Solar Calendar of the Ancient Amazon ✛ ✦
For centuries, earthen figures hundreds of meters across hid in the Amazon jungle. They were only noticed from the air when deforestation began. These huge squares turned out to be not fences, but a solar calendar. Almost all point to the sunrise positions on the Sun during the equinoxes and solstices. Just as a gardener checks the sky before planting, ancient builders etched the celestial rhythm into the earth.
Analysis of 326 such sites via satellite using light measurement, image combining (similar to the Hubble telescope), and tracking the Sun's passage along the horizon revealed precise alignment — not a trace of disorder. Long before Galileo, Kepler, and Payne, nameless masters understood the Sun. Now smart algorithms and computer models seek out other monuments.
One of the rays nearly matches the Moon's extreme position, but the builders were definitely targeting the Sun.
Science fiction often describes ancient gates that open on solstices, like in Arthur C. Clarke's novel 'The Light of Other Days.' Perhaps the Amazonian figures served as such 'solar keys'.