Ancient Alien Peruvian Mining Operation?

wrabbit2000
I have to say, the tower stumps me. There is something about it that seems a bit odd and it's more than the subtle details about the base construction[...]

It is interesting, isn't it?
Peru has other interesting towers, especially in the southern part of the country. The masonry of the most interesting ones is the same type of "puzzle piece" construction known as dry-laid convex polygonal masonry(except for one or two which are heterogeneous dry-laid coursed ashlar masonry) that is seen in Cuzco, the older parts of Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman, and so forth.

They are called Chullpa, or Sillustani, and are considered to be "funeral towers"...tombs, in other words. Most are filled partly or completely with soil and gravel and do (or did before archaeological excavation) contain human remains, usually in layers, much like many of the "burial mounds" discovered in North America.
Personally, I don't completely discount the "funeral tower" idea, but I also do not completely discount the possibility that the remains found inside the towers were intrusive. Many ancient monuments around the globe have been found to contain remains of people that evidence indicates were not the original builders, as the remains appear to be much younger than the monument itself.
(A friend of mine has what he calls The Idiot Lord Tomb Intrusion Theory which states that worthless egotistical rulers/kings/chieftains/emperors/warlords have, throughout time, attempted to inflate their legacy and legendary status by having themselves buried in ancient ruins that were "built by the gods"...thereby associating themselves with said gods).

I sort of think that the tower of Sacsayhuaman--which Slayer highlights in the OP with pics of its remaining foundation--is a pretty good indication that these were not, originally, supposed to be tombs. Of course, the questions then would be...who did build these towers, and for what?

Anyway, below are a few of the pics I've collected of these towers. All are in southern Peru, usually on or near Lake Titicaca. This area also contains Tiahuanaco, Puma Punku, and La Puerta de Hayu Marka(The Gate of the Gods).
Also, many of the following images are links to high-res originals. For Armchair Explorers like myself, I think the more pixels, the better.


The haphazardly piled stones to the left of this tower are considered to be the remains of a "construction ramp" used by the builders. That's possible...but isn't it just as possible that it is the remains of a ramp built by people who decided they wanted to use this mysterious "tower of the gods" as their own personal tomb? There are no doorways into these things, so they'd have to come in from the top.


A good "relative size" pic.






One thing to note is there usually is very little sign of a nearby settlement or civilization around these towers...and yet there are strewn, here and there on the surrounding landscape, other massive worked blocks.



This one is half gone(we're looking at the good side) but what remains is absolutely beautiful coursed ashlar work.



Another, closer image of the same tower. Note the lizard-like form carved in relief on one of the blocks; the way it was carved makes it certain it was put there by the original mason(a graffito would be cut into the stone, not protruding like this figure).



More towers. The tall one in front appears to have been in danger of falling outward, thus the wires wrapped around it.



A later pic of the same tower, now completely "repaired". They used mortar! Though I'm glad for the effort to save it from tumbling down, the use of mortar means that the next tremor will bring the whole thing crashing down, IMO.



A look at the other anomalous worked blocks in the area around the "repaired" tower.


A sadly low-res image of original carvings on another tower....very interesting.


As a P.S., in regards to the flattened "landing strip" on the Nazca Plateau, here's an interesting pic of what I consider to be anomalously flattened land...but it's an island in Lake Titicaca!

reply to post by Tsurugi


Thank you for the contribution. I had a couple of towers pics but didnt include them.
thanks again

reply to post by Tsurugi


" I sort of think that the tower of Sacsayhuaman--which Slayer highlights in the OP with pics of its remaining foundation--is a pretty good indication that these were not, originally, supposed to be tombs. Of course, the questions then would be...who did build these towers, and for what? "


I would think one assumption as to their intended use could be as PreIncan " Astronomical Observatories " . I am sure by some Scientific Measurement , Many Alignments to Particular Stars in the Night Sky could be Calibrated . Orion being the One Most Likely to be observed .

reply to post by Zanti Misfit


Could be. Most ancient constructions had alignments of some kind.

Then again, you can't really give an overt alignment to a circular structure. Alignments could be encoded into it in the form of openings or other secondary features...but these towers have few of those as well.

...and I keep coming back to the enigmatic "drain channel" that Slayer pointed out. What use for such a thing in a tower dedicated to astronomy?
To my knowledge, no such feature has been discovered as part of the other towers. That doesn't mean they weren't there at one time, of course...but assuming they weren't, what made the Sacsayhuaman tower special?

So many questions.

reply to post by Tsurugi


".... what made the Sacsayhuaman tower special? "



That cannot be determined without more indept research
being done on these PreIncan peoples . I am sure some Artifact will come to light one day thats points Scientists in the right direction .

SLAYER69

[...]If you look closely at the second image you'll notice a hole cut in what would have been the bottom of this tower. and a channel running away[...]Keep in mind that when the Spanish first came upon the above site they found a large multistory tower of stone which they dismantled in search of Gold.

If the interior was plated with gold or copper, that channel might have been a conduit instead of a drain...filled with copper or gold.

reply to post by Zanti Misfit


One thing to consider and keep in mind, The Spanish and later others, also melted down almost everything made of Gold and Silver the Incas had.

If other Gold relics caused such issues such as small "Flying" insects *were they reproducing in Gold something they wtinessed* one wonders what other possible "Artifacts" were destroyed by Spanish greed, ignorance and or short sightedness?

reply to post by SLAYER69
WOW Great Thread...Starred and flagged. I have to say that from the very first time i saw the Band of Holes blog.world-mysteries.com... i thought that the whole thing(Nazca Lines) was tied together in some mining operation a long time ago.It is a shame that the Spanish rapped the land so badly in there gold rush and i have now doubt that there was a lot of history lost in the gold that was smelted down,who knows what was inscribed on it all. I also scratch my head when i think about the funeral towers and im sure that theres more to them then meets the eye, its crazy but the tower with the animal carvings on them made me think about Gobekli Tepewww.gobeklitepe.info....It would be absolutely awesome if some how they were connected in some way...but if you go with the main stream thats just impossible there would be a Ten Thousand Year difference and a half world away. I personally think that Nazca and the whole mining operation is at least ten thousand years old if not a lot older.

eManym
I have read that the flat mountaintops are naturally occurring plateau's not excavated as many might think.

The line of holes contained numerous pottery shards indicating pottery was smashed in the holes. To me this indicates some form of ritual performed over time or holes dug over time to find something, maybe a mineral or something that was buried.

You're out of control.

reply to post by grey580


I dunno about Landing "Strips" more likely a giant Landing "Pad" is what I had always envisioned.

a reply to: SLAYER69

OMG, just found this thread, wow. I have always thought similar about places in and around Arizona.