated "Pillars of the Sun" that marked the stations and the moment
for planting the fields in the region of the Cuzco, they have been
erased with the step of time and it's ignored, their precise location.
Chanquillo "it is a very previous structure in the Peruvian coast that
seems to have been built to facilitate the observations of the Sunset
and of the Sunrise", it points out the report.
On the other hand, the archaeological excavations revealed that in the
construction, there made this offerings in shape of figures of ceramic
warriors' with decorations that would seem to be distinction signs, what
suggests ritual practices as well as the existence of social classes.
"The adoration of the Sun and the cosmological customs of
Chanquillo perhaps have helped to legitimate the authority of an elite
class, like it happened with the Inca Empire, two millennia, later",
according to the scientists.
In an article of analysis published by Science, the archaeologist
Charles Mann picks up the opinions of other scientists that support the
idea that Chanquillo was only a solar observatory and not a military
fortress of that time. According to Luis Jaime Castle, archaeologist of
the Pontificia Universidad Catolica of Peru, is a clear example of a
"monumental calendar". "It is difficult to think for
another
thing it could of served the observation towers", and its presence
reveals that it existed very advanced measuring techniques, 600 years
before the Moche Culture. "This tells us that it is possible that
has happened other things that we didn't know", he adds.
But, on the other hand, for Daniel Sandweiss is evident the practical
necessity for the residents of that region to have the solar observatory
of Chanquillo. According to the scientist, the agriculture was crucial
in that time and that area depended on the irrigation provided by the
rivers. "The solar observation was necessary to know when it should
be planted", according to him.
TECHNIQUE OF OBSERVATION
The archaeological place dates III
Century B.C. (Final Formative period). It consists of several circular
structures fortified with thick stone walls and plastered with mud,
besides 13 towers from which it was observed the movements of the Sun.
It is located above a hill and in his surroundings, celebrations must of
been made of important religious and political ceremonies during the
solstices and the equinoxes, before the presence of thousands of
pilgrims' that arrived every year.
According to Iván Ghezzi: "Thousands of People could have been gathered
there to observe impressive solar events. These events could of been
manipulate in function to a political calendar... for example, during
the time of the summer solstice in June, the longest day in the year,
the sun comes out exactly to the left of the furthest northern tower."
(Agency Reuters).
Before these investigations Chanquillo was considered a fortress with
eminently military functions and it was related with the Mochica Culture
of the First Regional Development. (200-600. C.).
Sunrise in
Chanquillo
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TRAVEL PLANNER INFORMATION
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Peru Guide Travel Information...Intends
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Incatrails Explorer
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trail of the Royal Inca Trek along the principal road of communications in the
Tahuantinsuyo...
TRAVEL INFORMATION
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