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ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17232 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 19-02-2012 20:29 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Haunting Sounds at an Ancient Peruvian Site
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/02/haunting-sounds-at-an-ancient-pe.html?ref=hp
by Dan Ferber on 16 February 2012, 10:27 PM
Ancient sounds. The central corridor at Chavín de Huantar creates special acoustical effects.
Credit: Miriam Kolar
The haunting sound of Chavín conch shell trumpets
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VANCOUVER, CANADA—More than 3 millennia ago, ancient people flocked to Chavín de Huantar, a village in a high valley in the Peruvian Andes, to hear the oracles speak. And indeed they spoke—in the voice of resonant conch shell trumpets, and with the help of some clever architectural design, according to findings presented here today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (which publishes ScienceNOW). The research suggests that the Chavín culture—and perhaps other ancient cultures—knew acoustic tricks that might be the envy of a modern concert hall engineer.
Chavín de Huantar consists of terraces, squares, ornate megaliths, and a temple, and there’s abundant evidence that it was used for religious ceremonies. The site also contains bas-relief sculptures sporting powerful animal imagery, including jaguars, condors, and snakes; images of hallucinogenic plants; and artifacts of the tools used to prepare them for consumption.
Chavín de Huantar is particularly well suited to the study of ancient uses of sound, says Miriam Kolar, an archeoacoustics researcher at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. That’s because the interior architecture contains elaborate, multilevel mazes with long corridors and staircases that affect acoustics today and are well enough preserved to detect what the original residents must have heard. What’s more, ancient conch shell trumpets have been excavated in the village; when blown into, the shells make a haunting, warbling sound, and fossil conch shells are embedded in stones on the floor of the temple. Kolar played a recording of the conch shell trumpet at the meeting. “It’s not very imposing over loudspeakers,” she said. “But in person it rattles your bones.”
In the 1970s, a Peruvian archeologist had identified a large canal at Chavín de Huantar with built-in terraces, which he proposed were built to create sound from water rushing over edge. Kolar and her colleagues suspected that other parts of the site might have been designed and built to create certain sound effects. Sure enough, a long, narrow central passageway grew narrower, a design that ensured that the sound of conch shell trumpets called pututus, but not other sounds, propagates from the interior passages of the temple to the outside. The researchers suspect that a priest would call to the oracle in full view of the assembled crowd, and the haunting sound of a pututu would emerge, thanks to someone playing the conch shell instrument inside the structure. Indeed, in acoustical terms, the corridors serve as so-called wave guides, which guide sound waves farther than they’d otherwise travel, Kolar said.
To test the idea that the builders of the temple had a sophisticated understanding of acoustics, Kolar and her colleagues placed archeological staff—professors, graduate students, or their Peruvian colleagues—at different locations in the narrow, mazelike passageways inside the temple, played sounds from loudspeakers located at various points in the maze, and asked the volunteers where the sound was coming from. The design of the maze misled people about the true location of the sound source, which may have added to the numinous atmosphere the builders intended. These results added more evidence that the ceremonial center at Chauvin de Huantar was designed with acoustics in mind.
“She has good evidence to show that [the acoustic design] was purposefully done, says Steven Waller, an independent scholar in La Mesa, California, who has investigated the acoustics of ancient ceremonial caves, and who presented evidence at the session showing that Stonehenge and other stone circles in the British Isles were designed with acoustics in mind. What the results do, he adds, “is show that all archeological sites have the potential for acoustic effects, so we should preserve soundscapes of these sites in case they’re important.” |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17232 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 01-04-2012 23:05 Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Rare Animal-Shaped Mounds Discovered in Peru
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120329112209.htm
The El Paraíso condor lines up with this stone sculpted to resemble a condor head. Stone condors are common in the Andes; this is the first one found on the coast. Viewed from the entrance to a 4,000 year old temple at the site, the sun rises over this pillar during the equinox. (Credit: Google Earth Pro)
ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2012) — For more than a century and a half, scientists and tourists have visited massive animal-shaped mounds, such as Serpent Mound in Ohio, created by the indigenous people of North America. But few animal effigy mounds had been found in South America until University of Missouri anthropology professor emeritus Robert Benfer identified numerous earthen animals rising above the coastal plains of Peru, a region already renowned for the Nazca lines, the ruined city of Chan Chan, and other cultural treasures.
"The mounds will draw tourists, one day," Benfer said. "Some of them are more than 4,000 years old. Compare that to the effigy mounds of North America, which date to between 400 and 1200 AD. The oldest Peruvian mounds were being built at the same time as the pyramids in Egypt."
Benfer identified the mounds, which range from five meters (16.5 feet) to 400 meters (1,312 feet) long in each of the six valleys he surveyed in coastal Peru. The mounds pre-date ceramics and were probably built using woven baskets to carry and pile up rock and soil.
Like the Nazca lines, which include a series of giant animal outlines drawn on the ground to the south, the animal mounds were best observed from a higher vantage point. Google Earth images of the mounds revealed the shapes of birds, including a giant condor, a 5,000 year-old orca, a duck, and a caiman/puma monster seen in bone and rock carvings from the area.
"The finding of animal effigy mounds where there were none before changes our conception of early Peruvian prehistory," Benfer said. "That they probably represent the Andean zodiac is also a new find. A controversial interpretation of some Nazca figures as representations of the zodiac is supported by these mounds."
Benfer suggested the structures may have been built as terrestrial manifestations of constellations the ancient Peruvians saw in the stars above. The mounds not only represented the stars, they aligned with them. So far, Benfer has found astronomical orientations at every giant mound.
For example, at the Chillón Valley site, an earthen condor's charcoal eye lined up with the Milky Way when viewed from a nearby temple. The monstrous caiman/puma mound aligned with the June summer solstice when viewed from the same temple.
According to Benfer, astronomer priests may have made directed construction of the mounds and then made observations of the sky and offerings to Earth from atop the earthen creatures. For the ancients, having a celestial calendar allowed farmers and fisherman to prepare for the year ahead.
"For example, knowing that December 21 had passed was very important. If there was no sign of an El Niño by then, fishers would know they would have another good year, and farmers would face neither drought nor floods," Benfer said.
Previously, the only other effigy mounds known from South America were a few sites in the Andes, but Benfer's discoveries may be just the beginning.
"In each field season, I have found more giant mounds and more fields of smaller ones. I will go back in June and July confident of identifying more on the ground," Benfer said.
Although they appear to be plentiful, researchers overlooked the animal effigies since the first days of scientific archeology in Peru.
"I had always noted that a very large structure just north of Lima resembled a bird. But since there were supposedly no giant animal effigy mounds in South America, I thought it couldn't be one," Benfer said.
Then, two years ago, while studying satellite views of archeological sites, Benfer noticed what looked like teeth on one of the mounds north of Lima. The jagged teeth-like structures had been misidentified as irrigation canals. But after a ground survey of the area, he realized he was standing atop the caiman/puma monster of Chillón Valley. He soon found the nearby condor mound and went on to identify numerous other earthen animal effigies.
The results of Benfer's work were published in the journal Antiquity. The Curtiss and Mary G. Brennan Foundation supported his work as did the research board of the University of Missouri. The Museum of Anthropology and Pre-Columbian Agriculture of the National Agricultural University of Peru provided laboratory and technical support. The field team of Bernardino Ojeda, Omar Ventocilla, Andrés Ocas, and Lucio Laura produced maps and valuable observations.
Although retired, Benfer continues field research in Peru and Mexico. His work today focuses on the intersection of astronomy and archeology, particularly alignments between celestial events and religious structures.
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Missouri-Columbia.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Robert A. Benfer. Giant Preceramic animal effigy mounds in South America? Antiquity, 2011 [link] |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17232 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 13-02-2013 15:03 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Peru archaeologists find ancient temple in El Paraiso
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21436513
The temple was discovered in one of the wings of the main pyramid at the ancient site of El Paraiso
Archaeologists in Peru say they have discovered a temple at the ancient site of El Paraiso, near the capital, Lima.
Entry to the rectangular structure, estimated to be up to 5,000 years old, was via a narrow passageway, they say.
At its centre, the archaeologists from Peru's Ministry of Culture found a hearth which they believe was used to burn ceremonial offerings.
With 10 ruins, El Paraiso is one of the biggest archaeological sites in central Peru.
The archaeologists found the structure, measuring 6.82m by 8.04m (22ft by 26ft), in the right wing of the main pyramid.
'Interconnected civilisation'
They had been carrying out conservation work on the site on behalf of Peru's Ministry of Culture when they came across the remains, which had been obscured by sand and rocks.
The walls would have been 2.5m (8ft) high, but only about 70cm remain with the hearth at the centre
They said the temple walls were made of stone and covered in fine yellow clay which also contained some traces of red paint.
The archaeologists said the find suggests that the communities in the Late Pre-ceramic Age (3500 BC to 1800 BC) were more closely connected than had been previously thought.
Peru's Deputy Minister for Culture Rafael Varon said the the temple was the first structure of its kind to be found on Peru's central coast.
"It corroborates that the region around Lima was a focus for the civilisations of the Andean territory, further bolstering its religious, economic and political importance since times immemorial," Mr Varon said.
Archaeologist Marco Guillen, who led the team which made the discovery, said the hearth gave insight into the civilisation which had used the site.
"The main characteristic of their religion was the use of fire, which burnt in the centre," he told the BBC's Mattia Cabitza in Lima.
"The smoke allowed the priests to connect with their gods," Mr Guillen said.
The Paraiso settlement once supported a farming and fishing community numbering hundreds of people.
Our correspondent says thousands of ruins are thought to remain undiscovered, making Peru a treasure-hunting destination for archaeologists and looters alike. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17232 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 26-02-2013 15:55 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Maize was key in early Andean civilisation, study shows
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21573875
By Mark Kinver
Environment reporter, BBC News
Maize played a central role in the establishment of early Andean civilisations, say researchers
New evidence strengthens the argument that maize played an important role in ancient Peruvian civilisation 5,000 years ago, a study has said.
Samples taken from pollen records, stone tool residues and fossilised faeces suggest the food crop was actively grown, processed and eaten.
The authors say it adds more weight to the argument that Andean society was agricultural, not maritime-based.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"If you look at the origins of civilisations around the world - from Egypt to China and India - they are all based on agriculture," explained co-author Jonathan Haas from The Field Museum, Chicago.
However, he told BBC News that an idea emerged that Andean early civilisation was different, and evolved from exploiting marine resources.
Power struggle
He told BBC News: "That theory has now been the dominant theory since the mid-1970s but more data has become available saying that there are not just [coastal] sites but there are some big inland sites too.
"People started to find corn at the inland sites, and the argument was that the corn was really a condiment and used for ceremonial purposes.
An agricultural system would allow leaders to exert the power needed to develop complex societies
Dr Haas said that the findings from the team's study "topples that notion".
In their paper, the team explained that the first stage of identifying the botanical remains taken from the archaeological sites was the analysis of the macrobotanical (visible to the naked eye) artefacts.
"Analyses of hundreds of samples… revealed that macroscopic remains of maize - including kernels, leaves, stalks and cobs - were rare," they wrote.
They added that the reason for the lack of such samples at the sites has "yet to be resolved", but the lack of such remains could not be seen as evidence of the absence of maize.
"It is also possible that the lack of macroscopic remains is a reflection of limited excavations at these sites, given that the more extensive excavation of sites… did yield much more macroscopic evidence of maize."
Microscopic bounty
The team commented that the scarcity of macroscopic remains was in marked contrast to an abundance of microscopic evidence of maize in the guise of maize pollen samples collected from soil at the sites.
Although there was a possibility of contamination from modern sources, the team said that there were three factors that weighed against this.
"First, modern maize pollen grains are larger and turn red when stain is applied, whereas ancient grains do not," they said.
"Second, extraction of pollen samples followed standard archaeological guidelines and all crew members were trained in taking pollen samples.
"Third, the modern samples all contained pollen from a plant not found in the area prehistorically."
Dr Haas said that the pollen record gathered from the study sites was unequalled, with the data being accessed by other scientists in their research projects.
Other artefacts the team examined included 14 stone tools, which were radiocarbon-dated to between 2090 and 2540BC.
"Eleven of the 14 tools had predominantly or exclusively maize starch grains on the working surfaces, and two working surfaces had maize phytoliths (mineral excretions by the plant)," they recorded.
The researchers also found samples of sweet potato and bean starch grains.
The team also recovered 62 coprolites (fossilised faeces), of which 34 were human specimens.
They wrote that 69% of the specimens contained maize starch grains, the dominant source of starch in the diet at that time.
Dr Haas observed: "Maritime resources were important as it was their primary source of protein. But in each one of those coprolites, there was, on average, half an anchovy - that is not your diet, that is a condiment.
"In contrast, finding corn, beans, sweet potato and a number of other things in the diet - that is an agriculturally-based society."
He added that a vibrant agriculture system would result in a surplus of food, allowing the societal leaders to attract outsiders to the area and exert power.
The team wrote: "It was during this time that large permanent communities were settled, monumental architecture first appeared on the landscape, agriculture was more fully developed and indicators of a distinctive Andean religion are manifest in the archaeological record." |
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