Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LivinginPeru) -- Located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the north of Lima, sits the Western Hemisphere's oldest known full-service solar observatory, according to a report in Peru's El Comercio newspaper.

The important archaeological discovery contains 13 stone pillars that sit along a coastal mountain side. The observatory, which is believed to be approximately 2,300 years, suggests the existence of a sophisticated culture that used the complex arrangement of the stone pillars and the sun for political and ceremonial purposes.

An older solar observatory, just to the north of Lima, is reported to be 4,300 years old. However, the Chankillo solar observatory is believed to be the first full-service observatory in the New World.
Dubbed the "13 Towers of Chankillo," the site's alignments cover the entire solar year, something which is uncommon among the other ancient observatories.

"Thousands of people may have reunited here to observe impressive solar events. These events could have even been manipulated by way of a political agenda," stated Ivan Ghezzi, who discovered the site while he was a student at Yale University.

Ghezzi, who is now the director of Peru's National Institute of Culture in Lima, stated that little is known about the people who constructed the Chankillo observatory except that they preceded the well-known Inca civilization by numerous centuries.

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	LA Times article (by LIP, Mar 02, 2007)
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