3,000-year-old network of ritual tunnels discovered in Peru
Miscellaneous / / June 29, 2022
Once it could be an open square, which was built up over the centuries.
Archaeologists have discovered a new complex of hidden passageways and galleries deep within the ancient temple complex of Chavin de Huantar in the Peruvian Andes. Researchers believe that the network of chambers and tunnels was used in religious rituals using psychedelic drugs.
Inside, they found a lot of evidence indicating an age of at least 3,000 years from the time of construction and, possibly, from the time the tunnels were officially sealed.
John Rick, Stanford University archaeologist thinksthat some of the dark and isolated rooms were used for sensory deprivationSensory deprivation is a partial or complete cessation of external influence on one or more sense organs, which leads to a decrease in the flow of nerve impulses to the central nervous system., while other larger rooms may have been for the worship of idols.
Rick explained that the discovered passages were not strictly tunnels, as they were not originally dug into the ground. Instead, passageways were deliberately constructed within the vast temple complex that was being built in stages between 1200 BC and 1200 BC. BC. and 200 g. BC.
Passages led to the main gallery, which contained two large ritual stone bowls. One of them was decorated with the symbolic head and wings of a condor, a large Andean bird of prey. As a result, the gallery is now called the Condor Gallery.
- Archaeologist Richard Burger, an expert on South American prehistory at Yale University, said the two bowls in gallery were probably mortars for grinding psychedelic drugs used in religious ceremonies.
- And University of Florida anthropologist Dan Contreras added that many of the passages were originally near the surface but were later closed as the complex grew over the centuries. Once all this could be an open area, which eventually built up, the scientist believes.
Chavin de Huantar was the religious center of the mysterious Chavin people who lived in the northern and central parts of modern Peru approximately 2200-3200 years ago. The complex is located 430 km north of Lima, in a mountain valley at an altitude of more than 3,000 m, and is the largest of the local religious sites.
Archaeologist John Rick added that in 15 years of studying Chavin de Huantar, scientists have found a total of 36 galleries and associated passageways, but this last network remained sealed for a long time and unexplored.
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