Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte Sierpe (‘Band of Holes’) in the Pisco Valley, Peru

2025/11/10 by Jacob Bongers, Christopher A. Kiahtipes, David Beresford‐Jones +9 · 2 voices
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory #Archaeological Research and Protection

paper · pdf · doi:10.15184/aqy.2025.10237

Abstract

Stretching for 1.5km and consisting of approximately 5200 precisely aligned holes, Monte Sierpe in southern Peru is a remarkable construction that likely dates to at least the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1400) and saw continued use by the Inca (AD 1400–1532). Yet its function remains uncertain. Here, the authors report on new analyses of drone imagery and sediment samples that reveal numerical patterns in layout, potential parallels with Inca knotted-string records and the presence of crops and wild plants. All this, the authors argue, suggests that Monte Sierpe functioned as a local, Indigenous system of accounting and exchange.

Citations

• Beyond Inca roads: archaeological mobilities from the high Andes to the Pacific in southern Peru
• SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0–55,000 Years cal BP
• Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates

Discussions

• Furthermore, #sedimentanalysis revealed #microbotanical remains of crops like #maize (Zea mays), and plants used for basketry and matting (like Typha and Salix). This suggests that goods were delibera [bsky, 5 points, 1 comments]
• Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte Sierpe (‘Band of Holes’) in the Pisco Valley, Peru | Antiquity | Cambridge Core doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.1023… »Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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