Mysterious Stone Circles Found High in the Andes

Somewhere above 3,000 meters in the Argentine Andes sits a complex of massive stone circles that nobody, not even the archaeologists now studying it, can yet explain.

Found by a Mountaineer, Not an Archaeologist

The site sits in the Cordillera del Tigre, a remote section of the mountains in Mendoza province, Argentina. Its discovery began not with an archaeological survey but with a mountaineer. Carlos Gobbi had spent nearly three decades searching for signs of archaeological heritage in the region, following local references to old stone walls somewhere in the area. In May 2025, while examining satellite imagery and digital maps of the mountains, Gobbi noticed geometric shapes that stood out clearly from the surrounding natural terrain.

Reaching a Site Almost No One Could Reach

Confirming what those satellite images actually showed took far longer than spotting them. Gobbi attempted the journey twice and failed both times because of harsh weather and difficult terrain. He finally reached the site on February 14, 2026, alongside fellow explorers Adrián Radich and Gabriel Orofino, after a demanding four-day trek through terrain marked by scarce water, rough ground, and virtually no communications infrastructure.

What’s Actually There

On the ground, the site consists of large circular stone structures connected by corridors, along with stone walls, ditches, and excavated sections. Some of the circles measure between 27 and 35 meters across, a scale that becomes especially striking when viewed from above, prompting comparisons to Peru’s famous Nazca Lines. Researchers are careful to note that the Mendoza site looks nothing like the animal and geometric figures at Nazca and represents a distinct kind of discovery in its own right. According to the investigating team, there are no known published records describing anything comparable anywhere else in Mendoza province.

A Site With No Clear Answers Yet

So far, archaeologists haven’t found pottery fragments, food remains, or other typical signs of permanent domestic occupation at the site, evidence that has researchers considering whether the complex served a ritual, symbolic, or ceremonial function instead. They’re also weighing whether the structures date to the Inca period or to pre-Hispanic populations that lived in the region before Inca expansion, though neither idea has been confirmed. Investigation is now proceeding through ArqueoAndes, a binational research project directed by Cristina Prieto-Olavarría and Horacio Chiavazza that brings together specialists from Argentina’s IANIGLA-CONICET and the University of Jaén in Spain to study human occupation and landscape change across the high Andes. The next phase of work is expected to combine archaeological fieldwork, sediment analysis, and remote sensing, aiming to establish when the structures were built, how they were constructed, and what activities actually took place there.

Sources

This report draws on original reporting by Diario de Cuyo, with additional details from Los Andes.