An ancient “ringing” dance floor, possibly designed to create a drumming sound for a thunder god when stepped on, has been identified by archaeologists in Peru. Found at the Viejo Sangayaico site, 200 km southeast of Lima, the floor was constructed in an open platform between AD1000 and AD1400. It then continued to be used under Inca rule, from 1400 to 1532, and possibly during the early years of the Spanish conquest.
“We know that in pre-Hispanic Andean rituals, dance occupied a large place in the debates. I believe this purpose-built platform was built to enhance the natural sounds associated with dancing,” says Kevin Lane, an archaeologist at the Instituto de las Culturas (IDECU) at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, who has directed the research. Funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the results of the project were recently published in the Journal of Anthropological Archeology.
The dance floor was built on one of two open-air platforms near a possible Inca temple dedicated to a lightning deity. The platforms face the nearby mountain of Huinchocruz, where a pre-Hispanic ceremonial platform known as an ushnu stood. “I believe these open platforms would have been used during the pre-Hispanic period as a stage on which to worship nearby mountain gods, in this case those of Huinchocruz,” Lane explains.
Because lightning deities were associated with rain and thunder in Andean belief, it’s possible that the people of Viejo Sangayaico used the dance floor to imitate the sound of thunder, Lane explains. “It would probably have been accompanied by drums and perhaps Andean wind instruments.”
Archaeologists first identified the dance floor when they heard a loud thump while walking on it. “We realized the rig was designed to improve sound when we started excavating it,” says Lane. “We discovered that the platform had been excavated and then filled with specially prepared fill and surfaces to create a percussive effect. This involved four layers of camelid guano interspersed with four layers of clean silty clay.
Lane says the layers of excrement contained small spaces that caused a deep, bass-like sound whenever people danced or stomped on the surface of the ground, which was about 10 meters in diameter.
“We estimate that the platform could have accommodated up to 26 people dancing in unison, which would have caused a loud thud,” Lane said, adding that the dust kicked up by the dancing may have been a feature. visual.
The find raises the possibility that parts of other Andean sites were built to enhance the sound. “We already knew this from sites like Chavin, but even in the late pre-Hispanic period, it’s possible that many sites had areas specially prepared for this,” Lane says. Another Andean site in Peru where the use of sound has recently been studied is Huánuco Pampa.
“The Sound Dance Platform is a fantastic find and it shows that aside from instruments, the human body and the landscape could be used musically,” says Lane. “It also brings the sounds of the past to life, especially since the past is mostly silent and lost to us.”
