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Study Recasts Peru’s ‘Band of Holes’ as Large-Scale Accounting Installation

Findings published in Antiquity rest on new drone imagery alongside sediment traces.

Overview

  • Researchers report numerical grouping patterns across the 1.5‑kilometer feature of roughly 5,200 pits, echoing the logic of Inka khipu record systems.
  • Sediment analysis identified maize and plants used for basketry, evidence the team interprets as consistent with handling and tallying of goods.
  • The site lies between two Inka administrative centers near a junction of pre-Hispanic trade routes at the transition from highland to coast.
  • Authors propose an origin in the Chincha period as a marketplace with later Inka reuse for counting tribute after conquest.
  • The interpretation remains provisional as earlier hypotheses persist in the debate and further corroboration is sought.