Attributed to the Pre-Columbian era Quitu-Cara culture, it was presumably used as an astronomical observatory even before the arrival of the Incas, and is the only prehispanic site in the Americas that is located precisely at the Earth's Equator.

In the northwest of the site, there is a lithic disk (a circular stone-filled platform) 8 metres (26 ft) in diameter, consisting mainly of stone masonry.

[5] Along with the stone-filled circles of Jarata and Pacpo to the south, it forms a straight line along which the shade from the mountains falls during the June solstice.

While many of the indigenous people today believe that the purpose of these circles was to provide a solid flat surface for the threshing of wheat and other cereals, several astronomic and geodetic alignments have been detected, questioning the validity of this theory.

"[7] The Inca pucara (stone fortress) of Rumicucho is located about 1,550 metres (5,090 ft) north of Catequilla.