5,200 holes carved into a Peruvian mountain left by an ancient economy (newatlas.com)
42 points by defrost 2 days ago
nomdep an hour ago
I think this comment is substantially more informative than the article itself:
https://newatlas.com/environment/5-200-holes-peruvian-mounta...
Each hole is constructed- dug out and lined with rock.
These are not mining holes, nor used to store things.
If you want to store stuff, you would put these pits
along the bottom of the hill, not running a long distance
up the hill.
They tried to keep the lines somewhat straight, crossing
gullies. I can't guess what valid use they might have had,
other than religious. They seem pointless.fusslo 38 minutes ago
I wonder why the commenter discounts the idea that they were used to store things. Especially since the article gives evidence that things were stored in the holes:
"Hole soil analysis also found ancient pollens of maize – a key staple in the Andes – and reeds traditionally used for basket-making. In addition to this, there were traces of squash, amaranth, cotton, chili peppers and other crops that haven't been farmed on the arid land where Monte Sierpe sits. Because many of these plants produce little airborne pollen, it's unlikely they settled in the holes naturally."
pants2 an hour ago
Religion always seems like the default explanation for anything without an obvious use and it seems lazy. Maybe it was a game, a rite of passage, a boundary marker, or perhaps there was a Peruvian Mr. Beast running a competition. Anyone else remember the Cards Against Humanity "Holiday Hole"?
AyyEye 14 minutes ago
We always want to pretend that we're better and more evolved than those knuckle draggers of ages past -- simply because someone else made a computer for us to use.
pbhjpbhj 37 minutes ago
Here's my hypothesis from ignorance: I don't know much about South America but understand that they freeze dry potatoes on high slopes?
Perhaps they dry best in these holes, the community built them together, like building an oven or kiln, the regularity and sections of 50 holes allow to track whose produce is where; and maybe you sell them on at the same time.
Or, how about ice collection - each hole gets filled with water/snow, it freezes, the lumps are the right size for carrying back to an ice hole. Maybe they can slide them down the slope like a historical ice-cube dispenser.
throaskjdsakn an hour ago
ChromeXX January 1, 2026 10:38 AM
It's safe to say, since it's been proven these holes exist all over the Amazon, that they were created to catch or divert animals, to keep them from reaching their village. After finding the normal route of the animals and their crossings, the holes were possibly dug to confuse the animals and funnel them into the small foot traffic areas to be caught and killed - whether for food or to control their travel. If it would stop humans from wanting to traverse the land, animals wouldn't want to either. Also, I see "scientists" make this mistake over and over; the lay of the land now is not what it was back then, and large ravines that are there now may have been lush with greenery and completely flat. Earthquakes and landslides could have completely changed the overall landscape by now too.
idiotsecant an hour ago
Greentext name, bold unfounded claims, 'scientists' in smug quotes. Troll, arrow down and move on.
throaskjdsakn 39 minutes ago
pinkmuffinere an hour ago
> It's safe to say, since it's been proven these holes exist all over the Amazon, that they were created to catch or divert animals, to keep them from reaching their village
Are you serious? There's an absolutely massive logical leap from [these holes exist all over the Amazon] -> [they were created to catch or divert animals]. Do you have some other evidence to argue in favor of this?
throaskjdsakn 40 minutes ago
grosswait 37 minutes ago
The latest theory is a marketplace. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251110021048.h...
neilv 4 minutes ago
COMEX warehouse? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mercantile_Exchange#E...
FrameworkFred 38 minutes ago
It would make sense that the holes were a convenient way of thinking and speaking about large quantities of goods such that tribes of people might want to exchange. It would be a very visual way of comparing dissimilar goods, like "1 hole has 50 alpaca skins and I need 200 for the shelter I'm planning to build, so I need 4" and "1 hole has 8 baskets of dried fish which can last 3 families thru the winter, so I need 3 for the nine families on the farm", etc.
And I bet they paid a bit of rent for the privilege. Pretty cool.
yomismoaqui 2 hours ago
The first thing that came to my mind:
https://imgur.com/gallery/lni-enigma-of-amigara-fault-junji-...
riskable 22 minutes ago
Yes but these holes are holier. Hence the religious explanation.
brudgers 13 minutes ago
So is that 1.04 Albert Hall holes?
krunck 2 hours ago
The holes were created without concern for slope angle or whether there was a drainage arroyo. To me this does not indicate something of secular practical usage. I'd lean toward a ritualistic behavior that had to happen in a certain place, tied with previous performances of the ritual, and performed many times. Question: can they date the holes at either end?
opengrass an hour ago
Maybe they were looking for a chest containing jewels, deeds, and promissory notes.
dvh an hour ago
"And here on this mountainside, we store roman dodecahedrons..."