Archaeologist’s decades-long quest sheds light on Peru’s mysterious ‘Band of Holes’

By Fatma Zehra Solmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Florida archaeologist’s long-running research has helped unlock a major mystery in Peru’s Pisco Valley: the origin and purpose of the strange “Band of Holes” carved into the mountainside.

Charles Stanish, who is also a professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida and an expert on Andean history, spent years studying the more than 5,200 shallow pits -- known locally as Monte Sierpe, or “serpent mountain.” Researchers have been puzzled by these unusual formations for decades.

He concluded after multiple field studies since the 1980s that the pits were carved by pre-Inca communities as a basic marketplace and later adapted by the Incas into a more advanced system for accounting and agricultural storage.

During their latest expedition, as reported by the Guardian on Thursday, Stanish, in partnership with Dr. Jacob Bongers of the University of Sydney, his former graduate student at the University of California, used advanced drones to create the first detailed aerial map of the site, capturing high-resolution images that showed “striking patterns” in the arrangement of the holes.

They found that the 3- to 6.5-foot-wide pits were laid out in segmented, mathematically organized rows — a design resembling the Inca khipus, the knotted cords used for counting and record keeping.

Stanish said the strongest proof came from microscopic analysis of soil taken from the pits. Fossilized seeds showed traces of maize and plants used for weaving and packaging, suggesting the holes were used to store and handle goods.

He said the discovery of traditional reeds and willow fibers, still used by Inca and Quechua communities to transport goods, strongly supports their findings.

Stanish noted that further seed analysis and a new excavation are planned, and he believes their explanation for the Band of Holes is now firmly backed.