LIMA: US and Peruvian archaeologists have discovered two Inca observatories in central Peru, which they said are the most imposing of the stone structures found to date.
The discovery of the observatories, announced Friday, is the result of five years of searching in Huanuco province.
One of the two, known as Ushnu, is larger than the observatory of Cuzco, the largest previously found, archaeologist Juan Luis Pino told the local media. It measured 48m long, 32m wide and 4mhigh.
The observatory's principal function was to help the Incas decide where to build according to the positions of the sun and the moon, he said.
Pino said the site continues to be venerated by the local population, although it is no longer used as an observatory.
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Full Version: Two Inca observatories discovered in Peru
Very interesting find!!! Hopefully we can find all these ancient buildings and remants of ancient civilisations before they crumble and are lost forever!!! 
what were these observatories used to to observe, anything inparticular?
Ooh, cool!
| QUOTE (mr_halo @ Aug 5 2004, 03:26 PM) |
| what were these observatories used to to observe, anything inparticular? |
The land scape!
| QUOTE |
| Very interesting find!!! Hopefully we can find all these ancient buildings and remants of ancient civilisations before they crumble and are lost forever!!! |
They're better preserved underground. In Fact when it comes to the Mayans and Aztec, the mexican government re-buries most of thier sites, to preserve them for the future. In fact, the burial of sites such as chitzen itsa, and tulum has been hotly debated among archaeologists.
Saying we should unearth them before they crumble isn't accurate. Yes, we should unearth them, to discover more about the cultures, but in order to save them, we need to bury them again.
The observatories were used to look at the stars =P
I have some pictures I took of the ruins of Chitzen Itsa (Including the observatory there), if anyone wants to see them, I'll post them.
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