Towers point to ancient Sun cult

[Ozymandias]

The oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been found, suggesting the existence of early, sophisticated Sun cults, scientists report.

 

It comprises of a group of 2,300-year-old structures, known as the Thirteen Towers, which are found in the Chankillo archaeological site, Peru.

 

The towers span the annual rising and setting arcs of the Sun, providing a solar calendar to mark special dates.

 

More at BBC

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

That's pretty amazing,

 

"For example," said Professor Ruggles, "if you were stood at the western observing point, you would see the Sun coming up in the morning, but where it would appear along the span of towers would depend on the time of the year."

 

"So, on the summer solstice, which is in December in Peru, you would see the Sun just to the right of the right-most tower; for the winter solstice, in June, you would see the Sun rise to the left of the left-most tower; and in-between, the Sun would move up and down the horizon." This means the ancient civilisation could have regulated a calendar, he said, by keeping track the number of days it took for the Sun to move from tower to tower.

 

I find it stunning that they would go to all the trouble of building those towers just to keep track of the passing year, I wonder how long it took them, to firstly work it out and then to actually build it?

 

One things for sure, there were some pretty clever people around 2,300 years ago.

Edited March 1, 2007 by Gaius Paulinus Maximus

[The Augusta]

That's pretty amazing,

 

 

"For example," said Professor Ruggles, "if you were stood at the western observing point, you would see the Sun coming up in the morning, but where it would appear along the span of towers would depend on the time of the year."

 

"So, on the summer solstice, which is in December in Peru, you would see the Sun just to the right of the right-most tower; for the winter solstice, in June, you would see the Sun rise to the left of the left-most tower; and in-between, the Sun would move up and down the horizon." This means the ancient civilisation could have regulated a calendar, he said, by keeping track the number of days it took for the Sun to move from tower to tower.

 

I find it stunning that they would go to all the trouble of building those towers just to keep track of the passing year, I wonder how long it took them, to firstly work it out and then to actually build it?

 

One things for sure, there were some pretty clever people around 2,300 yers ago.

 

It doesn't really surprise me that people did go to such trouble. Early civilisations recognised the importance of the Suin in their daily and yearly lives - the seasons for agriculture, day and night etc.

 

I have to say that I have no trouble at all with accepting cults of the Sun in whatever society and at whatever time. The Sun giveth, and the Sun taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Sun. When we think that (providing man does not kill off the earth himself before) in four and a half billion years the Sun will die, and millions of years before this happens its natural expansion, when its helium supply is used up, would gradually remove all life from the earth in any case, we can safely say that yes - some pretty clever people did exist 2,500 years ago. Astrophysics has proved them right.

[edgewaters]

I find it stunning that they would go to all the trouble of building those towers just to keep track of the passing year

 

 

Doesn't make much sense to us, perhaps, but remember that everything depended on the seasons and the exact timing of when to sow and when to reap and how long between growing seasons they would have to rely on stores. It was their whole world, really - everything about their lives was determined by the passage of seasons. If you can imagine how much people are affected by very sharp swings in gasoline prices today, multiply that level of concern a few dozens of times and you've got a basic idea of how important it was.