You’re certainly in the right place as we’re about to embark on a digital expedition to the crumbling remains of the Chankillo fort. Tucked deep within the Peruvian coastal desert, this UNESCO World Heritage site offers a fascinating link with unusual human practices of the past. Let’s dive in, shall we?

The archaeological site was heritage-listed in 2021. However, experts have been exploring it and puzzling over it for over 100 years. Was it the site of cult rituals and strange sacrifices? Or did ancient humans possess scientific knowledge to rival our own?

While modern humans have been aware of the site for quite some time, it wasn’t until our time – the 21st century – that anyone was able to uncover its hidden purpose.

Ruggles, who teaches at the University of Leicester, said that he was “gobsmacked when I saw them for the first time.” As you explore the pictures beyond, try to imagine yourself in the desert, gazing up at the ancient structures. You’re sure to experience at least a tiny spark of the same wonderment Ruggles felt. 

Count the spikes on the spine of this hill (which looks like a sleeping dragon), and you’ll note that there are 13 of them. Those are the mysterious towers of the Chankillo complex. 

The rectangular towers at Chankillo reach into the sky at a height of between 6 and 20 feet. Those height differences are likely due to the effects of time and harsh desert weather. They are, after all, more than two thousand years old. 

That is what creates the serrated appearance and brings to mind the image of a sleeping dragon. It also offers a clue to the fort’s original purpose. 

Now, it’s time to climb the path that will lead us closer to the ancient complex.

The view from the top is certainly stunning. However, pretty vistas did not inspire the creation of this ancient structure. No, the Chankillo complex was built with a far grander purpose in mind. Let’s explore deeper and uncover more hidden elements in this ancient complex. 

Over the centuries, these theories only got wilder, with people speculating that it was a battleground for ritualistic fights or perhaps some kind of cultish sacrificial locale. The creepy part is that there was some evidence to support such theories. 

Some of the walls surrounding the buildings in the Chankillo complex stand 20 feet high. Coming up, we have pictures of the ringed battlement-style walls, and you’ll see that they are highly suggestive of a defensive structure. 

With these factors combined, Chankillo begins to look like a well-protected fort designed to keep intruders at bay. But what were they guarding out in the middle of the desert? 

While its remains are mostly crumbling rubble, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that its fortifications were once robust and intelligently designed. It’s reasonable to expect that the people of the past would want to protect themselves, but something about this “fort” just wasn’t adding up for modern scientists. 

Archaeologists diligently documented these “design flaws” until they came to the conclusion that they may not have been flaws at all. Perhaps the error lay in their assumption that Chankillo was a fort. 

If there was a class called “Fortress Building 101,” the first lesson would be to avoid placing multiple entrances in the walls of your fort. After all, the idea is to keep the enemy out, not give them various ways to get it. 

It was time for a new theory, which meant there was a flurry of debate among archaeologists, each taking a different angle in guessing what the purpose of the complex might be. One of the most interesting suggestions arose from the fact that it seemed a religious level of care had been taken in maintaining the buildings. 

The site appeared to have been a cherished and perhaps even a holy place. With that, interest in Chankillo grew. By 2001, a new expedition set off to explore the ruins. Their mission was to determine the true purpose of the place.

This idea didn’t arise out of thin air. The experts on the expedition had been to many ancient cultic sites, and they could see clear connections between these places and the ruins of Chankillo. Of course, that presented a new question – what could this cult have been worshiping? 

In the episode, Cox spoke about the people who lived in the region 2,300 years ago – the people who must have built Chankillo. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to say apart from revealing the fact that we know very little about this ancient population. 

Essential though these ruins are to understanding the past, our lack of knowledge also makes them challenging to interpret. So, scientists have a dilemma on their hands – they need the ruins to learn about the Early Horizon period, but they need to know more about the Early Horizon period to understand the ruins. 

There are also small fragments of decorations that once made Chankillo a sight to behold. Small though these fragments are, they’re enough to give researchers a clear picture of what the ruins looked like in their prime.  

Professor Cox knew this back in 2013 because, by that time, the expedition we mentioned earlier – the one that left in 2001 – had revealed their remarkable findings. Finally, there was an answer to Chankillo’s mystery that was more than just conjecture. 

If you’re interested, you can find the report published by Dr. Ghezzi and Professor Ruggles in one of the 2007 editions of the Science journal. Dr. Ghezzi was studying fortresses at the time as they were central to his doctoral thesis. With this area of expertise, he was quickly able to spot that Chaquillo was not a fortress. 

They got to work on the site, exploring its many structures, recovering artifacts and clues, and piecing together the fragments. Before long, a new theory emerged. 

The problem was that, as Dr. Ghezzi explained to Yale News in 2007, “no one followed up on it,” The idea seemed sound and supported by the evidence they had gathered thus far. So, despite the fact that it would slow down progress on his Ph.D., Dr. Ghezzi decided to study the place. 

Speaking to The New York Times, Dr. Ghezzi confirmed that “in the first hours of measurements, we realized the nature and importance of the towers.” Still, they didn’t rush to publish. Indeed, they took a full six years – plenty of time to test the evidence and back up their theory. 

This observation deck stands about 750 feet away from the ridge of 13 towers we examined earlier. By measuring the relevant distances and examining the lay of the land, the scientists were able to deduce the true purpose of the place. 

By analyzing sunrise and sunset from the observation deck, you could tell with an astonishing degree of accuracy what season it was. The scientists never doubted the ingenuity of ancient humans, but they were still shocked at this remarkable discovery. 

Of course, you need to be pre-armed with an understanding of cosmic patterns and their impact on our planet’s seasonality. In other words, the people who lived more than 2,000 years ago were pretty well-versed in the movements of our solar system. 

In the modern era, we only have to pull out our smartphones to see the date and get an idea of what the weather will be like later in the day or week. However, in 400 BCE, they had to trek out into the desert to confirm whether it was a good time to plant crops. 

As you can probably imagine, this was a groundbreaking discovery for the modern team of scientists. They had cracked the ancient code, giving us a window into a previously inaccessible part of human history. 

In addition to being advanced for its time, Chankillo also differs from other ancient astronomical observatories. Perhaps the most significant difference is that it can tell the time, with precision, all throughout the year. In effect, this pushed back the rise of organized civilization in the Americas by a good 500 years.

According to Dr. Ghezzi, Chankillo is around 1,800 years older than the most ancient astronomical observatories in Europe. The wildest part is that this human capability could be even older – we just haven’t yet found any ruins or artifacts to prove the theory.  

However, it’s likely that the civilization of the time also used their giant calendar to confirm the right time to celebrate seasonal religious festivals. Amazingly, there may have been an even grander purpose for the Chankillo complex. 

In fact, one Inca king declared himself a direct descendent of the sun god, so it stands to reason that powerful monarchs may have used observatories like Chankillo to seek guidance from this god. In fact, since it outdates other ruins in the region. Chankillo could point to the origin of such ideas. 

According to Dr. Ghezzi and Professor Ruggles, the imposing nature of the 13 towers could have been a sign to the people that the person who commanded that mysterious and imposing place had knowledge and power far beyond their comprehension. 

That was precisely what Professor Ruggles found himself doing while working at the site. Though most ancient astronomical observatories end up being a letdown in one way or another, Chankillo exceeded every expectation the scientist had. The craziest part is that we still don’t know all its secrets. 

Previous researchers saw towers and heavy-duty walls, and they couldn’t get the idea of a fort out of their heads. No suitable theory was arrived at for the contradicting evidence, and Chankillo was left a mystery – until Ruggles and Ghezzi arrived on the scene. 

Speaking to the BBC, Ruggles explained the importance of this finding. Few people would have been authorized to watch the sunrise from this very special vantage point, ensuring that the wisdom gained from Chankillo was reserved for the elitist of an elite class. 

The time of year – something we can all check with a glance at our smartphones – was secret knowledge reserved for a special class of influential people. Everyone else just had to trust their judgment, wisdom, and relationship with the gods.

The ruins of some kind of plaza lie within the vicinity of Chankillo, and this is likely where the crowd waited for the verdict. Without access to the right vantage point, the crowds would have seen the sunrise but never from the angle needed to unlock Chankillo’s secrets. 

After all, the Earth is still orbiting around the sun, so the Chankillo structure continues to work perfectly well as a solar observatory. That is good news for those who like wandering in the desert – if you head to Peru’s coastal desert, you’ll always be able to tell what time of year it is.