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📜 — Peruvian band of holes : an alternate hypothesis
📜 — Peruvian band of holes : an alternate hypothesis
From 2023
➠ Abstract
➠ Abstract
In this micro-paper, we address the enigma of the Peruvian band of holes [1], disposed in a large and long strip on the top of a mountain, to assess another possible explanation : this could have been agricultural ancestral plantings pits [2], as we can find them in the African culture under the name of Zaï (since the 80s') [3] or in Polynesia dating back from 2690 to 2390 cal BP [4] (carbon 14 datation corresponding to the human proto-history [5]).
➠ Peruvian band holes
➠ Peruvian band holes
The Band of Holes, known in Spanish as Monte Sierpe (serpent mountain) or Cerro Viruela, is a series of about 5,000–6,000 man-sized holes found in the Pisco Valley on the Nazca Plateau in Peru. Local people have no idea who made them or how they were used. Over the years, it has been speculated that they were graves, defensive positions, or storage pits built during the time of the Inca Empire (1438–1533) [6].
From scientific articles and photographs, we can classify the holes in three types (see the pictures and the video below) :
Dug holes with rock remains, with elevated sides and removed soil giving them volume above the surface [Idem] (see Figure n°1) ;
Band's side holes, a second kind of hole that was actually dug into an artificial low mound scraped from the sides of the hill [Ibid] ;
Holes encircled with rock bricks, these holes were actually small rock structures [Ibid] (see Figure n°3).
The first reference to the site was in a 1933 National Geographic article by Robert Shippee [7]. The holes were about 1 m in diameter and varied between 50 and 100 cm deep. Archaeologists also noted segments of an Inca-style roadbed in the quebrada (gully) that paralleled the band. Holes are not dug into volcanic rock as implied in some of the alternative science arguments |6]. Lastly, Monte Sierpe was strategically located between the huge Inca administrative sites of Tambo Colorado and Lima La Vieja (see Figure n°2).
Video n°1 : Band of Holes overview
Figure n°1 : Band of Holes
Fihure n°2 : Tambo Colorado ruins (Photo: Jocelyn Saurini) [8]
Figure n°3 : Courtesy Charles Stanish : The holes are on average about 3 feet wide and between 20 and 40 inches deep. They may have been used to measure produce being paid to the Inca state as tribute.
The architects were more interested in following a line up the hill [Idem]. Under the direction of archaeologist Alejandro Chu found several khipus buried under collections of produce, including chili peppers, peanuts, and black beans [9]. The hypothesis of these two archaeologists is that holes were used as accounting units for goods, especially grains and seeds. However, an other option must be discussed.
➠ Ancestral planting pits
➠ Ancestral planting pits
If rock encircled holes may have served to count grains and seeds, other ones could have served an agricultural purpose at the same time, bringing in a full agricultural circle from cultivation and irrigation to parsing. In terms of topography, Tambo Colorado's downstream is below in height of the band of holes [10] — and, notably, the band of holes is approximately 4 kilometers from the ruins of that city, around a wide area in the Pisco valley bottom that is more easily cultivable (see Figure n°4). Thus, holes may have served an irrigation purpose too given the aridity of the zone (see video n°1 and Figure n°5). This would have kept the zone fertile with water flows running back to the bottom of the valley, like the ancestral pits were used to.
Possibly, some of these holes could have been agricultural ancestral plantings pits [2], as we can find them in the African culture under the name of Zaï (since the 80s') [3] or in Polynesia dating back from 2690 to 2390 cal BP [4] (carbon 14 datation corresponding to the human proto-history [5]). You can see what it looks like in the next video (video n°2).
Notably, grains and seeds artifacts have been found in the remains of the band of Holes [9], which is coherent with this hypothesis, as well as the different holes size and form for different agricultural purpose (cultivating, stocking or counting, etc.).
Furthermore, historic climatic data have shown that the dry lands are characterized by low and erratic rainfall which is often insufficient for any purpose. Ancestral planting pits provide an effective way of improving the management of degraded lands and reducing soil erosion, vegetation loss and biodiversity as well as grains yield. In Africa, certain people rehabilitated their degraded lands and increased production by many folds with Zaï pits [11].
African societies from 3 000 BC shows grain stockage directly on the ground in clay granaries [12]. That said, with agricultural gains (production increase) and biodiversity ones (degraded and arid land restoration, soil preservation, and overall zone irrigation by capturing rainwater), the whole band of holes may have been used to irrigate the bottom area of the valley (see Figure n°4)..
Video n°2 : Details about Zaï pits or ancestral planting pits.
Figure n°4 : In Tambo Colorado downstream (Pisco Valley), near-perpendicular to where the band of Holes is, a wider cultivable area can be seen. Next to the band of Holes, the cultivable area is bigger than what is disponible near Tambo Colorado. Credits : Google Earth
➠ Conclusion
➠ Conclusion
With these developments, the hypothesis that the Peruvian band of Holes may have been used for several purposes at once, both from counting and stocking to cultivating and irrigating is more plausible. The chosen architecture at the top of the hill is ensuring an irrigation flowing back to the valley bottom for cultivation purposes (and capturing rainwater, in a full cycle). This could have been particularly helpful in drought times. In addition, the finding of grain and seeds is coherent with this hypothesis. Moreover, this hypothesis does not elude previous works as some holes may also be used as stockage and as a counting system.
However, to prove that this hypothesis is true, more research and archaeological excavations are required.
Figure n°5 : Demi-lunes (half-moons). Additional rain water has run off from the soil above and in between the demi-lunes, and is slowly infiltrating, providing extra water for plants and recharging ground water. In the Sahel region in West Africa, some soils have developed a hard crust, so that without demi-lunes, most of the rain water would have run off and been lost. Photo from Jean-Luc Galabert [13]
Figure n°6 : Ngolo pits or Ngoro pits in Tanzania. Photo from Jean-Luc Galabert [13]
➠ Sources
➠ Sources
General topic Wikipedia : Band of Holes
The zaï technique: how farmers in the Sahel grow crops with little to no water
Earliest Evidence for Pit Cultivation Provides Insight on the Nature of First Polynesian Settlement
The Strange Site of Monte Sierpe (Band of Holes) in the Pisco Valley, Peru
Un-Knotting the Past: Gary Urton on a New Khipu Archive at Inkawasi, Peru
Archives : E. Bernus, 1981, p. 251 ; A. Mayor, 1989 ; et observations personnelles dans le Sahel malien et nigérien au cours des années 1980-1990. Une abondante documentation archéologique, historique et ethnologique concernant les différents types de stockage des grains de par le monde est donnée dans M. Gast et F. Sigaut (dir.), 1979 ; 1981 ; 1985.
Zai holes, Tumbukiza, Roof gardens, Circle gardens, Vertical gardens
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