The Tiwanaku (Tiahuanacu) Empire

The Tiwanaku (Tiahuanacu) Empire was a Pre-Columbian polity in western Bolivia based in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin.  Its capital, Tiwanaku, was founded around 110 CE during the Late Formative Period, when there were a number of growing settlements in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin. Between 450 and 550 CE, other large settlements were abandoned, leaving Tiwanaku as the pre-eminent center in the region. 

Beginning around 600 CE its population grew rapidly, probably due to a massive immigration from the surrounding countryside, and large parts of the city were built or remodeled. Tiwanaku was a multi-cultural "hospitality state" that brought people together to build large monuments, perhaps as part of large religious festivals. This may have been the central dynamic that attracted people from hundreds of kilometers away, who may have traveled there as part of llama caravans to trade, make offerings, and honor the gods. Tiwanaku grew into the Andes' most important pilgrimage destination.  By 800 CE, Tiwanaku was one of the continent's largest Pre-Columbian cities, reaching a population of 10,000 to 20,000.

Outside of the state's core area in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin, there were Tiwanaku colonies on the coast of Peru, where highland people imitated Tiwanaku temples and ceramics, and cemeteries in northern Chile with elaborate grave goods in the Tiwanaku style. Despite the clear connections to these enclaves, there is little evidence that the state controlled the territory or people in between, that is, its territory was not contiguous. With a few important exceptions, the state's influence outside the Lake Titicaca Basin was "soft power" that blossomed into a powerful, widespread, and enduring cultural hegemony.

Remains of Tiwanaku culture includes carved monoliths, temples and standardized polychrome pottery produced on a massive scale.  Archaeologists discovered some statues in Tiwanaku were taken from other regions and placed in subordinate positions to the local gods as a display of power over other states and regions.  Examinations of burials revealed the practice of artificial cranial deformation.

Tiwanaku ceramics suddenly stopped being produced and the urban core of the capital abandoned about 1000 CE. One theory was that severe drought rendered the raised-field systems ineffective, food surplus dropped, and with it, elite power, leading to state collapse. Other scholars suggest the society's own social dynamics caused its decline due to evidence of intentional destruction that included the monolithic Gates of the Sun and Moon as well as the burning of temple complexes and smashing of food storage jars.

Tiwanaku head wrappings, 500-1000 CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Pablo Trincado.

Tiwanaku sculpture, 110-1000 CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Alexson Scheppa Peisino.

Tiwanaku anthropomorphic vase displayed in the "Tiwanaku Museum" at La Paz, Bolivia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Christophe Meneboeuf.  

Tiwanaku mummy mask, 600 - 1000 CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Helvetiker.


Shell ear pegs, mother-of-pearl, turquoise and shell mosaic on wood, Peru, northern coastal region of Tiahuanaco/Huari, 800-1200 CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Helvetiker.

Gateway of the Sun, Tiwanaku, Bolivia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Mhwater.

Monumental sculpture in Tiwanaku, 110 - 1000 CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Chuspa, a pouch used to carry coca and cocoa leaves from the Tiwanakota period, 500-1000 CE, at the Marc Museum in Rosario, Argentina courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor davidsonn.

Gold Tiwanaku Pendant, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Tony Hisgett.

Closeup of carved stone tenon head embedded in wall of Semi-subterranean Temple, Tiwanaku, Bolivia by Wikimedia Commons contributor, Alfonso F. del Granado Rivero.


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