El Infiernito: la stazione astronomica precolombiana Muisca.

El Infiernito, is a pre-Columbian Muisca site located at the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá Department, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a setting of menhirs (upright standing stones); several burial mounds are also present. The site was a center of religious ceremonies and spiritual purification rites, and also served as a rudimentary astronomical observatory. The area was already known before the discovery by the archaeologist, but was called by the Spanish conquistadors like El Infiernito, or little hell. The first description of the site was made in 1847 by Joaquin Acosta colombian's geographer, who reported 25 stone columns, hald-buried on the Moniquirá Valley. The findings were studied by Alexander von Humboldt who believed that the site could be used to anticipate astronomical phenomena such as solstices and equinoxes, as indicated by the alignment of the stones with the sun and moon. The purpose of this paper is confirm the currently known theories thanks the recent data coming out from the last excavations of 2009, and review and expand the model proposed by Duquesne regarding the calendar of the ancient Muisca culture of the central Colombia.