‘Thunder floor’ found at ancient Andean site in Peru
Silence of pre-Hispanic past broken with discovery of dance platform that could imitate the rumbling of thunder.
An ancient “sounding” dance floor, perhaps designed to create a drum-like sound for a thunder god when stomped on, has been identified by archaeologists in Peru.
Found at the site of Viejo Sangayaico, 200km southeast of Lima, the floor was built into an open-air platform sometime between AD1000 and AD1400.
It then continued in use under Inca rule, from 1400 to 1532, and perhaps during the early years of the Spanish conquest.
The Art Newspaper
July 18, 2023
© ORP-PIACI Project
“We know that in pre-Hispanic Andean rituals dance was a big part of the proceedings. I believe that this specially constructed platform was built to enhance the natural sounds associated with dance,” says Kevin Lane, an archaeologist with the Instituto de las Culturas (IDECU) of the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina, who led the research. Funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the project’s findings have recently been published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
Related articles
The Art Newspaper
- Ancient ritual complex uncovered in Peru (February 2023)
- Machu Picchu may be decades older than previously thought (August 2021)
- How a ceremonial shrunken head, held by a US university for decades, was finally returned to Ecuador (May 2021)
- Mummified llamas, sacrified to the gods by Incas, uncovered by archaeologists in Peru (October 2020)
- High school student leads archaeologists to lost Inca settlement (September 2020)