Chankillo, Peru

In 2010 CyArk partnered with Christofori und Partner to assist World Monuments Fund and the Institute for Regional Archaeological Research (IDARQ)'s conservation efforts on site. World Monuments Fund added Chankillo to the World Monuments Watch list in 2010 to raise awareness around the site and begin conservation efforts on its monumental architectural features. The site has been slowly eroding due to strong winds, humidity, temperature fluctuations and earthquakes. During the field expedition, CyArk was able to document most of the site, including the Fortress, the Thirteen Towers, the Western Observing Point, the Eastern Observing Point, the Administrative Complex, and the Geoglyphs.  The team utilized a Leica C10 and a Leica HDS 6000 to complete the documentation.

The Thirteen Towers are a series of thirteen elevated buildings, spaced every 5m, that are accessible by a staircases on the north and south sides. The towers along the horizon corresponds very closely to the range of movement of the rising and setting positions of the Sun over the year. Simulations conducted by researchers have shown that when looking from the observation deck within the fort on June 21 the sun would have risen on the same alignment with the northernmost tower while on December 21 the sun would have risen on the same alignment with the southernmost tower.  Further, through the different seasons the shadows of the fort would have pointed to the south or north according to the different seasons. All of this evidence suggest that the towers were used for solar observation, and would have been extremely important in the scheduling of various agricultural activities.