Testing Alignments of Marcahuasi Stone Formations – Meet Abigail Schofield

Hi there!

My name is Abagail and I am a senior at Boston University. I am working on my Bachelor’s degree in Biological Anthropology and my Masters in Archaeology. For almost a year, I have been working on testing alignments between some of the stone formations that were marked as significant by Luis Ruzo and some solar and astronomical phenomena.

This past summer, Luis Jaime Castillo his team of students were able to collect topographic data using a drone over the site. Thanks to Luis Castillo, his students, and the funds provided by Luis Ruzo and the Foundation for the Study of Traditional Arts and Sciences for the acquisition of new drone equipment, we were able to generate a more extensive and detailed topographic map that I am using in our current study.

The use of archaeoastronomy to uncover the interactions between past peoples and their skies is part of a rising trend designed to evaluate the implications of a past culture’s view of the celestial and its translation to calendars and religious systems.

You can see how I conduct some of the analysis by looking at the images below.

More information about my work can be found on the Ongoing Research page.