Latest news with #Tiwanaku
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Tiwanaku: Pre-Incan Civilization in the Andes
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Located near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, the millennia-old city of Tiwanaku was built almost 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, making it one of the highest urban centers ever constructed. Surrounded by mountains and hills, the city reached its peak between roughly A.D. 500 and 1000, growing to encompass an area of more than 2 square miles (6 square kilometers), organized in a grid plan. Only a small portion of the city has been excavated. Population estimates vary, but at its peak Tiwanaku may have had at least 10,000 people living in it. Although its inhabitants didn't develop a writing system and its ancient name is unknown, archaeological remains indicate that the city's cultural and political influence was felt across the southern Andes, stretching into modern-day Peru, Chile and Argentina. Today, with a modern-day town located nearby, Tiwanaku is a great ruin. "Massive, stone-faced earthen mounds rise from the plain; nearby are great rectangular platforms and sunken courts with beautiful cut-stone masonry," Denver Art Museum curator Margaret Young-Sánchez wrote in her book "Tiwanaku: Ancestors of the Inca" (University of Nebraska Press, 2004). Researchers aren't sure when Tiwanaku was first settled, but Young-Sánchez noted in her book that people in the Lake Titicaca area started settling permanently around 4,000 years ago. By this time, llamas (used as pack animals), alpacas (prized for their fur) and other camelids had been domesticated. In addition "farmers learned to cultivate hardy, frost-resistant crops like tubers and quinoa, watered by natural rainfall and water channeled from the mountain slopes," Young-Sánchez wrote. A millennium later, these adaptations had been enhanced by "raised-field agriculture" — a technique that "involves creating artificially raised planting mounds separated by canals of water," Young-Sánchez wrote. These adaptations helped usher in larger and more complex settlements, one of which, Tiwanaku, would come to dominate the region. In 2025, researchers announced they had found the stone ruins of a temple constructed by the Tiwanaku civilization. This temple, which archaeologists named Palaspata, is in Bolivia, about 130 miles (210 km) south of Tiwanaku. The terraced platform temple was large — about the size of a city block — and had interior rooms that surrounded an inner courtyard. It aligned with the solar equinox and was likely used for ceremonies, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity. Activity at the Palaspata temple thrived from about A.D. 630 to 950, according to radiocarbon dating of charcoal found at the site. The temple's strategic location linked together three trade routes, indicating that it likely connected people in the highlands to the north, the arid plateau to the west and the valleys to the east, the researchers wrote. The temple likely had religious connections, too, said José Capriles, an anthropological archaeologist at Penn State and lead author of the study. "Most economic and political transactions had to be mediated through divinity, because that would be a common language that would facilitate various individuals cooperating," he said in a statement. Archaeological excavations have revealed that the people of Tiwanaku "maintained a dense urban population residing in well-defined, spatially segregated neighborhoods, or barrios, bounded by massive adobe compound walls," Field Museum curator Patrick Ryan Williams and team noted in a 2006 journal article These "residential neighborhoods were characterized by multiple clusters of domestic structures (e.g., kitchens, sleeping quarters, storage facilities), some of which were apparently organized around a small private patio," the researchers added. Inhabitants of these clusters may have used larger, shared outdoor plazas for communal ceremonial events. Archaeologists have explored much of the city center, which contains a number of monumental structures. The area " was surrounded by an artificial moat," Young-Sánchez wrote. The area surrounded by the moat contains a number of structures that may have held religious significance. The earliest structure is likely the "Sunken Temple," a small building that is accessed via a staircase on the south, Vanderbilt University professor John Wayne Janusek wrote in his book "Ancient Tiwanaku" (Cambridge University Press, 2008). After descending the stairs, stone monoliths can be seen in the center of the room. They depict "what were most likely the more ancient and powerful mythical ancestors of the collective communities," Janusek wrote. The walls of the sunken temple are decorated with the images of god-like beings with expressionless faces and elaborate headdresses. Others look like "skulls with desiccated skin and sunken eye sockets, and still others appear to be wailing phantasms like the banshees of Irish lore," Janusek wrote. Adjacent to the Sunken Temple is a platform complex known as the "Kalasasaya," researchers Brian Bauer and Charles Stanish wrote in "Ritual and Pilgrimage in the Ancient Andes: The Islands of the Sun and the Moon," (University of Texas Press, 2001). An "artificial pyramid" known as the Akapana also resides in the area surrounded by the moat. This monument had six stone terraces, a massive 656 by 820 feet (200 by 250 m) base and was more than 54 feet (16.5 m) high, according to Bauer and Stanish's book. The Akapana dwarfed all other buildings at Tiwanaku and was likely a center of political and sacred power. When archaeologists excavated the northwest portion of the pyramid, they unearthed the skeletons of 21 people, who may have been from groups Tiwanaku conquered, according to Young-Sánchez's book. Several of the bones bear deep cut marks that suggest the bodies were hacked apart just before or soon after death, before being buried at the pyramid's base, according to the book. Outside of the moat area, and located to the southwest, is a massive, unfinished platform known as the Pumapunku (also spelled Puma Punku). The main platform was nearly 1,600 feet (488 m) wide and was covered with overlapping T-shaped terraces, according to Janusek's main entranceway was on the west side. "One moved up the stairway through stone portals, some covered with lintels carved as totora reed bundles and into a narrow, walled, passage" Janusek wrote. This passage then led to an "inner courtyard" with a "sunken paved patio." Janusek noted that water seems to have played a central role in the rites that took place on the platform. The Choquepacha spring, which is southwest of the structure, has stone conduits built around it. Around A.D. 1000, Tiwanaku fell into decline, and the city was eventually abandoned. It collapsed around the same time the Wari culture, based to the west in what is now Peru, also fell. The timing has led scientists to wonder whether environmental change in the Andes played a role in the collapse of both civilizations. But while Tiwanaku was abandoned, its memory lived on in the mythology of the people of the Andes. "Even after its abandonment, Tiwanaku continued to be an important religious site for the local people," s archaeologist Alexei Vranich wrote in an "Archaeology" magazine article. It later became incorporated into Inca mythology as the birthplace of humankind, Vranich wrote, and the Inca built their own structures alongside the ruins. Editor's note: this article was originally published on Feb. 1, 2013 and updated on July 3, 2025 to include information about the newfound Palaspata temple in Bolivia.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
1,400-year-old temple ruins the size of a city block unearthed in Bolivia
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Archaeologists in Bolivia have discovered the ruins of a temple that was built by a little-known civilization up to 1,400 years ago. The temple, called Palaspata after the native name for the area, comes from the Tiwanaku civilization, a predecessor of the Inca Empire. Tiwanaku society disappeared around 1,000 years ago and little is known about the civilization, but these temple ruins shed light on how it may have functioned in its prime. Analysis of the discovery was published June 24 in the journal Antiquity. "It's kind of shocking how little we know" about the Tiwanaku, Steven Wernke, an archaeologist and historical anthropologist of the Andean region of South America at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the study, told Live Science. "This finding is quite significant." The Tiwanaku civilization, based just south of Lake Titicaca in the Andes mountains, was extremely powerful at its peak. "It boasted a highly organized societal structure, leaving behind remnants of architectural monuments like pyramids, terraced temples and monoliths," José Capriles, an anthropological archaeologist at Penn State and lead author of the study, said in a statement. The society collapsed around A.D. 1,000, leaving only ruins by the time the Incas entered the region about 400 years later. The Tiwanaku are logistically hard to study, even compared to similar civilizations in the region, like the Wari. Not only are resources for archaeological research limited in Bolivia, but many Tiwanaku sites are at very high altitudes and in remote areas of the Andes. "It's objectively difficult to document some of these sites," Wernke said. Related: 31 ancient temples from around the world, from Göbekli Tepe to the Parthenon Despite these obstacles, scientists have gleaned some limited information about the Tiwanaku, like the location of its capital and some offshoots of nearby settlements. But understanding the social, economic and political structures of the society has proved trickier. The biggest debate among experts is how the Tiwanaku state was organized, Wernke explained. Some models posit a ruling class of patrimonial Tiwanaku that oversaw provinces from the capital, while others present the society as a more equitable alliance of diverse peoples across the civilization. After noticing an unmapped plot of land, the researchers conducted uncrewed flights over the area to get better photos. They then used photogrammetry, a technique that combines many digital photos together to create a virtual 3D model, to construct a detailed rendering of the structure. Their analysis found that the stones' alignment revealed a terraced platform temple with four-sided rooms arranged around an inner courtyard, according to the statement. The ruins measure roughly 410 by 475 feet (125 by 145 meters) — about the size of a city block — and their structure seems designed for the performance of rituals around the solar equinox, Capriles said. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples from the site showed that it was most intensively occupied from about A.D. 630 to 950, the researchers found. The Palaspata temple complex, roughly 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of the previously established Tiwanaku archaeological site, was located strategically. It was built in a spot that linked three diverse trade routes — joining highlands to the north, an arid plateau to the west, and valleys to the east — so researchers believe the temple was, in part, meant to connect people from across the society, according to the statement. Fragments of keru cups, used for drinking a traditional maize beer called "chicha" during celebrations, were found within the ruins. These cups suggest the temple may have been a central hub for trade, Capriles said, because the drink requires ingredients from the relatively distant Cochabamba valleys in central Bolivia. "This site makes us rethink long-distance connections from Tiwanaku to Cochabamba and further south," Erik Marsh, an anthropologist at the National University of Cuyo in Argentina who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email. RELATED STORIES —Gold and silver treasures discovered with 'elite craftspeople' burials near powerful Wari queen's tomb —73 pre-Incan mummies, some with 'false heads,' unearthed from Wari Empire in Peru —2,400-year-old puppets with 'dramatic facial expression' discovered atop pyramid in El Salvador The temple also likely had religious significance, Capriles explained. "Most economic and political transactions had to be mediated through divinity, because that would be a common language that would facilitate various individuals cooperating." Palaspata supports the model of a coordinated, centralized Tiwanaku societal structure because of its strategic location, Wernke said. "It presents an enticing and exciting new piece of the puzzle about Tiwanaku and early imperialism in the Andes," he said. "It's also certainly not the last piece we'll hear about."
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Lost temple found in mountains reveals secrets of civilization
A vast stone temple built 1,000 years ago by one of South America's most powerful civilizations has been uncovered in the Andes. Archaeologists discovered the temple , known as Palaspata, atop a ridge in the remote highlands southeast of Lake Titicaca, near the small community of Ocotavi in western Bolivia. The large structure was the craftsmanship of the Tiwanaku civilization, which left a mark on the world with impressive stone structures, advanced irrigation systems, and unique art and pottery before vanishing around 1000AD. Covering an area roughly the size of a city block, the site measures approximately 410 feet long by 476 feet wide. It features 15 rectangular enclosures arranged around a central courtyard, which appears to align with the solar equinox, a time when the sun rises directly over the equator and is often marked by key ritual dates in ancient cultures. The team believes more than 20,000 people may have lived here, as some buildings were constructed with stones weighing over 100 tons, showing highly organized labor and planning. 'This was not just a temple, it was a strategic hub, an entry point between the highlands and lowland trade routes,' said Dr José Capriles, lead archaeologist from Pennsylvania State University and co-author of the study. 'This was a place where people, goods, and gods all crossed paths.'. The newly discovered complex is located about 130 miles south of Tiwanaku's established historical site, on top of a hill known to local Indigenous farmers but was never explored in depth by researchers due to its unassuming location. Carbon dating revealed the site was most active between AD 630 and 950, during the period when the Tiwanaku civilization expanded its influence into the eastern valleys. 'Their society collapsed sometime around 1000 CE and was a ruin by the time the Incas conquered the Andes in the 15th century,' Dr Capriles said. 'It boasted a highly organized societal structure, leaving behind remnants of architectural monuments like pyramids, terraced temples and monoliths, most of which are distributed in sites around Lake Titicaca.' The ancient temple once featured tall, red sandstone and white quartzite stones that marked its perimeter. Though much of the original structure has collapsed, its rectangular design and astronomical alignment are still visible as its pieces still litter the ground. The central courtyard may have once held a sunken ceremonial plaza, a hallmark of Tiwanaku temples. The temple's surface was scattered with fragments of keru cups, used for drinking chicha, a traditional maize beer, during agricultural feasts and celebrations, indicating its role as a key trade hub, according to Capriles. Since maize was not grown locally but in the Cochabamba valleys, unlike the high-altitude temple site, this highlights the temple's significance in enabling access to diverse goods, including food, and linking different culinary traditions, he added. 'The archaeological findings at Palaspata are significant because they highlight a crucial aspect of our local heritage that had been completely overlooked,' said Justo Ventura Guarayo, mayor of the municipality of Caracollo, where the site is located. 'This discovery is vital for our community.' The Palaspata complex had remained undetected by archaeologists until recently, when they spotted unusual geometric shapes in satellite photos. Researchers then used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, and 3D imaging techniques to confirm the presence of a man-made structure. 'Because the features are very faint, we blended various satellite images,' said Dr Capriles. Nearby, at a smaller archaeological site called Ocotavi 1, researchers uncovered homes, tools, animal bones and human burials with skull shaping a sign of high status in Andean culture. Nearby, at a smaller archaeological site called Ocotavi 1, researchers uncovered homes, tools, animal bones and human burials with skull shaping, a sign of high status in Andean culture.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ruins of Ancient Temple Belonged to Mysterious Pre-Inca Civilization
Before the rise of the Incas, a civilization known as Tiwakanu ruled the Andes, and archaeologists have uncovered a massive temple left behind by this enigmatic society. Named Palaspata by local Indigenous farmers, the ruined temple is perched on a Bolivian hilltop 215 km (about 134 miles) southeast of the center of the Tiwanaku archaeological site. The team behind the discovery, led by Jose Capriles from Penn State University, suspects the newly described temple was an important strategic site for the Tiwanaku people, as it's located at the nexus of three main trade routes that connected the society to important ecosystem resources. There's debate around what brought this civilization's downfall, but we know it was a complex culture built on cosmological religion, politics, and an agropastoral economy that emerged around 110 CE. Related: "Their society collapsed sometime around 1000 CE and was a ruin by the time the Incas conquered the Andes in the 15th century," Capriles says. "Remnants of architectural monuments like pyramids, terraced temples, and monoliths [are mostly] distributed in sites around Lake Titicaca and, while we know Tiwanaku's control and influence extended much further, scholars debate how much actual control over distant places it had." With drone images and photogrammetry, the team built a detailed 3D rendering of the temple's structure and topography. "Because the features are very faint, we blended various satellite images together," Capriles says. What remains of the temple indicates a complex measuring 125 by 145 meters (410 by 475 feet), with 15 enclosed areas arranged around a central inner courtyard. This design is typical of Tiwanaku culture, which left behind many other temple ruins featuring sunken courts surrounded by rectangular rooms and stone-lined terrace platforms, mostly around the southern end of Lake Titicaca. "The modules range in size between 358 and 595 m2 [3,853–6,405 ft²] and could have contained additional rooms and divisions," Capriles and team report. "The main entrance of the temple faces west in alignment with the solar equinox. Currently, a local trail crosses the building, intersecting its western and northern walls." The temple is littered with fragments of its inhabitants' lives, including pieces of ceramic keru cups, flared bowls, jars, and incense burners. "[Objects] with Tiwanaku iconography are common, but some sherds of Yampara, Tupuraya, Mojocoya, and other decorative styles are also present and suggest interaction with the inter-Andean valleys," the team writes. They also found a few fragments of black-on-red Carangas pottery, pieces of camel bone, and some fragments of turquoise stone along with an Oliva peruviana seashell – evidence of connections to the Atacama Desert and the Pacific Ocean. Religion played an important role in the politics and economics of Tiwanaku society, and in the Andes, sites like this were often built not only for spiritual practice, but also as a means of expanding societies and exerting control over the surrounding resources. As one of the only terraced platform sites found beyond the lake basin, and one of the farthest from it, Palaspata would have connected Tiwanaku with the Central Altiplano and the inter-Andean valleys of Cochabamba. "Most economic and political transactions had to be mediated through divinity, because that would be a common language that would facilitate various individuals cooperating," says Capriles. "With more insight into the past of this ancient site, we get a window into how people managed cooperation, and how we can materially see evidence of political and economic control." This research was published in Antiquity. Does Using Artificial Intelligence Ruin Your Actual Intelligence? Scientists Investigated Burial Vault Sealed For 400 Years Found at End of Long-Forgotten Staircase Confirmed: New Mexico Footprints Rewrite Timeline of Humans in America
The Irish Sun
29-06-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Huge stone temple built 1,000 years ago uncovered in mountains – and reveals secrets of ancient civilisation
A MASSIVE stone temple built 1,000 years ago has been uncovered, revealing the secrets of an ancient civilisation. The historic structure, known as Palaspata, was discovered in a remote part of South America and is thought to have been built by the Tiwanaku civilisation. Advertisement 3 A huge stone temple built 1,000 years ago has revealed the secrets of the Tiwanaku civilisation Credit: Cambridge University Press 3 The enormous area where the temple once sat Credit: Cambridge University Press 3 The ancient civilisation lived around Lake Titicaca in western Bolivia Credit: Cambridge University Press Sitting on top of a ridge near Lake Titicaca, in western Bolivia, the temple is an impressive feat of craftsmanship. But due to its remote location, researchers only spotted the area when they spotted unusual shapes in satellite photos. Drone 3D imaging confirmed the ancient site with researchers believing it provides key insight into the Tiwanaku civilisation. The ancient society was a powerful Andean civilisation that existed around 400 to 1000 CE. Advertisement Read more on World Researchers say Tiwanaku individuals formed part of a "highly organised societal structure", which left behind remnants of impressive monuments including pyramids, temples and monoliths. Most of these are located in sites around Lake Titicaca. Though little remains of it now, researchers believe the temple once housed an advanced irrigation system, and fine art and pottery before disappearing around 1000 AD. The site measures around 410 feet long by 476 wide and features 15 rooms which encircle a central courtyard. Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Archaeologists suggest over 20,000 people may have inhabited the area, believing it to have been a "strategic hub" or "entry point" for trade. It is believed the temple enabled access to a number of goods and foods. Bible archaeologists discover ancient relic that may 'prove the existence of legendary warrior from holy book' Lead researcher José Capriles told the "This was a place where people, goods, and gods all crossed paths." Advertisement The discovery comes just weeks after an ancient Mayan city was discovered by archaeologists in northern Guatemala. The nearly 3,000-year-old remains include remarkable pyramids and monuments that appear to be "sculpted with unique iconography". This Los Abuelos gets its name from two human-like sculptures of an "ancestral couple" found there. Advertisement These figures "could be linked to ancient ritual practices of ancestor worship", the ministry added. The city is likely to have been "one of the most ancient and important ceremonial centres" of Mayan civilisation. Monuments unearthed at the site have been dated to the Middle Preclassic period of 800-500 BC, while the city itself "presents remarkable architectural planning". The city covers an area of around six square miles and is found in Guatemala's northern Petén department. Advertisement Researchers also found a 108 foot high pyramid nearby that had Preclassic murals and "a unique canal system". "Archaeological investigations have included the active participation of Guatemalan and international professionals, with the support of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia," a ministry spokesperson said.
