Peru’s Sunny View
Solar observatory dates back 2,300 years
By Ron Cowen
When Ivan Ghezzi first visited the ancient Peruvian settlement of Chankillo 6 years ago, the world was reeling from 9/11. It seemed appropriate to view the site, already famous for its thick walls, parapets, and restricted gates, solely as a fortress. Ghezzi, then a Yale University graduate student, had in fact received a grant to investigate just that possibility at the 2,300-year-old coastal-desert site.
However, he soon became fascinated with a 300-meter-long array of 13 towers arranged like a row of giant prehistoric teeth along an adjoining ridge. Archaeologists had proposed that these structures might have defended the area as the other Chankillo features had. Some researchers, however, had noted a hint of astronomical symbolism, as 13 is the number of lunar cycles in a year. But no one had followed up.