Giant Stone Circles Appeared in the High Andes
Above 3,000 metres in Argentina's Cordillera del Tigre, mountaineers found large stone circles linked by corridors, spotted first on satellite imagery. No pottery, no food remains — and no known comparable site in Mendoza.
The Location
High in the Cordillera del Tigre of Argentina's Mendoza province, more than 3,000 metres above sea level, sits a complex of large circular stone structures joined by passageways, stone walls, ditches and excavated areas.
It was found the modern way: Mendoza mountaineer Carlos Gobbi spotted geometric formations in satellite imagery in May 2025. Reaching them took longer. After two failed attempts, Gobbi, Adrián Radich and Gabriel Orofino arrived on 14 February 2026 after a four-day mountain crossing.
What's There
The HeritageDaily report dated 24 September 2026 describes circles between 27 and 35 metres in diameter, with partially buried stones set into channel-like ditches and walls built above ground. From above, the arrangement draws comparisons to Peru's Nazca Lines — though researchers stress this is a distinct discovery.
- No pottery fragments, food remains or surface evidence of permanent domestic occupation have been found.
- That absence pushes specialists toward a ritual, symbolic or ceremonial purpose.
- Inca-period or pre-Hispanic occupation are both hypotheses; neither is confirmed.
The History
The investigation runs through ArqueoAndes, a binational project joining Argentina's IANIGLA-CONICET and Spain's University of Jaén. Researchers say no published record exists of a comparable site in the region.
The Mystery
Why build something this substantial somewhere this inhospitable — scarce water, brutal terrain, no communications? The circles do not yet answer. They only map the question.
JitterSnap's read: the high desert kept its secret because almost no one goes there. Satellites go everywhere.
Someone carried stone in a place that carries nothing else.