Buena Vista is an 8 hectare (20 acre) archaeological site located in Peru about 25 miles inland in the Chillon River Valley and an hour's drive north of Lima, the capital.
[2] These ancient peoples had no writing system, and their name was not preserved; they are considered a late pre-ceramic culture and are believed to have followed the Kotosh religious tradition.
It is most notable for the astronomical observatory at its top, which is the oldest of its kind in the Americas; it predates records of similar artistic and scientific achievements of the region by 800 years.
Benfer hypothesizes that the ancient inhabitants of Buena Vista used the Temple of the Fox to appeal to their gods for good harvests on the summer solstice,[1] which would have been planting time for the civilization.
[1] The observatory is further distinguished by its sophisticated carvings, and a three-dimensional life-size sculpture of a musician, unique for a period known in that region for two-dimensional reliefs.