Table of Contents
Pillars of the Past follows a hiker who marked mounds on satellite photos in coastal Peru and went to the place the title calls Purulen. He reads their shared north northeast line as a chosen aim toward sunrise at the solstice, a habit he says is familiar on that shore. The approach crosses dunes, dead end tracks, and a guarded road. Propped adobe and sandstone walls come first, then stepped platforms he believes were cut from living rock rather than stacked, a method he compares with Huaca Prieta. Looted hollows hold bone and scraps of pottery, which he takes as an early preceramic use, and two slabs by a valley mouth sit only a few degrees off due east. A 1976 survey he was given is said to put the complex in the early formative era, near 1800 BCE, while leaving room for older layers. He also reads hillside channels as possible tsunami scars and hopes new digging will push the age back.
Key points
- Satellite mounds in coastal Peru are checked on the ground and treated as a group of temple platforms.
- Their shared north northeast axis is read as a solstice sunrise line known from other coastal temples.
- The hiker argues the steps were shaped from bedrock, with adobe and sandstone walls still standing nearby.
- Looted graves with bone and little pottery are taken as evidence of an early, mostly preceramic occupation.
- A 1976 report is cited for an early formative date near 1800 BCE, with a hint of older use.
- Hillside channels are offered as possible scars from tsunamis or violent floods that could have emptied the site.
Short quotes
each and every one of those Temple pyramid structures was facing north Northeast
Pillars of the Past, Purulen pyramids on the Peruvian coast
He treats the shared orientation of the mounds as the clearest sign that people built them. Watch at 3:33
it was clear this was a layered platform pyramid
Pillars of the Past, Purulen pyramids on the Peruvian coast
The first mound he reaches reads to him as a stepped platform, not a natural hill. Watch at 11:09
these were likely shaped out of the Natural Stone Bedrock
Pillars of the Past, Purulen pyramids on the Peruvian coast
He thinks the platforms were cut from the rock already in the hill. Watch at 14:28
the coast of Peru has been bombarded by Massive tsunami events
Pillars of the Past, Purulen pyramids on the Peruvian coast
He links odd erosion in the hills to known huge waves along this shore. Watch at 24:08
the gap between these stone slabs is just a few degrees shy of being perfect East
Pillars of the Past, Purulen pyramids on the Peruvian coast
A pair of slabs at the valley mouth nearly faces due east on his compass. Watch at 28:31
the report also suggests that this site dates back to the early formative period Circa 1800 BCE
Pillars of the Past, Purulen pyramids on the Peruvian coast
The survey he was shown puts the complex in the early formative era. Watch at 32:02
Video by Pillars of the Past. Watch on YouTube.