November/December 2023 Issue

The pre-Inca Chocorvos people living high in the Andes hundreds of years ago knew how to make noise on the dance floor. At the site of Viejo Sangayaico, researchers located an unusual platform that measured 32 feet across. It was constructed of different subsoil layers and was partially hollowed so it would produce drumlike sounds when stepped on. Researchers believe that dancers would stomp in unison during celebrations to re-create the sound of thunder as a way to venerate the local mountain deities.

Divers recovered the engine of a P-39 Airacobra that crashed into Lake Huron in 1944 during a WWII training mission. The airplane was flown by 2nd Lt. Frank Moody, who was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the famed all-Black flying unit. Although most Tuskegee pilots were stationed in Alabama, 2nd Lt. Moody had been sent to Michigan for advanced training. He was conducting an exercise when his guns malfunctioned, causing irreparable damage to the plane’s propellers and dooming his flight.

A unique Bronze Age pyramid was unearthed at the Kyrykungir complex in the Abai Region. The structure, which has six sides, each measuring 42 feet long, is one of the few monuments of its kind ever found in the Central Asian steppe. The abundance of horse bones around the structure and the many images of horses that appear on its walls suggest that the site was a center of worship dedicated to a horse cult around 4,000 years ago.