4000yr old temple peru

Archaeological Institute of America
World Roundup Volume 62 Number 4, July/August 2009
by Samir S. Patel

PERU: At the base of a mud-brick pyramid, excavators
opened the spectacular 1,500-year-old tomb of a Moche
elite the locals have dubbed "Lord of Ucupe." Clad in
two funerary masks, a necklace of silver medallions,
and a tunic and train of metallic plates, he was buried
with 19 headdresses or crowns, on a bed of war clubs.
The grave, which held two other men and a pregnant woman,
marks the transition between the Early and Middle Moche
periods.
http://www.archaeology.org/0907/trenches/world.html

Lastest news from the Trenches of Peru:



I love to go digging! I'm sure you'll have a fantastic trip Greg.
I'm heading to Costa Rica.

KENYA: Paleoanthropologists have discovered the earliest evidence of stone blades--sophisticated tools once thought to have been made only by modern humans and Neanderthals--dating to 500,000 years ago. This pushes their development back by 150,000 years, raising the question of which pre-human species made them and suggesting the technology predates the evolutionary split of humans and Neanderthals.

About 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Lima, Peru, lies an enigmatic, 2,300-year-old ruin named Chankillo. Archaeologists have nicknamed the ruin’s central complex the “Norelco ruin” based on its resemblance to a modern electric shaver. The building’s true purpose long eluded them. Its thick walls and hilltop location suggested it was a fort, but why, researchers wondered, would anybody build a fort with so many gates and without a water source? Then in March 2007, two researchers, Ivan Ghezzi and Clive Ruggles, offered an explanation for the complex: at least part of it was a solar observatory.

GeoEye’s IKONOS sensor captured this image of Chankillo on January 13, 2002, and this picture shows the features the archaeologists studied to infer the site’s purpose. The central complex appears in the upper left with its concentric rings of fortified walls. Southeast of the central complex are the Thirteen Towers, which vaguely resemble a slightly curved spine. On either side of the towers are observing points (little is left of the eastern observation structure), and south of the eastern observing point is another building complex, apparently used in part for food storage. Although the dark shapes in the northeast seem like rock outcrops, the higher-resolution image reveals they are probably trees.

The Thirteen Towers were the key to the scientists conclusion that the site was a solar observatory. These regularly spaced towers line up along a hill, separated by about 5 meters (16 feet). The towers are easily seen from Chankillo’s central complex, but the views of these towers from the eastern and western observing points are especially illuminating. These viewpoints are situated so that, on the winter and summer solstices, the sunrises and sunsets line up with the towers at either end of the line. Other solar events, such as the rising and setting of the Sun at the mid-points between the solstices, were aligned with different towers.

Why did the ancient inhabitants of this region cultivate such a thorough understanding of solar cycles? In addition to potential ceremonial purposes, the observatory may have had practical uses as well. In Peru's dry coastal reason, precipitation is seasonal, so a reliable solar calendar would help determine the optimal time to plant crops.

Further reading:
Mann, C. C. (2007). Mystery Towers in Peru Are an Ancient Solar Calendar. Science. 315: 1206-1207.
Ghezzi, I., and Ruggles, C. (2007). Chankillo: A 2300-Year-Old Solar Observatory in Coastal Peru. Science. 315: 1239-1243.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7606
Image: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ima...002013_lrg.jpg

Turbo, you were very kind to give it to your friend.

Turbo1, we never did get a report back from Greg Bernhardt how he liked his trip to Peru. Perhaps he would like to share with us and new comers to Physics Forums some of the highlights of it?

It's been a while since I last posted to this topic but couldn't resist mentioning that the March 2010 of National Geographic magazine has a very intriguing and informative, eight page article with pictures that I highly recommend. Spirits in the Sand - The ancient Nasca lines of Peru shed their secrets by Stephen S. Hall.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...ca/hall-text/1

I just found out that one of my sea shells is worth over $2,000 .

It was amazing. Cuzco and the whole sacred valley was great. MP gave me chills. One of my favorite places!

It was amazing. Cuzco and the whole sacred valley was great. MP gave me chills. One of my favorite places!

The usage of GPR [Ground Penetrating Rador -An impulse GPR is a precise radio- transceiving gage device using electromagnetic waves. While one antenna sends out discontinuous sine signal one and half interval length long, the second identical antenna installed right next to the first one, receives reflected signals which are delayed to related beamed signals from about tens up to a few thousand nanoseconds. ] allows for quick and very precise archaeological surveys. Owing to the application of three-dimensional technology, it is possible to create time slices, that is horizontal sections from any depths.

The GPR is a very sensitive apparatus - using the phenomenon of pulse reflection on physical boundaries differentiated by values of the constant dielectric and electric conductivity. The higher the contrast between the velocity of wave propagation in the surrounding centre, the clearer readout we will obtain. Thus, it is possible to find not only metal objects, but also wooden, stone or clay objects in the ground.
http://www.geo-radar.pl/en/offer/res...logy/index.htm

The Brooklyn Museum of Art’s collection also includes early objects from northern and central Peru in a variety of media, with two pieces in particular standing out. The Chavin style conch is fascinating for the delicacy of its carving and for its imagery. The conch displays a humanoid figure surrounded by several serpent elements and faces in profile. The central figure holds a conch similar to the one on which he is carved near his lips as if he were blowing into it.

The Brooklyn Museum of Art’s collection also includes early objects from northern and central Peru in a variety of media, with two pieces in particular standing out. The Chavin style conch is fascinating for the delicacy of its carving and for its imagery. The conch displays a humanoid figure surrounded by several serpent elements and faces in profile. The central figure holds a conch similar to the one on which he is carved near his lips as if he were blowing into it.
http://www.rumbosonline.com/articles...rybrooklyn.htm