Hi Hans,

It is a constructed geoglyph ....however to be more correct it is at the site of Chupacigarro, not Caral. Dr. Shady has this to say about it, and other geoglyphs, in her book Caral: The City of Sacred Fire

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Geoglyphs: Scientific and Technological Knowledge
A number of practical applications of knowledge produced by the specialists enabled to improve material life conditions in Supe society. One of the research fields focused on astronomy, of which several traces remained: ample spaces with figurative and geometrical geoglyphs, a number of strokes and lines, underground enclosures for observation, stone blocks with sculpted holes and monoliths thrusted into some specific places. In the settlement of Caral we have identified a 12 meter wide path or route, as well as offerings related with the space laboratory installed in a wide desert plain surrounded by mountains.

A 40 m. x 24 m. figurative geoglyphs stands out amoung all, the one which was identified in the settlement of Chupacigarro, 1 kilometer from the city of Caral. It is drawn on angular stones and represents the well-known Sechín-style profile head (Casma Valley), facing east and showing a shut eye, an open mouth and the hair waived by the wind or blood pouring from the head. Its location in a high place in the middle of the pampa, between two rows of stones, deserves a special social treatment in direct relation with astronomic observations and religious acts.
Page 231

I’ve been trying to find more information regarding Dr. Shady’s claims for astronomical alignments at Caral without much success. In the Septemeber 2005 issue of Discover magazine there’s an article regarding Caral and the other sites in the Supe River Valley as well as those in the Patvilica and Fortaleza River Valleys in which has this:

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Shady’s team is excavating three nearby sites and studying what appears to be a sort of underground astronomical observatory.

The only “underground” construction that I know of at Caral in La Galería Pyramid, which is marked as H in this map of Caral.



However in describing it Dr. Shady doesn’t mention anything about astronomical alignments, in her book she says:

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It has a remarkable underground gallery that is accessed through a narrow passage. It is 4.50 meters long by 2.5 meters wide and has seven niches on the internal walls, three on each side and one on the wall opposite the entrance. The surfaces and niches were also plastered and painted in white. When buried, a lance shaped stone sculpture monolith was placed on top of this gallery.
Page 108

The only other feature at Caral that I’m aware of that Dr. Shady could be referring to is the sunken circular courts in front of two of the mounds.

At Cerro Sechín, viewable from the sunken circular court there, is a solstice alignment with a monolith atop the mound. This court is also unique because this is the only one I’m aware of with figures engraved on the walls of the sunken court’s walls. There men and felines are shown in a parade.


Kat

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How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public
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