261
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Boutsikas et al. (eds.), Advancing Cultural Astronomy, Historical & Cultural
Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64606-6_14
The Chankillo Solar Observatory
and Ceremonial Centre: A Heritage
for the World
Ivan Ghezzi
1 General Aspects
The Chankillo Solar Observatory and Ceremonial Centre (48.470 ha; 250–200 BC)
is a planned prehistoric site with astronomical, ritual, defensive and administrative
functions that integrates into its landscape by taking advantage of distinctive elements of the near and distant natural horizons for use as astronomical markers
(Ghezzi, 2016). It is located on the north-central coast of Peru (NW of South
America: 9°33′18″ Lat.S, 78°14′14″ Long.W), Ancash department, Casma province
and district, 15 km east of the Pacific Ocean and 12 km south of the city of Casma
(Fig. 1). The site faces the steep western slopes of the Andes Mountains (80–1180
masl), on a desert that has remained practically without major geological changes
since the Pleistocene. Its surroundings are adjacent to the irrigated valleys of the
southern branch—called Casma or Grande river—of the Casma and Sechin river
basin, and made up of mountains, rocky outcrops, dry ravines, sand ramps and
dunes, and carob tree forests, which largely retain their original conditions, but with
considerable fluctuations in the course and the size of the river that have shaped the
area into two different parts: on the one hand, a mountainous area formed by Mucho
Malo mountain, and on the other, wide sand ramps and low hill chains occupied by
the Chankillo site. From the latter, Mucho Malo forms a near, elevated horizon,
while in the direction of the Chankillo site axis (118.8°), the horizon is distant, and
relatively low. Additionally, the terrain includes a 1200 m tall mountain range to the
West, which prevents the winter fog, common in coastal Peru, from entering this
part of the valley, and creates exceptionally favorable conditions for the observation
of celestial objects (Ghezzi & Guadalupe, 2013).
I. Ghezzi (*)
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
e-mail: ighezzi@idarq.org
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Boutsikas et al. (eds.), Advancing Cultural Astronomy, Historical & Cultural
Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64606-6_14
The Chankillo Solar Observatory
and Ceremonial Centre: A Heritage
for the World
Ivan Ghezzi
1 General Aspects
The Chankillo Solar Observatory and Ceremonial Centre (48.470 ha; 250–200 BC)
is a planned prehistoric site with astronomical, ritual, defensive and administrative
functions that integrates into its landscape by taking advantage of distinctive elements of the near and distant natural horizons for use as astronomical markers
(Ghezzi, 2016). It is located on the north-central coast of Peru (NW of South
America: 9°33′18″ Lat.S, 78°14′14″ Long.W), Ancash department, Casma province
and district, 15 km east of the Pacific Ocean and 12 km south of the city of Casma
(Fig. 1). The site faces the steep western slopes of the Andes Mountains (80–1180
masl), on a desert that has remained practically without major geological changes
since the Pleistocene. Its surroundings are adjacent to the irrigated valleys of the
southern branch—called Casma or Grande river—of the Casma and Sechin river
basin, and made up of mountains, rocky outcrops, dry ravines, sand ramps and
dunes, and carob tree forests, which largely retain their original conditions, but with
considerable fluctuations in the course and the size of the river that have shaped the
area into two different parts: on the one hand, a mountainous area formed by Mucho
Malo mountain, and on the other, wide sand ramps and low hill chains occupied by
the Chankillo site. From the latter, Mucho Malo forms a near, elevated horizon,
while in the direction of the Chankillo site axis (118.8°), the horizon is distant, and
relatively low. Additionally, the terrain includes a 1200 m tall mountain range to the
West, which prevents the winter fog, common in coastal Peru, from entering this
part of the valley, and creates exceptionally favorable conditions for the observation
of celestial objects (Ghezzi & Guadalupe, 2013).
I. Ghezzi (*)
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
e-mail: ighezzi@idarq.org