While it's not as unlikely as Craig Ferguson's Patagonian Salad, it is still a major (re)discovery. New Scientist Space reports that the first solar observatory in the Americas may have been uncovered in the coastal areas of Peru.

Like other ancient structures around the world, the ceremonial site enabled the ancients to observe the sun in relation to market position on the horizon. For example, structures like Stonehenge are aligned with the Sun during the solstices – the two days of the year where the Sun appears to reach its highest point above the equator.

This particular ceremonial site in Peru provides evidence that there was sun-worship or even sophisticated 'cults of the Sun' operating in South America as early as 2300 years ago. Previously, archaeologists were able to uncover 4000-year-old gourd fragments in Peru showing images of a "staff god" with rays emanating from it's head. There are also records dated around 1500 AD describing "Sun Pillars" that suggest that the Incan civilization was observing the Sun to possibly to help mark when to plant crops.

Now with the recent discovery Ivan Ghezzi of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura in Lima, Peru, and Clive Ruggles of the University of Leicester, UK, say that earlier civilizations in Peru may have also been observing the Sun as early as the fourth century BC.