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'On their most recent expedition they used advanced drone technology to conduct the first comprehensive aerial mapping of the site, producing high-resolution images revealing “striking patterns” in how the holes were organized.
The rows of holes, each between 3ft and 6.5ft wide, appeared segmented and mathematically structured, they said, a layout mirroring khipus, knotted-string devices the Inca used for counting and record keeping.
Even more conclusive, Stanish said, were the results of microbotanical analysis of sediment samples taken from inside the holes. Fossilized seeds revealed traces of crops such as maize and wild plants traditionally used for weaving and packaging goods.
“We proved that the seeds didn’t fly in, they weren’t airborne, they had to be put there by humans,” he said. “We didn’t get any, with one exception way down below, colonial-era seeds, and we got one carbon-dated to slightly pre-Inca, which was fascinating.
“And the coolest stuff was we found the reeds, the traditional reeds and the willows that the Inca and the Quechua peoples use to carry commodities, even up to the present day. So we got the reeds, we got the seeds.”
Florida professor may have solved mystery of Peru’s Band of Holes
Charles Stanish surmised indentations were rudimentary market place and later adapted as accounting and storage system
