MEGALITHIC TEMPLE UNCOVERD IN PERU C.3,000 YEAR OLD

Archaeologists have discovered a 3000-year-old megalithic temple in Peru that an ancient "water cult" used for fertility rituals.

The temple, found at the Huaca El Toro archaeological site, is located in modern-day Oyotún in the Zaña Valley of northwestern Peru. It is the first megalithic temple, or one made from large stones, found in this valley, which sits between two rivers that join together and give rise to the Zaña River.

The ancient cult, whose members worshiped water, likely built the temple in an area where a new river rises as a kind of "territorial symbolism," said Edgar Bracamonte, an archaeologist with the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in Peru, who took part in the excavations. "Water is the most important element to live, and in this time, water was so difficult to access without technology."