Parque Los Menhires

Parque Los Menhires, Argentina is a major attractions in Argentina with its eighty indigenous granite mountains. Parque Los Menhires is situated at the southern end of La Angostura reservoir in the Tucuman Province. The park is located at a distance of 107 kilometers from San Miguel de Tucuman. The park lies at the foothills of the Tafi Valley. The name "Menhores" stands for long stone, when the word is broken into two, "men" stands for "stone" and "hir" stands for long. All these granite monuments have been brought to the Parque Los Menhires, Argentina from the archeological site that is situated in the vicinity. The granite monuments that are put here in this park resemble the Scottish Hebrides. Los Menhires or Lost Stones, as they are often referred to, are remnants of an age old civilization. The people of that era and the civilization have put these stones throughout the Calchaquí­es Valley. It is said that these monuments were erected in honor of their gods and some says that these monuments stand as a testimony to some alien visit. It has been observed that there are 114 menhirs in the Parque Los Menhires, Argentina and all these lay scattered in the valley till 1976. In between the years 1976 and 1983, these stones were all brought together and set in the park. The menhirs that stand in the park depicts figure that are related to the cult of fertility and other gods and goddesses. Parque Los Menhires in Argentina in South America is one of the most widely visited tourist spots because of the fact that a visit to this park gives an idea of the civilizations that inhabited this valley and also because of the menhires which stands beautifully to portray the beautiful sculptural brilliance that the men of the era practiced.

One of El Mollar´ main attractions is Los Menhires archaeological reservation, where there are fifty stones representing Tafi culture, gathered in La Sala, situated in the middle of the village.

The word “menhir” comes from a Celtic origin and means “long stone”, which was the name of European megaliths and became part of our archaeological literature trough naturalists who studied these stones at the end of XIX century. However, it seems more appropriate the term “huanca” or “wanka”, Quechuan word which means protector or benefactor of that place; in this case refers to monoliths as “huanca protectors” and propitiator of cattle and crops.

Originally, most of the stones actually in this reservation, were located in a 4 hectares area at both sides of El Rincón river, while others were in El Rincón, El Infiernillo, Río Blanco and Carapunco.

They were moved several times bringing negative consequences for their study and protection, because the required information necessary to understand their meaning wasn’t registered.

They were made in metamorphic rock, sometimes with inclusions of quartz and granite which are materials found around the whole valley.

The ones shaped with percussion, rubbing and wear and tear techniques, have human face representations.

Then we have zoomorphic ones: the represented animal is almost exclusively the feline and its representation is suggested through prominent ears from the upper portion of the stone or circular geometric drawings like skin spots. In some cases, there is a very insinuating phallic shape, and the oldest documents for the Andean region associate them with practices appropriate for life, and also with Huanta ancestor and the first settlings on the Valley.

The stones are 2,000 years old approximately, at the beginning of the Christian Age.