June 2, 2006— Archaeologists have discovered an enormous prehistoric calendar, formed by sculptures arranged in a circle, at the Temple of the Fox in Buena Vista, Peru.
The calendar, which dates to 2200 B.C., is the oldest known structure of its kind found in the Americas.
Similar monuments erected by the Mayans of Mexico have also been found, but those have dated to approximately 2,000 years ago.
There have been European versions too.
“Early solstice markers are known in Ireland with dates earlier than Buena Vista, but not, to my knowledge, with multiple instruments,” said Robert Benfer, who oversaw the project and is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
“The most famous would be the case of (Egyptian ruler) Amenhotep, who at 1,500 B.C. had statues erected to gaze at the solstice when the Nile was about to flood,” Benfer said.
The Peruvian calendar would have been a dramatic sight for onlookers 4,000 years ago. Its towering sculptures— made of mud plaster mixed with grass and covered with clay— were painted bright yellow and red.
The researchers presented the findings recently at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Benfer told Discovery News the temple and its sculptures seem linked to astronomical alignments that would have guided practitioners of flood plain agriculture, which persists in the region.
Major celestial events, such as the rising and setting of the sun during equinoxes and solstices, would have drawn lines connecting points at the temple’s entrance, sculptures, surrounding ridges and chambers.
One chamber creates a line aimed toward the rising sun on Dec. 21, which marks the season when floodwaters begin to rise. On March 21, when these waters recede, the same line points towards the Andean constellation of the fox.
Field director Neil Duncan, who worked with Peruvian archaeologist Bernardino Ojeda, told Discovery News the chambers contained remnants of offerings.
“The offerings primarily consist of plant remains: cotton and cotton seeds, fruits such as lucuma and guava, squash and gourds, beans and grass,” Duncan explained.
He added that a sunken pit in the center of the temple also contained shellfish, crab and mussel shells, and anchovy-sized fish bones.
“These are like ritual offerings, given the context in which we found them,” Duncan said. “This type of ritual, where food or other offerings are given to a deity or deities to appease them or secure supernatural insurance, are ubiquitous all over the world.”
The researchers found no evidence of human sacrifice, but they did discover a cotton-shrouded mummy of a woman in the fetal position.
“It is a very ancient Andean tradition to bury dead in places of power,” explained Duncan. “This site certainly would fit the bill.”
Perhaps the most striking object found at the temple was a large personified disk that frowns at the sunset on June 21, the traditional start of the harvest.
The ancients may have enjoyed a bit of dry humor, given all of the upcoming work.
Hugo Ludeña, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal in Lima, however, thinks the frowning face represents Pacha Mama, an Earth mother goddess who became sad when the sun set.
Benfer and his team plan to continue excavations at the Buena Vista site this summer.
