In 1927, Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejía Xesspe first realized that the Nazca Lines in the area south of Lima were massive images and symbols carved into the earth, so big that they were unrecognizable from ground level. Since then, many people have believed that other unexplained phenomenon discovered in Peru had supernatural overtones.
So it is unsurprising that the rediscovery of the “Band of Holes” in the hills about 20 miles east of the City of Pisco on the Nazca Plateau in Peru, generated a whole new set of alien / supernatural theories.
So it is unsurprising that the rediscovery of the “Band of Holes” in the hills about 20 miles east of the City of Pisco on the Nazca Plateau in Peru, generated a whole new set of alien / supernatural theories.
Image credit: Jacob Bongers
Image Source: smithsonianmag.com/mysterious-holes
Image Source: smithsonianmag.com/mysterious-holes
WHAT IS THE “BAND OF HOLES”?
The “Band of Holes” is a series of ancient and mysterious man-sized holes found in the Nazca Desert, Peru. They are located in the Pisco Valley area, known as Monte Sierpe [Serpent Mountain] or Cerro Viruela [Smallpox Hill], roughly 20 miles east of the city of Pisco in the foothills of the Andes.
The “Band of Holes” is a series of ancient and mysterious man-sized holes found in the Nazca Desert, Peru. They are located in the Pisco Valley area, known as Monte Sierpe [Serpent Mountain] or Cerro Viruela [Smallpox Hill], roughly 20 miles east of the city of Pisco in the foothills of the Andes.
For decades, archaeologists have been perplexed by the 5,000 to 6,000 man-sized dimples stretching across the landscape. The depressions are arranged in a long, slender grid pattern and appear to have been dug methodically and deliberately, and carefully planned.
Image Source:weather-forecast.com/Pisco/
The holes -- actually pits with raised edges – are about 39 inches in diameter and 20 to 40 inches deep. They are arranged in discernable blocks or segments along a band that varies in width from 46 to 69 feet (average 62 feet). They stretch across the landscape with precision in what seems to be a deliberate pattern.
WHY THE INTEREST IN HOLES?
Although the local people have been aware of the phenomenon for centuries, they have no particular idea or folklore about who made them or why. I searched references and found no mention of folk stories about the holes.
Geologist Robert Shippee and Navy Lieutenant George R. Johnson are credited with “rediscovering” the archeological phenomenon in 1931 during an aerial photography expedition in Peru. Two years later, National Geographic published their photographs of the unusual shapes, raising wider spread awareness of their existence and sparking curiosity about their origins.
Since then, there has been renewed interest in uncovering the mystery.
Image Source:weather-forecast.com/Pisco/
The holes -- actually pits with raised edges – are about 39 inches in diameter and 20 to 40 inches deep. They are arranged in discernable blocks or segments along a band that varies in width from 46 to 69 feet (average 62 feet). They stretch across the landscape with precision in what seems to be a deliberate pattern.
WHY THE INTEREST IN HOLES?
Although the local people have been aware of the phenomenon for centuries, they have no particular idea or folklore about who made them or why. I searched references and found no mention of folk stories about the holes.
Geologist Robert Shippee and Navy Lieutenant George R. Johnson are credited with “rediscovering” the archeological phenomenon in 1931 during an aerial photography expedition in Peru. Two years later, National Geographic published their photographs of the unusual shapes, raising wider spread awareness of their existence and sparking curiosity about their origins.
Since then, there has been renewed interest in uncovering the mystery.
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Image Source: www.cnn.com/2025/band-of-holes Image Source: www.usf.edu/news/mysterious-band-of-holes.aspx
Monte Sierpe “Band of Holes,” Image Source:www.saexpeditions.com
Theories regarding their purpose have ranged from water storage, graves, defensive positions, and storage places built by the Incas (1438–1533). Some researchers speculate that they are part of a larger archaeological site linked to the Nazca culture (200 BCE to 600 CE). Undoubtedly, there are plenty of ancient-alien theories also.
THE LATEST RESEARCH AND THEORY
Recent ongoing scientific studies of the “Band of Holes” now theorize that the system functioned as a barter marketplace before becoming an accounting system for the Inca.
University of South Florida anthropologist Charles Stanish, combined sediment analysis, drone photography, and radiocarbon dating to determine a timeline and come up with a new concept of what the site was actually used for.
Age
Radiocarbon dating technology supports the belief that the site was used between 600 and 700 years ago. However, researchers also believe the holes were constructed between AD 1000 and 1400, which aligns the idea of pre-Inca civilizations using the site.
Findings
The findings, published November 2025 in the journal Antiquity and co-authored by Charles Stanish, support the emerging theory that the system was part of an indigenous system for accounting and exchange centuries before Europeans arrived.
The new study provides the first hard data supporting an explanation grounded in Andean cultural practices. Researchers suspect the holes were constructed roughly 1000 years ago and used by the pre-Inca Chincha people as a regulated central gathering place for exchanging food and goods. A market place.
Researchers believe the site was first used by the pre-Inca Chincha Kingdom as a regulated marketplace and later adapted by the Inca Empire as part of its state-run system of storage and redistribution. Then, when the Inca Empire conquered the Chincha roughly 400 years later, they took over the site and adapted it as a state-run system of storage, redistribution, and collection of tributes from local groups.
“Sediment samples revealed pollen from at least 27 different plants, including crops like maize and sweet potato, as well as a wild grass known as bulrush that the Chincha people used to make baskets. It’s unlikely that the pollen was carried to the site by the wind, which suggests that humans may have transported the plants there.
Archaeologists think local groups may have first lined the holes with plant matter before placing various types of goods inside of them. They may have used bulrush baskets to carry the goods to the site, which functioned as a barter marketplace.“ www.usf.edu/new-study-band-of-holes.aspx
INCA ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
Overhead imagery, taken by drones, led researchers to realize the holes looked like Inca record-keeping devices known as quipus, and then to theorize the Band of Holes may have later functioned as a large-scale accounting device for keeping track of tributes from different groups.
Theories regarding their purpose have ranged from water storage, graves, defensive positions, and storage places built by the Incas (1438–1533). Some researchers speculate that they are part of a larger archaeological site linked to the Nazca culture (200 BCE to 600 CE). Undoubtedly, there are plenty of ancient-alien theories also.
THE LATEST RESEARCH AND THEORY
Recent ongoing scientific studies of the “Band of Holes” now theorize that the system functioned as a barter marketplace before becoming an accounting system for the Inca.
University of South Florida anthropologist Charles Stanish, combined sediment analysis, drone photography, and radiocarbon dating to determine a timeline and come up with a new concept of what the site was actually used for.
Age
Radiocarbon dating technology supports the belief that the site was used between 600 and 700 years ago. However, researchers also believe the holes were constructed between AD 1000 and 1400, which aligns the idea of pre-Inca civilizations using the site.
Findings
The findings, published November 2025 in the journal Antiquity and co-authored by Charles Stanish, support the emerging theory that the system was part of an indigenous system for accounting and exchange centuries before Europeans arrived.
The new study provides the first hard data supporting an explanation grounded in Andean cultural practices. Researchers suspect the holes were constructed roughly 1000 years ago and used by the pre-Inca Chincha people as a regulated central gathering place for exchanging food and goods. A market place.
Researchers believe the site was first used by the pre-Inca Chincha Kingdom as a regulated marketplace and later adapted by the Inca Empire as part of its state-run system of storage and redistribution. Then, when the Inca Empire conquered the Chincha roughly 400 years later, they took over the site and adapted it as a state-run system of storage, redistribution, and collection of tributes from local groups.
“Sediment samples revealed pollen from at least 27 different plants, including crops like maize and sweet potato, as well as a wild grass known as bulrush that the Chincha people used to make baskets. It’s unlikely that the pollen was carried to the site by the wind, which suggests that humans may have transported the plants there.
Archaeologists think local groups may have first lined the holes with plant matter before placing various types of goods inside of them. They may have used bulrush baskets to carry the goods to the site, which functioned as a barter marketplace.“ www.usf.edu/new-study-band-of-holes.aspx
INCA ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
Overhead imagery, taken by drones, led researchers to realize the holes looked like Inca record-keeping devices known as quipus, and then to theorize the Band of Holes may have later functioned as a large-scale accounting device for keeping track of tributes from different groups.
Inca Quipu - Image Credit: Claus Ableiter aus enWiki
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Inca_Quipu.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2986739
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Inca_Quipu.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2986739
According to Jacob Bongers of the University of Sydney, the high-resolution aerial images showed clear patterns in how the holes were organized. The rows appear segmented and mathematically structured — a layout that mirrors quipu, a knotted-string devices the Inca used for counting and recordkeeping.
Archeologists realized the slender, snake-like structure is made up of more than 60 sections separated by strips of land. The blocks contain varying numbers of rows and holes.
“There are these interesting mathematical patterns,” Bongers told New Scientist’s Chris Simms. “You have some [sections with] multiple rows of eight holes, and then you have other sections that have alternating counts. Eight holes, then seven, then eight and seven, then eight. It hints that there was some sort of intention behind it."
www.smithsonianmag.com/
With a clearer understanding of what the site was used for, researchers have their work cut out for them and plan to build on the work by studying the types and origins of plants found in the holes — including those with potential medicinal properties. There is much more work to be done to fully understand the implications of the “Band of Holes."
www.usf.edu/2025/band-of-holes.aspx
Note:
“A quipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords, and contains categorized information based on dimensions like color, order and number. The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values in quipu cords. Depending on its use and the amount of information it stored, a given quipu may have anywhere from a few to several thousand cords.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
JUST SAYIN’
Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thousands-of-mysterious-holes-dot-the-landscape-in-peru-archaeologists-say-they-may-finally-know-why-180987681/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/nazca-lines
https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/11/iconic-andean-monument-may-have-been-used-for-indigenous-accounting
https://vimeo.com/1138603829
https://thecoloradodaily.com/science/new-study-reveals-monte-sierpe-as-indigenous-accounting-tool/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_of_Holes
https://montanainsider.com/science/new-findings-suggest-monte-sierpe-was-indigenous-accounting-hub/
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/12/the-unexplained-band-of-holes-in-pisco-valley-peru/
https://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Pisco/forecasts/latest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/there-are-thousands-of-aligned-holes-in-peru-archaeologists-now-think-they-know-who-made-them/ar-AA1QT9Jl?cvid=3a7ef41d0bc2451488db40a8cf8dcc51&ei=10
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/5-200-peruvian-mystery-holes-under-investigation-after-scientists-crack-600-year-old-code/ar-AA1QFd4c
https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/new-interpretation-of-monte-sierpe-indigenous-accounting-system
https://www.usf.edu/news/2025/new-study-suggests-accounting-not-aliens-explains-perus-mysterious-band-of-holes.aspx
Inca mythology - Wikipedia
Gods, demons and beasts from the Andes
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/indigenous-accounting-and-exchange-at-monte-sierpe-band-of-holes-in-the-pisco-valley-peru/41D83389D230D99CFF18194CF274A9A3
Archeologists realized the slender, snake-like structure is made up of more than 60 sections separated by strips of land. The blocks contain varying numbers of rows and holes.
“There are these interesting mathematical patterns,” Bongers told New Scientist’s Chris Simms. “You have some [sections with] multiple rows of eight holes, and then you have other sections that have alternating counts. Eight holes, then seven, then eight and seven, then eight. It hints that there was some sort of intention behind it."
www.smithsonianmag.com/
With a clearer understanding of what the site was used for, researchers have their work cut out for them and plan to build on the work by studying the types and origins of plants found in the holes — including those with potential medicinal properties. There is much more work to be done to fully understand the implications of the “Band of Holes."
www.usf.edu/2025/band-of-holes.aspx
Note:
“A quipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords, and contains categorized information based on dimensions like color, order and number. The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values in quipu cords. Depending on its use and the amount of information it stored, a given quipu may have anywhere from a few to several thousand cords.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
JUST SAYIN’
Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thousands-of-mysterious-holes-dot-the-landscape-in-peru-archaeologists-say-they-may-finally-know-why-180987681/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/nazca-lines
https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/11/iconic-andean-monument-may-have-been-used-for-indigenous-accounting
https://vimeo.com/1138603829
https://thecoloradodaily.com/science/new-study-reveals-monte-sierpe-as-indigenous-accounting-tool/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_of_Holes
https://montanainsider.com/science/new-findings-suggest-monte-sierpe-was-indigenous-accounting-hub/
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/12/the-unexplained-band-of-holes-in-pisco-valley-peru/
https://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Pisco/forecasts/latest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/there-are-thousands-of-aligned-holes-in-peru-archaeologists-now-think-they-know-who-made-them/ar-AA1QT9Jl?cvid=3a7ef41d0bc2451488db40a8cf8dcc51&ei=10
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/5-200-peruvian-mystery-holes-under-investigation-after-scientists-crack-600-year-old-code/ar-AA1QFd4c
https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/new-interpretation-of-monte-sierpe-indigenous-accounting-system
https://www.usf.edu/news/2025/new-study-suggests-accounting-not-aliens-explains-perus-mysterious-band-of-holes.aspx
Inca mythology - Wikipedia
Gods, demons and beasts from the Andes
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/indigenous-accounting-and-exchange-at-monte-sierpe-band-of-holes-in-the-pisco-valley-peru/41D83389D230D99CFF18194CF274A9A3
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