Faculty Highlights - Dan Sandweiss
Prehistoric temple discovered
An elliptical land formation in the northern Peruvian coastal desert long thought to be naturally formed of bedrock or sand may be one of the earliest monuments made by humans in prehistoric South America.
The discovery at Los Morteros was made by University of Maine anthropologists and geologists using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and high-resolution contour mapping to assess the mound’s interior structure. GPR reaching up to 12 meters below the surface profiled what appears to be a series of walls and floors.
According to UMaine archaeologist Dan Sandweiss, who led the research team, temple mounds may have been used for rites to influence supernatural powers, as demonstrations of the organizational ability and power of early politicians, and/or as speaking platforms for those individuals to reach large crowds.
The ancient Peruvian structure was likely symmetrical and possibly rectangular, emulating other early mounds of the Late Preceramic and Initial Periods on the arid coast. These monument mounds often were multiple construction sites, where expansion encased existing structures.
Coastal Peru, considered one of the six original centers of world civilization, is dotted with early temple mounds, the earliest of which was estimated to be 5,500 years old. The earliest construction on the Los Morteros monument may be substantially older, according to the UMaine researchers, writing in the journal Quaternary Research.
Originally published in UMaine Today Magazine, Fall 2010
