The Pre-Incans

2,300 years ago, the pre-Incans lived 10 miles northwest from the Peruvian coast. There they built Chankillo, a large fortified temple up against the western foothills of the Cordillera Negras (Lienhard). On the outskirts of this fortified temple about one kilometer east, there are 13 square towers aligned in a row on top of a ridge, each standing about 20 feet tall. On either side of the ridge are two towers on flat planes; an east and west observation tower. The pre-Incans are believed to have built these towers as seasonal markers with agricultural harvesting and time keeping (Lienhard). From 350 B.C. till around the year 100 B.C. Chankillo remained active and the pre-Incans lived in peace. But around 100 B.C. the end of the Chankillo civilization began. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the pre-Incans came to a violent end. With the destruction of Chankillo’s main temple and religious symbols, war swallowed up this once great civilization. The result dispersed the culture to different sections of South America, creating such places as Machu Piccu, Nazca and Cuzco all …show more content…
Constructed around 350 B.C., Chankillo is believed to have been built for seasonal events, rituals, sun festivals and for keeping a seasonal calendar through solar observations (Ghezzi, Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy 59-61). Chankillo is known as the Peruvian ‘Stonehenge’ as stated by the MIT Technology Review. It has 13 towers that are neatly aligned but nobody knows for sure why these towers were constructed this way (Emerging Technology From the arXiv). All information was destroyed and lost when the pre-Incans fought and demolished the once great site of Chankillo. All that remains are the ruins which stand as puzzle pieces for scientists to analyze and resolve to unearth their