Archeologists have solved the mystery of the Thirteen Towers, a line of low stone structures that have spanned an arid Peruvian slope like a massive set of prehistoric teeth for 2,400 years.
The towers lined up outside the citadel at Chankillo are a massive solar observatory that marks not only the summer and winter solstices, but also the days and weeks of the year.
The evidence that they are an observatory is unequivocal, said Clive Ruggles, a professor of archeo-astronomy at the University of Leicester and one of the authors of the paper in today’s issue of the journal Science.
The site is not the oldest solar observatory in the New World. That honor goes to a 4,200-year-old site just north of Lima, Peru’s capital, that marks the solstices. Other ancient structures have been found that clearly have astronomical alignments.
Archeologists have argued for more than a century over the citadel’s purpose. Many believe it is a fortress, but the lack of water inside suggests that is unlikely. The new findings support the argument that it is a ceremonial center of some sort.