A team of international researchers using subsurface radar has identified a 3,000-year-old ceremonial center in Peru’s Casma Valley. Dubbed the Temple of the Obsidian Jaguar, the site features massive stone platforms and a central staircase leading to a ritual chamber decorated with feline-themed clay friezes.
Excavations have yielded a cache of obsidian knives and high-status ceramics, suggesting the site was a major pilgrimage destination for a pre-Chavin culture. The temple's orientation toward the setting sun during the winter solstice marks it as one of the oldest and most significant astronomical observatories in the Andean highlands.