The terrain 3000 years ago may have depicted the sky.

A geographical sign on the site of Pampadel pampadelassalinas in Peru depicts the Southern Cross. Los Morteros Pampa de las Salinas Archaeological Project More than 3,000 years ago, in the valley of today's Xia Chao, Peru, the ancients created five landforms with hornstones, forming patterns that might show the constellation of heaven.

These landforms have stone gates leading to them. Archaeologists believe that ancient people will enter these doorways and participate in some form of ritual or sacrificial activities in topography.

These five landforms are part of a larger ritual landscape, now known as Pampa de las Salinas, including more than 20 archaeological sites, including paths, squares and a huge mound called "Los Moteros", which is composed of ancient architectural relics, fish and plants. Archaeologists have been drawing and excavating Pan Padra Salinas to help understand the mystery of this landscape.

This aerial photo shows the mound of Los Motros, and you can see the main dike of Pan Padel Las Salinas. (Archaeological Project of Los Morteros Pampa de las Salinas) "It seems that Pampa de las Salinas has become a place for nearby communities to build and use ceremony places," said Ana Cecilia Mauricio, an assistant professor at Pontifical Catalica del Peru University, who led a new field of investigation.

Nevertheless, scientists say that they are confused about the meaning of the structure in Salinas of Pappardella, and are not sure what happened in this place so many years ago.

1970s discovered two astronomical phenomena, three of which were discovered by Mauricio and her team. Mauricio explained that all landforms are composed of piles of angular small rocks, which form "circular marks of different sizes" on the ground. Mauricio said that these landforms are located in "a quadrilateral space of 50 meters by 50 meters (164 feet by 164 feet) or more, and these spaces have doors for people to pass through.

These extravagant designs can depict heaven. Mauricio said that one of the landforms discovered in the 1970s depicted an astronomical constellation called Southern Cross. "Other landforms are probably related to constellations, although we haven't explained this yet, because we are still recording them." . [Photo: Ancient circular terrain etched in Peruvian sand]

Another round mark on the terrain was found at the Salinas site in Pan Padra, Peru. (Archaeological Project of Los Morteros Pampa de las Salinas) The researchers are not sure when these landforms were built, although they may date back more than 3,000 years, because all the sites of Pampa de las Salinas stopped using at that time, Mauricio said:

Her team did not find any cultural relics on the terrain surface, which made it more difficult to determine the terrain date. Next, the researchers plan to use thermoluminescence dating to measure the energy captured on sediments related to topographic maps in order to better understand the age of these structures.

The oldest site of Los Motro in Salinas, Pan Padra is Mount Los Motro, which can be traced back at least 6 years ago, 1000.

"Our research shows that the oldest stage of Los Motro is related to the accumulation of organic wastes (marine animals and plant remains) on the clay surface and in stone furnaces (possibly family spaces) to form mounds," said Mauricio. Later, adobe buildings were built in Los Motros, and then stone buildings with commemorative and ceremonial features were built.

When Los Motros was built, people lived here. But "later, when this place became Mona.