Archaeologists discover passageways in 3,000-year-old Peruvian temple

[Still Waters]

A team of archaeologists has discovered a network of passageways under a more than 3,000-year-old temple in the Peruvian Andes.

Chavin de Huantar temple, located in the north-central Andes, was once a religious and administrative center for people across the region.

The passageways were found earlier in May and have features believed to have been built earlier than the temple's labyrinthine galleries, according to John Rick, an archaeologist at Stanford University who was involved in the excavation.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/archaeologists-discover-passageways-3000-year-old-peruvian-temple-2022-05-30/

[Still Waters]

Secret ancient Andean passageways may have been used in rituals involving psychedelics

The researchers think the network of chambers and galleries was used in religious rituals, possibly involving psychedelic drugs.

It's the first time in about 3,000 years that these particular hidden structures have been explored; some of the dark and isolated chambers may have been used for sensory deprivation, while some of the larger galleries seem to have been used for the worship of idols, said John Rick, a Stanford University archaeologist who is leading the research.

"These are stone-lined passageways, corridors, rooms, cells, and niches, big enough to walk through, roofed with stone beams," he told Live Science in an email. "The galleries have a diversity of function from what we can tell, [but] all are related to ritual activity."

https://www.livescience.com/secret-passages-ancient-temple-peruvian-andes