Archaeoastronomy at the Villa de Leiva Archaeological Site, A Reinterpretation

Abstract

This paper presents a study of the Villa de Leiva archaeological site in Colombia commonly known as El Infiernito, from an archaeoastronomical perspective, with efforts to incorporate only reliable positions of the stones found in the site. While the site has been archaeoastronomically researched in the past, the present research analyses the site’s larger monoliths, which have not been analysed before, and suggests new sociocultural interpretations of those stones that have been studied previously. Referring to cultural similarities between contemporary indigenous groups and the Herrera and Muisca cultures that previously occupied the site, it is suggested that the orientation of the 25 in situ columns and the big monoliths of the southern field could be related to the midpoint between solstices, known in skyscape archaeology as the spatial equinox. Religious beliefs and rituals, fertility celebrations, agriculture and climate are key factors that contribute to the understanding of this solar alignment.