(03-04-2024, 09:14 PM)Maxmars Wrote: From Discover Magazine - Preceding the Inca, This Andean 'Stonehenge' Was a Space for Ceremony and Ritual
Subtitled: (Ritual circles — like the ancient stone plaza found in Peru's Cajamarca Valley — date back as far as 5,000 years ago. Researchers are digging into these sites to learn more about the Andean cultures that created them.)

I was intrigued because they evoked the idea of a "stonehenge,' which conjures up the other side of the world, in my head.
 

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An ancient stone circle sits on the summit of a mountain overlooking the Cajamarca Valley in Peru’s northern highlands. At first glance, it doesn’t appear particularly remarkable — just a circle about the size of a convenience store, with a smaller circle inside. Meanwhile, what remains of its borders are made up of standing boulders.

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It turns out that the 'standing' stones aren't much taller than 5 feet.  But it's still a thing that was done... the article says it must have taken several weeks of work for a large crew to make this space ("At first glance, it doesn’t appear particularly remarkable — just a circle about the size of a convenience store, with a smaller circle inside.") It seems quite old though... ("Radiocarbon dating of material at the base of some of the megalithic stones revealed that the rocks date back as far as 2750 B.C.E.")

Reportedly there were several scattered habitations of varying ages in the area, which seemed to indicate that no one "lived there."


[Image: https://images.ctfassets.net/cnu0m8re1exe/7wOO4p4R6KJ9jTZ724DLR4/981c2c63446195a1caed6dde001e6500/Circular-sunken-plaza-Caral-Peru.jpg?]

(03-06-2024, 01:43 AM)Maxmars Wrote: Very cool!  Thanks for  the link!

I would have been hard pressed to recognize that as a 'stonehenge'.  But evidently, they talk about it being used for star gazing.  

I don't think anyone mentioned that at all in the thread article.  They seem to be regarding that one as a ritual/ceremonial place... maybe.