- New drone data and botanical microanalysis reveal the Band of Holes Monte Sierpe was likely an ancient marketplace and Inca counting system.
- More than 5,200 holes across 1.5 kilometers were systematically arranged, disproving earlier theories ranging from agriculture to alien activity.
- Pollen traces of maize, reeds, and willow suggest organized trade and basket-based storage among pre-Inca Chincha communities.
BLOGSIA.EU.ORG - The mystery of the Band of Holes Monte Sierpe, a 1.5-kilometer formation of more than 5,200 cavities carved into a Peruvian hillside, has long captivated archaeologists searching for clues to ancient Andes engineering, Inca science, and pre-Inca trade networks.
New drone imagery and botanical microanalysis now reveal a striking possibility: the massive “serpent line” served as both a pre-Inca marketplace and a later Inca counting system, reshaping scientific debates about early Andean social complexity.
The findings, published in Antiquity, anchor the enigmatic site within the economic rhythms of the Chincha Kingdom centuries before the rise of the Inca.
A Giant Puzzle Etched in Stone
The 5,200 holes—each 1–2 meters wide and 0.5–1 meter deep—cut across the Pisco Valley like a coded message from an ancient world. First photographed by National Geographic in 1933, the formation appeared orderly yet unreadable, stirring theories ranging from food storage to fog traps, even inspiring fringe claims about ancient astronaut engineering.
For decades, the absence of written records left researchers guessing. But high-resolution drone surveys now expose a pattern of roughly 60 distinct segments, separated by clear gaps. One segment features twelve rows alternating between seven and eight holes, evidence of deliberate design—not random excavation.
Lead researcher Dr. Jacob Bongers of the University of Sydney explains the core question driving the study: “Why would ancient people carve more than 5,000 holes into a southern Peruvian hillside?”
The answer, at last, may lie in the pollen.
Pollen Traces and Marketplace Clues
Botanical microanalysis uncovered grains of maize pollen, along with traces of reeds and willow, plants historically used to weave baskets in Andean communities. The pattern suggests that goods may have been stored in baskets placed inside the holes—possibly lined with organic materials now long decayed.
This evidence strengthens the idea that pre-Inca Chincha communities used the site as a barter market, exchanging essential resources such as maize, chili, coca, cotton, and coastal goods.
According to Bongers, the system may have functioned like a quantitative exchange grid:
“A set number of holes filled with maize could equal a set number filled with cotton or coca,” he explains.
From Chincha Trade Hub to Inca Counting System
As the Inca Empire expanded, researchers believe the site may have been adapted into an administrative counting mechanism, reflecting the empire’s famously meticulous record-keeping traditions seen in tools like the quipu.
Anthropologist Charles Stanish of the University of South Florida adds that the sheer scale of Monte Sierpe once made detailed study impractical—until drone technology revealed its mathematical structure.
Dr. Dennis Ogburn of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte praises the breakthrough:
“Monte Sierpe has long been one of the great mysteries of Andean archaeology. This research provides a compelling new framework.”
Redefining Andean Science and Ancient Engineering
The new evidence dispels older hypotheses—defensive trenches, water channels, agricultural pits—and instead situates Monte Sierpe within a web of economic exchange, social coordination, and imperial administration.
The study also underscores the sophistication of Andean societies long before Spanish contact. The holes were not random. They were units of value, markers of exchange, and instruments of measurement.
A vast serpentine ledger etched into stone.
A market where baskets once brimmed with maize and cotton.
A counting system for an empire that never wrote books but recorded numbers in the landscape itself.
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