Chankillo

Chankillo, archaeological site erected between 200 and 300 bce in the desert of the Sechín River basin in the Ancash region of Peru. The site is about 9 miles (14 km) from the Pacific coast and consists of a hilltop building complex encircled by thick, gated walls, a row running north-south of 13 towers, and observation platforms on either side of the towers. In 2007 archaeological research emerged suggesting that Chankillo had been a solar observatory capable of tracking the solstices and the equinoxes, the oldest of its kind in the Americas.

Chankillo had proven a mystery to explorers and archaeologists from at least the 19th century until the discoveries made in the 2007 study by Peruvian archaeologist Ivan Ghezzi and British archaeoastronomer Clive Ruggles. It was assumed to have been a hilltop fortification, but, with no source of water within the walls and with many entrances, it did not seem a well-protected or practical site for that purpose. According to Ghezzi and Ruggles, the placement of the 13 towers follows the arc of the shifting sun position as it sets and rises over the course of the six months between solstices. The sunrise on the summer solstices aligns with the northernmost tower when viewed from the observation point, and the sunrise aligns with the southernmost tower on the winter solstice. Thus, the site would have had ritual functions and served as a large calendar, one that tracked harvest and planting seasons as well as the timing of religious festivals. Until the determination of Chankillo’s purpose, it was thought that the Inca of 2,000 years later were the first civilization to worship the Sun.