Archaeologists have revealed a complex of hidden passageways and galleries deep inside the ancient Chavín de Huántar temple complex in the Peruvian Andes. The researchers think the network of chambers and galleries was used in religious rituals, possibly involving psychedelic drugs.
It’s the first time in about 3,000 years that these particular hidden structures have been explored; some of the dark and isolated chambers may have been used for sensory deprivation, while some of the larger galleries seem to have been used for the worship of idols, said John Rick, a Stanford University archaeologist who is leading the research.
“These are stone-lined passageways, corridors, rooms, cells, and niches, big enough to walk through, roofed with stone beams,” he told Live Science in an email. “The galleries have a diversity of function from what we can tell, [but] all are related to ritual activity.”
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Rick explained that the newly discovered passageways weren’t strictly tunnels, because they hadn’t been dug into the ground. Instead, they were deliberately constructed inside the mass of the enormous temple complex as it was built in stages between 1200 B.C. and 200 B.C.
Some of the chambers seem to have originally been rooms near the surface that were kept accessible for a time with heavy-duty roofs and extended entrance passages, he said. The passageways are up to 300 feet (100 meters) long, but many are twisting, with right-angled corners and multiple levels.
A total of 36 galleries and their associated passageways have now been found at Chavín de Huántar over 15 years of excavations, but this latest network was detected only a few years ago and was not explored until this year, Rick said.
Ancient temple
Archaeologists think…