19 Facts About Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America.

Tiwanaku began its steady growth in the early centuries of the common era.

Structures that have been excavated by researchers at Tiwanaku include the terraced platform mound Akapana, Akapana East, and Pumapunku stepped platforms, the Kalasasaya, the Kantatallita temple, the Kheri Kala, and Putin enclosures, and the Semi-Subterranean Temple.

Lastly, Protzen and Nair argue that Tiwanaku had a system set for individual elements dependent on context and composition.

Some authors believe that the elites of Tiwanaku lived inside four walls that were surrounded by a moat.

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The site of Tiwanaku is located in the valley between two sacred mountains, Pukara and Chuqi Q'awa.

Tiwanaku became a center of pre-Columbian religious ceremonies for both the general public and elites.

Excavations of the Akapana temple at Tiwanaku revealed the remains of sacrificial dedications of humans and camelids.

The Tiwanaku were highly aware of their natural surroundings and would use them and their understanding of astronomy as reference points in their architectural plans.

Aymara, who are thought to be descendants of the Tiwanaku, have a complex belief system similar to the cosmology of several other Andean civilizations.

Detailed study of Tiwanaku began on a small scale in the mid-nineteenth century.

Tiwanaku made sketches and created paper impressions of carvings and other architectural features.

Archaeologists such as Paul Goldstein have argued that the Tiwanaku empire ranged outside of the altiplano area and into the Moquegua Valley in Peru.

Today Tiwanaku has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, administered by the Bolivian government.

Tiwanaku is home to many types of beautiful sculptures and architecture that inspired many other cultures.

The agricultural system of Tiwanaku known as flooded raised fields was a first of its kind and was seen in many civilizations after.

Tiwanaku later published Valley of The Spirits which described more aspects of Tiwanaku culture such as astrology and mythology.

In 2008 he published Ancient Tiwanaku which described his findings on the architecture, agriculture and other aspects of Tiwanaku life.

Tiwanaku's work has played a huge role in creating potential reconstructions of what many of the structures look like, especially the puma punku.