287
5 Conclusions
The Chankillo Solar Observatory is composed by the Thirteen Towers and two
observing points to the West and East, from which the profile of the towers spanned
the annual sunrise and sunset arcs, respectively. These are the leading elements that
make Chankillo unique and outstanding globally. While its solar horizon calendar is
not directly comparable with modern instruments, it can justifiably be termed an
observatory because the position of the towers and observing points shows unequivocally that their primary end was to serve as a precise calendrical instrument. Solar
horizon calendars require tracking accurately, from a single spot and using natural
or artificial markers, the progress of sunrises or sunsets. Examples of true horizon
calendars are extremely scarce. At Chankillo, seasonal observing activities appear
to have been arranged from a restricted spot by (presumably) a privileged elite.
Narrow gaps between a series of artificial markers defined time intervals of just a
few days, so that by reference to the gaps and markers an observer could identify a
date in the seasonal year to within a margin of, at most, 1 or 2 days.
There is extensive evidence of astronomical alignments within existing world
heritage properties (Ghezzi, 2018). Solar alignments are common, because they are
the simplest to recognize and show to have been intentional. Some of the alignments
at Chankillo, such as the broadly solstitial orientation of the overall grid pattern of
the buildings stretching over several plazas, are comparable with patterns of orientation and alignments found at many sites elsewhere. It shows that this built
environment was planned relative to the sun. Various astronomically aligned architectural elements encapsulated sky events that were visible to all, while observations of sunrises against the towers from the West Observation Point could only be
made by privileged individuals (presumably members of a chiefly or priestly elite)
and (from the evidence of numerous votive offerings at this spot) accompanied by
due ritual. In this respect, Chankillo belongs in the category of sites that represent
the complexity and diversity of ways in which people rationalized the cosmos and
framed their actions in accordance with that understanding.
However, the mere existence of solstitial or equinoctial alignments does not
prove that a site was a calendrical instrument, not even that it was necessarily used
specifically for observations of the sun. In this sense, the Thirteen Towers unquestionably did form an observing instrument. Unlike architectural alignments upon a
single astronomical target found at many ancient sites around the world, they span
the entire annual solar rising and setting arcs as seen from the two observing points,
not only giving direct indications of all four solstitial rising and setting points but
also the means to identify every other day in a year by observing sunrise or sunset
against the intervening towers and gaps between them. Chankillo is unique worldwide as a functioning solar calendrical observation device and quite an extraordinary example of native landscape timekeeping.
Moreover, only Taosi, a 2300–1900 BC site of the Longshan culture in China,
and Chankillo in Peru are known to have incorporated a complete solar horizon
calendar, using markers to track the progressive passage of the sun along the horizon
The Chankillo Solar Observatory and Ceremonial Centre: A Heritage for the World
5 Conclusions
The Chankillo Solar Observatory is composed by the Thirteen Towers and two
observing points to the West and East, from which the profile of the towers spanned
the annual sunrise and sunset arcs, respectively. These are the leading elements that
make Chankillo unique and outstanding globally. While its solar horizon calendar is
not directly comparable with modern instruments, it can justifiably be termed an
observatory because the position of the towers and observing points shows unequivocally that their primary end was to serve as a precise calendrical instrument. Solar
horizon calendars require tracking accurately, from a single spot and using natural
or artificial markers, the progress of sunrises or sunsets. Examples of true horizon
calendars are extremely scarce. At Chankillo, seasonal observing activities appear
to have been arranged from a restricted spot by (presumably) a privileged elite.
Narrow gaps between a series of artificial markers defined time intervals of just a
few days, so that by reference to the gaps and markers an observer could identify a
date in the seasonal year to within a margin of, at most, 1 or 2 days.
There is extensive evidence of astronomical alignments within existing world
heritage properties (Ghezzi, 2018). Solar alignments are common, because they are
the simplest to recognize and show to have been intentional. Some of the alignments
at Chankillo, such as the broadly solstitial orientation of the overall grid pattern of
the buildings stretching over several plazas, are comparable with patterns of orientation and alignments found at many sites elsewhere. It shows that this built
environment was planned relative to the sun. Various astronomically aligned architectural elements encapsulated sky events that were visible to all, while observations of sunrises against the towers from the West Observation Point could only be
made by privileged individuals (presumably members of a chiefly or priestly elite)
and (from the evidence of numerous votive offerings at this spot) accompanied by
due ritual. In this respect, Chankillo belongs in the category of sites that represent
the complexity and diversity of ways in which people rationalized the cosmos and
framed their actions in accordance with that understanding.
However, the mere existence of solstitial or equinoctial alignments does not
prove that a site was a calendrical instrument, not even that it was necessarily used
specifically for observations of the sun. In this sense, the Thirteen Towers unquestionably did form an observing instrument. Unlike architectural alignments upon a
single astronomical target found at many ancient sites around the world, they span
the entire annual solar rising and setting arcs as seen from the two observing points,
not only giving direct indications of all four solstitial rising and setting points but
also the means to identify every other day in a year by observing sunrise or sunset
against the intervening towers and gaps between them. Chankillo is unique worldwide as a functioning solar calendrical observation device and quite an extraordinary example of native landscape timekeeping.
Moreover, only Taosi, a 2300–1900 BC site of the Longshan culture in China,
and Chankillo in Peru are known to have incorporated a complete solar horizon
calendar, using markers to track the progressive passage of the sun along the horizon
The Chankillo Solar Observatory and Ceremonial Centre: A Heritage for the World