US EditionPeru's Band of Holes May Have Been Inca Tax Ledger
The 1.5-kilometre Band of Holes with about 5,200 pits was used for barter and later for tribute accounting, reflecting complex social and economic systems of ancient Peruvians.
- Using new analyses, archaeologist Jacob Bongers and the research team argue Monte Sierpe initially served as a market and later as a large-scale accounting system, with its 5,200 aligned holes spanning about 5 kilometers.
- Radiocarbon dating results indicate charcoal from one pit dates to 1320–1405 CE, suggesting Chincha culture occupied Monte Sierpe before the Inca Empire arrived around 1400 CE.
- Using drone high-resolution imagery and microbotanical analysis of sediments from 19 holes, researchers found maize, Amaranthaceae, Pooidae, Cucurbita, basket plants, and an Inca khipu-like layout.
- Researchers suggest the Inca repurposed the holes as a tribute register and accounting device, with the team proposing the later Inca used them for tax collection and redistribution, as detailed in the journal Antiquity.
- The site consists of some 5,200 holes that have provoked many competing explanations since National Geographic Society's 1933 aerial photographs, and researchers plan a second phase of fieldwork to study local khipus.
45 Articles
45 Articles
Peru's mysterious 'Band of Holes' may have been an ancient...
High in the arid foothills of southern Peru, thousands of mysterious holes carved into a rocky ridge have puzzled archaeologists for nearly a century. Known locally as Monte Sierpe (Serpent Mountain) or the Band of Holes, this ancient monument — spanning 1.5 kilometers and containing around 5,200 perfectly aligned cavities — may have finally revealed its secret. A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Jacob Bongers from the University of Sydney, publi…
Archaeologists have investigated the holes on Mount Sierpe in the desert, probably part of Inca's tax system.
The "Band of Holes" in Peru is a meticulously designed monument that consists of around 5,200 circular depressions. Archaeologists have long been puzzled about its significance
Was This Mysterious Mountain Feature an Incan Tax Document?
In southern Peru, Monte Sierpe or “serpent mountain” is dotted with more than 5,000 elusive, meticulously arranged holes that are lined up for nearly a mile. More than six centuries ago, these pockmarks might have served as a tax spreadsheet of sorts for the Inca Empire, according to new findings published in the journal Antiquity. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . These mysterious mountain dots were captured in…
This large building was discovered in 1933.
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