Menhirs - Open Air Archaeological Museum, Open-air archaeological museum in El Mollar, Argentina
The Menhirs - Open Air Archaeological Museum is an open-air archaeological museum in El Mollar, Argentina, displaying over 50 standing stone monoliths created by the Tafí 1 culture more than 2,000 years ago. The stones, made of granite and quartz, reach up to about 10 feet (3 meters) tall and are arranged across an outdoor area in front of the town's main square.
The stones were erected by the Tafí 1 culture, which inhabited the valley roughly between 820 BC and 780 AD. In the 1970s the monoliths were moved without recording their original positions, and in the early 2000s a joint effort between local authorities and a university worked to reconstruct their original placement before opening the current site.
The stones are locally called huancas, a Quechua word meaning 'long stone,' and this name reflects how the local community relates to them differently than outside scholars do. Many of the stones carry carved faces or animal figures that visitors can observe up close as they walk through the site.
The site sits directly in front of El Mollar's main square, making it easy to reach on foot from the center of the village. Guided tours are available and help visitors understand what they are looking at among the stones.
In 2010, specialists carefully removed lichens from the stones and treated them with a protective spray to slow future damage. The people who shaped these blocks had no metal tools, so every cut and every movement of the granite was done with stone instruments alone.
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