Two theories about volcanic pyramids in Peru

A volcanic-shaped pyramid can be used by ancient Peruvians to organize ceremonies to welcome a total solar eclipse.

Researchers recently began excavating the pyramid of El Volcan in the Peruvian coast to find out why this work has such a strange shape and what it is used for, according to Business. Insider.

The 15-meter-tall El Volcan pyramid was discovered by archaeologists when studying the Nepena Valley in the 1960s. This artificial earth mound quickly attracted the attention of many experts by looking from a distance, the building. looks very much like a volcano with a crest-shaped peak

Volcanic pyramid when viewed from afar.(Photo: Antiquity).

In the first study published in the journal Antiquity, scientists estimated that the work was born around 200-900 BC, and gave two hypotheses to explain the unusual shape of the needle. pyramid.

In the first hypothesis , a cone-shaped pyramid is the result of a group of tomb raids digging into the top of the building to break into the interior to take property, causing the top of the pyramid to disappear, leaving a deep pit crater.

However, this hypothesis was quickly rejected. In order to create such a deep hole, grave thieves must dig up to 2.135m ³ of rock. "The amount of such rocks is certainly very easy to observe if it is poured outside the pyramid," the researchers said.

Therefore, researchers are inclined to the second hypothesis that the pyramid was intentionally built like volcanoes to serve rituals associated with important astronomical events.

The method of carbon dating dating revealed the last time a human pyramid arrived was in 1563. Previously, a total of 4 solar eclipses took place in Peru in the years 1521, 1538, 1539. and 1543.

This astronomical phenomenon certainly attracted a lot of local people in that period to celebrate."The people of Yungas in the northern and central coastal regions welcome the eclipse with joy, different from the fear of the Incas," the scientists said.