Mystery of the Sayhuite Stone

Showing Sayhuite in Peru

Sayhuite (Saywite) is an archaeological site that consists of several abnormally large size and intricate carvings of stone, with the Sayhuite monolith the most famous, which is located 29 miles east of Abancay, and 94 miles west of Cusco, in the province Abancay in the region Apurímac in Peru. It lies at 11,483 feet above sea level in the highlands of the Andes mountains. The site is regarded as an ancient center of religious worship.
    Besides many carved rocks, the site has a large temple, featuring larger columns draped in fabrics with gold bands the “thickness of one’s hand.” Dr. John Hemming, who is one of the world's experts on Peruvian archaeology, member of the Royal Geographical Society, the history of exploration generally, and also the Chairman of Hemming Group Ltd., points to a colonial narrative that describes the interior of the Sayhuite temple, which was at one time under the care of the priestess Asarpay, who jumped to her death in the nearby 1300-foot gorge to avoid capture (John Hemming, Monuments of the Incas, Thames & Hudson, London, 2010, p184). However, today there is no archaeology evidence to establish the veracity of this claim—and all that remains of the ancient sanctuary is its raised platform on which lies the gigantic monolith of Sayhuite.

The monolithic stone with over 200 carvings

An important feature on the site is the Sayhuite monolith, from a name in Quechua “Saywayta,” which means “place of orientation,” or “where something is oriented.” This monument is an enormous rock 12-feet wide and 7 feet long, containing more than 200 geometric and zoomorphic figures, including reptiles, frogs, and felines. Found at the top of a hill named Concacha, the stone, which had to have been transported to the hill since it was not natural there, was sculpted as a topographical hydraulic model, complete with terraces, ponds, rivers, tunnels, and irrigation channels.
    Researcher Dr. Arlan Andrews, Sr., believes the monolith was used as a scale model to design, develop, test, and document the water flow for public water projects, and to teach ancient engineers and technicians the concepts and practices required (Dr. Arlan Andrews, Sr., "Hydraulics of the Ancients?" Atlantis Rising Magazine, Vol.58: no.45., July 2006).
    Over time the monolithic rock, which is the most popular attraction on the archaeological site, was "edited" several times, with new material, either altering the paths of the water or adding routes altogether. In addition, the site is regarded as a center of religious worship.

Sayhuite ruins overlooking the valley

While the creators of this monolith remain a mystery, it is significant as it provides archaeologists insight into the culture of past peoples, long before the Inca. Through further analysis, archaeologists have determined that the Sayhuite site was a religious center.
    It is most likely that these people held rituals and ceremonies for the general worship of at this site, or used this site to experiment with the process of irrigation and otherwise movement of water. The monolith is an important factor in this discovery, as it depicts a water-like flow between the carvings. It is also speculated, by modern day engineers, that the monolith is a depiction of the irrigation system present within the ancient culture.
    In addition, within the complex a series of nine fountains can be found, as well as a series of lesser monoliths associated with another set of fountains. There is also an altar with a 60 by 112-foot rectangular platform linked to astronomical observation. An Intihuanta—also called Saywa or Sukhanka stone—is an astronomical calendar or clock—with its different-shaped carvings, is also a specific highlight at the site. In addition to being an important astronomical device, similar to a sun dial, it was also a sacred, ritual stone. Its name is derived from the local Quechua language and can be translated as “place to tie up the sun”, with inti being the word for sun, wata being the verb root for “to tie” or “to hitch”, and –na a suffix indicating tools or places. In English, the Inca rock is often referred to as "The Hitching Post of the Sun.”
    The Saywas were ancient astronomic markers, aligned with relevant dates and were often erected on important mountain tops for the rise and decline of celestial bodies in their ecliptic, as well as able to identify and predict equinoxes solstices and other astronomical events.
    It might be of interest to note that recently a Saywas was discovered in the Atacama desert in southern Peru by Cecilia Sanhueza, an historian and leader of a team of scientists from the Pre-Colombian museum and the Alma observatory. At 13,880 feet above sea level in the inner mountain range of the city of Taltal, the scientists verified firsthand on March 21, the exact alignment of two central saywas with the sunrise point at the autumn equinox, and later on June 21, verified the precise alignment with the winter solstice.
    The mysterious site of Sayhuiote is one of Peru’s greatest anomalies, whatever the answers were to the many questions now fronting archaeologists, those answers died with the original builders and users, from long before the Inca, who also used these areas for their own purposes.
    Some regard Sayhuite as a place of religious worship by a water cult with a priestess in charge. Others claim the carved stone is a scale model of an ancient city. Still others claim the monolith was once a water irrigation testing site. At this point, nobody knows for sure. 

One of the many carved rocks surrounding the area at Sayhuit

Just beyond the Concach hilltop into the valley below, there we found several other carved rocks scattered through the grassy knolls. The carved style is very different than the Sayhuite monolith, reminiscent of some of the other ancient sites within the Sacred Valley. The most amazing was a rock with carved stairways and ascending platforms which is cracked down the center.

Top: Sayhuit built on the top of a hill; Bottom: A stone cut with stairs that lead nowhere and now broken in two

There are large stones lying about the hill with cut steps, as well as unusual squares, circles, geometric shapes and channels carved into the surfaces as well. One large stone has perfect stairs and stepped surfaces carved into it, and a few feet south, there is another interesting carved rock, thought by some to be a solar rock that when shadows are cast by the sun, they can be used to record heavenly cycles.

The large monoliths lying about with cut and angled steps and other designs

 

Whatever these rocks may have been used for during the ancient pre Inca civilizations, they look as if they served a specific purpose, but today, no can be sure of what that could be.
    The point of all this is not what the carvings meant or the reason for making them, what is important is to consider who made them and what kind of a culture could have done so. Obviously, this was not the achievements of a people using stone tools, or even bronze tools. Such perfect alignments, smooth (glassy) cuts, and exact measurements would have taken a people with a long history of such effort, using metal tools, with an advanced civilization.
    Such would be the Nephites, whose history in Jerusalem stretched back more than 600 years, and more than 1000 years as a distinct people. They built cities and a temple of magnificent material and handiwork, showing such engineering effort like few things in the very ancient past.  At Sayhuit, there were structures cut into stone that date long before the Inca with such precise workmanship that they required machine tools to accomplish. 
    There were double and triple doors that lead nowhere cut into a rock wall whose purpose is unknown, but were shaped by master craftsmen. It is interesting that the use of machinery is mentioned in the Book of Mormon used around 400 BC. As the ancient prophet stated about the Nephites: “And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war” (Jarom 1:8, emphasis added).