263
Multidisciplinary research and conservation carried out at Chankillo since 2001
(De las Casas, 2018; Ghezzi, 2002, 2003a, 2003b, 2004, Ghezzi & Rodriguez,
2015; Ghezzi, Salcedo, & Alvarez, 2013; Ghezzi, Suarez, & Navarro, 2017; Ghezzi
et al., 2013; Ghezzi, Alvarez, Suarez, & Navarro, 2018; Ghezzi, Alvarez, Navarro,
& De las Casas, 2019a, 2019b; Ghezzi, Gamboa, Cruz, & Romero, 2014; Ghezzi,
Gonzales, Gargate, & Barrientos, 2014; Garcia, 2017; Guadalupe, 2012; Huayhua
& Sueldo, 2018; Magadan, 2012; Morales, 2011, 2018; Moran, 2014; Padilla, 2017;
Paz, 2017; Ruggles, 2017; Salazar, 2013a, 2013b; Vasquez, 2017) have allowed
documenting and interpreting the site’s chronology and construction history, as well
as the functions and architectural details of many of its buildings, the relationship
between astronomy and the set of associated cultural processes, and the violence
with which the Fortified Temple was attacked. Two themes stand out: the visual
integration of elements of the landscape, both natural and constructed, as indicators
of the cyclical passage of the sun; and the relationship between war, power, and
ideology, on which Chankillo gives us empirical information that is thus far
unparalleled in the archaeology of the Andes. The span of the construction,
occupation, destruction, and abandonment of Chankillo is very short, apparently
lasting less than half a century, based in a large sequence of cultural materials dated
by relative (pottery styles) and absolute (
14
C and wiggle matching of
dendrochronologically ordered
14
C dates) methods (Ghezzi, 2016).
2 Chankillo Monumental Archaeological Zone
It is the area occupied by Chankillo, a prehistoric ceremonial centre dedicated to a
solar cult. Its orientation is defined broadly by the alignment between the single
restricted entrance on the atrium of the Temple of the Pillars and the single direct
entrance to the Administrative Centre (Fig. 2a, b), defining a site axis with an azimuth of ~120° that connects the Temple of the Pillars, the centre of the Observatory
Building and the Administrative Centre, and passes through the gap between Towers
12 and 13, where the southern end of the line of towers bends round until it is perpendicular to the axis. This orientation is maintained throughout the site —even
buildings not along the main axis share it—and it is broadly solstitial (Ghezzi &
Ruggles, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c). The main buildings are the Fortified Temple
(Fig. 3a, b), the Thirteen Towers (Fig. 4a, b) and Observatory Building (Fig. 5)—
components of the Chankillo Solar Observatory—, and the Administrative Centre
(Fig. 6a, b).
The Chankillo Solar Observatory and Ceremonial Centre: A Heritage for the World
Multidisciplinary research and conservation carried out at Chankillo since 2001
(De las Casas, 2018; Ghezzi, 2002, 2003a, 2003b, 2004, Ghezzi & Rodriguez,
2015; Ghezzi, Salcedo, & Alvarez, 2013; Ghezzi, Suarez, & Navarro, 2017; Ghezzi
et al., 2013; Ghezzi, Alvarez, Suarez, & Navarro, 2018; Ghezzi, Alvarez, Navarro,
& De las Casas, 2019a, 2019b; Ghezzi, Gamboa, Cruz, & Romero, 2014; Ghezzi,
Gonzales, Gargate, & Barrientos, 2014; Garcia, 2017; Guadalupe, 2012; Huayhua
& Sueldo, 2018; Magadan, 2012; Morales, 2011, 2018; Moran, 2014; Padilla, 2017;
Paz, 2017; Ruggles, 2017; Salazar, 2013a, 2013b; Vasquez, 2017) have allowed
documenting and interpreting the site’s chronology and construction history, as well
as the functions and architectural details of many of its buildings, the relationship
between astronomy and the set of associated cultural processes, and the violence
with which the Fortified Temple was attacked. Two themes stand out: the visual
integration of elements of the landscape, both natural and constructed, as indicators
of the cyclical passage of the sun; and the relationship between war, power, and
ideology, on which Chankillo gives us empirical information that is thus far
unparalleled in the archaeology of the Andes. The span of the construction,
occupation, destruction, and abandonment of Chankillo is very short, apparently
lasting less than half a century, based in a large sequence of cultural materials dated
by relative (pottery styles) and absolute (
14
C and wiggle matching of
dendrochronologically ordered
14
C dates) methods (Ghezzi, 2016).
2 Chankillo Monumental Archaeological Zone
It is the area occupied by Chankillo, a prehistoric ceremonial centre dedicated to a
solar cult. Its orientation is defined broadly by the alignment between the single
restricted entrance on the atrium of the Temple of the Pillars and the single direct
entrance to the Administrative Centre (Fig. 2a, b), defining a site axis with an azimuth of ~120° that connects the Temple of the Pillars, the centre of the Observatory
Building and the Administrative Centre, and passes through the gap between Towers
12 and 13, where the southern end of the line of towers bends round until it is perpendicular to the axis. This orientation is maintained throughout the site —even
buildings not along the main axis share it—and it is broadly solstitial (Ghezzi &
Ruggles, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c). The main buildings are the Fortified Temple
(Fig. 3a, b), the Thirteen Towers (Fig. 4a, b) and Observatory Building (Fig. 5)—
components of the Chankillo Solar Observatory—, and the Administrative Centre
(Fig. 6a, b).
The Chankillo Solar Observatory and Ceremonial Centre: A Heritage for the World