A joint international research team has identified a massive prehistoric temple structure high in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains of Colombia. Utilizing high-resolution LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, the team mapped a series of previously invisible stone terraces and a central circular platform that predates the known Tairona civilizations by several centuries. The site is being hailed as a 1st-century BCE 'Temple of the Sun' due to its precise alignment with the winter solstice sunrise.
The temple complex features a sophisticated drainage system and large megalithic basalt slabs that show evidence of early astronomical carvings. Archaeologists believe this sacred site served as a major pilgrimage center for the ancestors of the Kogi and Arhuaco peoples. The discovery challenges previous assumptions regarding the timeline of complex social and religious structures in the northern Andes, suggesting a much earlier emergence of organized temple-based worship in the region.