A mysterious Inca-era site made up of some 5,200 holes high in the Andes may have been a site of barter and accounting hundreds of years ago, a new study suggests.
The holes are arranged in an orderly grid on Monte Sierpe (“Snake Mountain”) in the southern Peruvian Andes. According to the study, the site may have been built between 1000 and 1400 AD as a place of exchange during the powerful Chincha kingdom, which had a population of over 100,000 people. When the kingdom was conquered Inca Empire The authors suggested that the Hole Strip site may have been repurposed in the 15th century to collect tribute and taxes from local groups.
Archaeologists made the discovery after analyzing thousands of holes using drones, which allowed the team to discover a “mathematical pattern in the arrangement of the holes” – meaning they were organized into sections and blocks, reminiscent of the accounting and accounting practices of the time. The researchers also analyzed samples taken from the pits, a co-author of the study. Charles Stanishthe University of South Florida anthropology professor said in a statement.
Strip of holes
The mysterious holes of Monte Sierpe are located in a long strip, divided into blocks of several dozen depressions. The total length of the strip is 0.9 miles (1.5 kilometers). Each pit is 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) in diameter and up to 3 feet (1 m) deep, and some are lined with stones. The site is close to a defensive settlement and road crossing that predates Latin American colonization in the 16th century.
Archaeologists first documented the site in the 1930s and then surveyed it in the 1970s, but little work has been done on the site since then, Stanish said. “This property is isolated and not threatened by development,” he explained. “As a result, there was no sense of urgency.”
Over the years, researchers have come up with many different ideas to explain the huge number of holes.
“Hypotheses regarding the purpose of Monte Sierpe range from protection, storage and accounting to water harvesting, fog capture and horticulture,” study co-author. Jacob BongersThis was stated by an archaeologist from the University of Sydney in Australia. “The function of the site remains unclear.”
In a new study published Monday (Nov. 10) in the journal AntiquityThe researchers collected aerial photographs of the site using drones. They also analyzed the remains of centuries-old plants in rocks and sediments from several pits.
Analysis found pollen from crops, including corn, inside the pits, suggesting that the plants were placed in the pits. Corn pollen does not naturally travel far from the plant, so researchers suspected that it was brought to Monte Sierpe by people rather than natural processes. The team also found remnants of reed pollen; the people of the Chincha Kingdom used reeds to make baskets.
“These findings support the hypothesis that in pre-Hispanic times, local groups periodically filled pits with plant materials and stored goods in them, using wicker baskets and/or bundles for transport,” Bongers said.
Barter markets were common in the Peruvian Andes during this period, especially along trade routes. Neighboring communities may have used Monte Sierpe as one such market in Chincha society, the researchers wrote in the study.
Drone images showed that the pit layout at the site is similar to that of the Incas. kipus – accounting devices made from knitted cords. Researchers have previously found the kippah next to similar gratings in Incan storage areas, suggesting that both sites may have been used for counting and sorting various goods. The researchers suggested that slight differences in the number of pits in each quarter of Monte Sierpe may reflect different levels of tribute in neighboring towns.
“This study provides an important example from the Andean region of how past communities reshaped past landscapes to bring people together and promote interaction,” Bongers said. “Our results expand our understanding of barter markets and the origins and diversity of indigenous accounting practices in the ancient Andes and beyond.”
