Mysterious Holes in Limestone Mountains in Peru

This mysterious strip of holes was once thought to be a coded message to God.

The mysterious holes in Pisco Valley, Peru remain a mystery to scientists. Photo: Ancient Origins

Located on top of the famous Nazca Lines, 7,000 holes are carved into the limestone in Pisco Valley, Peru, forming a 1.6 km long strip of holes that has attracted many theories surrounding its appearance.

Many believe the pits were used to store grain, store water, or act as defenses for local tribes. Others believe they were vertical burials in a mass graveyard, or even a coded message to the gods.

Strangely, archaeologists have yet to find any artifacts to support these theories. There are no remains, human bones, broken pottery, or textiles around the area, just a strip of silent pits that holds many unanswered questions.

In an article on Ancient Origins, archaeologist William James Veall argues that the strip of holes has remarkable features. About 7,000 holes are cut into the bedrock in rows that can be up to 20 meters wide, with about 9-12 holes in each row. The holes, which average about half a meter in diameter, are arranged horizontally in almost perfectly straight lines, while others are staggered. Like the Nazca Lines, the unique and calculated shape of the strip of holes can only be fully appreciated when viewed from aerial photographs.

The shapes of the holes vary. Some are brick-shaped and can be as deep as 2 or 3 meters. Others are shallow, with wide rims and are usually no more than 30 centimeters deep. At the southern end of the mysterious strip of holes are two holes measuring 24 meters in diameter, filled with rubble, leading Veall to believe that there could be at least half a dozen holes of similar size within a short distance.

Veall first learned of the mysterious pits shortly after he discovered the Temple of the Sacred Lamb high in the Andes in 2008. The archaeologist believes that whoever built the massive temple complex would have chosen the Pisco River Valley as a natural route from the Pacific Ocean to the sacred site hidden high in the mountains.

His curiosity was further piqued when Veall read a local report that a giant bull-headed effigy had “been here forever,” found on a high cliff just 20 kilometers east of Pisco. Meanwhile, the mysterious crater was located exactly on the Pisco Valley road leading into the interior of Peru. These clues were closely linked, and Veall did not initially realize it.

Veall initially linked the craters to the desertification that threatened the Nazca plateau around 690. The Chincha region, part of the Atacama Desert, must have experienced a similar dry period to the Nazca region due to chronic water shortages. In Chincha, strong high-latitude storms are rare, and sporadic rains provide only brief periods of water.

A system for collecting, filtering, storing, and supplying water for domestic and agricultural use over the long term is therefore essential. The original capacity of the aquifer system is over 1.6 km long, and its rate of loss remains unknown. It is estimated that if each pit holds an average of 5 liters of water, the 7,000-hole system could be filled to the brim with about 35,000 liters. However, until a hydrological survey is carried out, it will be impossible to know whether the 24-meter diameter pit at the southern end of the aquifer acts as a dam or simply a reservoir called Puquio, characteristic of the water supply system that spans the Rio Grande region of the Nazca Basin.

There are several important issues regarding the water supply of the mysterious crater strip that are resolved by this hypothesis, according to scientist Veall.

To be an effective storage/filtration system, the pits needed to be regularly cleared of surface debris, which is why scientists have been unable to find any archaeological evidence. For this reason, a large local workforce was recruited to supervise the construction and clean up the site.

Veall concluded that the Humay area in the Pisco Valley, where the crater is located, may have been a place where returning or departing sailors could rest and restock their supplies of fresh water for the next voyage. It also served as a water distribution point for the indigenous peoples for domestic and agricultural use. With a large number of ruins located not far to the east of the mysterious crater, Veall suspected that Humay was a busy stopover for an ancient civilization.

The Pisco Valley, according to Veall, was one of the main trade routes into and out of the Peruvian interior from the Pacific Ocean, which is why the construction of the giant inland water filtration structure near the Pacific Ocean was so important. The effigy of the bull's head at the entrance to the valley was not only a welcome and lucky image for traders returning from or coming from the Mediterranean, but it was also likely a distinctive sign of the Phoenician "New Kingdom," as at Tel Dan and Bethel in Israel.

Many questions surround when and why the water supply system stopped working, if Veall’s hypothesis holds true. This would make a challenging project for students of hydrology and ancient geology, Veall said.

Although Veall theorizes that the mysterious strip of holes is a system for filtering, storing, and distributing water, he has yet to explain why they were so meticulously crafted. If they were simply for water storage, the holes could have been placed in any order, parallel rows or simply randomly shaped. With a strip of holes stretching a mile long, Veall believes there is a logic behind their ingenuity./.

According to VnExpress