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| Tiwanaku (state) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tiwanaku (state) |
| Caption | Ruins at Tiwanaku (archaeological site) near Lake Titicaca |
| Region | Southern Altiplano, present-day Bolivia |
| Period | Middle Horizon |
| Established | c. 500 CE |
| Disestablished | c. 1000 CE |
| Major sites | Tiwanaku (archaeological site), Puma Punku, Kalasasaya, Akapana |
| Languages | Aymara language?, Puquina language? |
| Religion | Andean religion, state cults |
| Government | Centralized rulership |
Tiwanaku (state) Tiwanaku (state) was a pre-Columbian polity centered on the Tiwanaku (archaeological site) on the southern Altiplano near Lake Titicaca in present-day Bolivia. Flourishing during the Middle Horizon, it exercised cultural, religious, and political influence across the southern Andes and portions of the Central Andes and Desaguadero River basin. Archaeological, ethnohistoric, and bioarchaeological evidence situates Tiwanaku as a major integrative force interacting with contemporaneous polities such as Wari, Moche, and later Andean states.
Tiwanaku emerged in the postclassic development of highland Andean societies, with urbanization at Tiwanaku (archaeological site) accelerating from c. 500–700 CE and a florescence during c. 700–1000 CE that coincides with construction at Puma Punku, Kalasasaya, and Akapana. Chronologies have been constructed using radiocarbon dating from contexts at Tiwanaku (archaeological site), stratigraphy from Puma Punku, and ceramic typologies linked to the Andean Horizon sequence. Periodization often distinguishes formative, classic, and collapse phases, paralleling developments at Wari and exhibiting contemporaneity with coastal polities like Nazca and Tiwanaku-influenced Chiripa communities.
Scholars infer a complex polity with centralized ritual authority centered at Tiwanaku (archaeological site) and elite control of remote communities via administrative centers, road links on the Altiplano, and control of strategic wetlands such as Desaguadero River corridors. Monumental architecture at Akapana and the ritual plaza at Kalasasaya indicate state-level mobilization comparable to rulerships documented in Andean epigraphy and chronicles referencing later polities like Inca Empire practices. Administrative strategies likely involved sponsored elites, kin-based lineages attested in mortuary archaeology from Laikakota cemeteries, and craft specialists whose workshops parallel craft production zones identified at Puma Punku.
The Tiwanaku economy integrated highland agricultural technologies such as raised-field horticulture in the Lake Titicaca basin, pastoralism centered on camelids (llama and alpaca), and long-distance exchange of camelid fiber and altiplano commodities. Agricultural intensification in raised fields associated with sites around Taraco Peninsula supported urban populations at Tiwanaku (archaeological site), while trade networks connected Tiwanaku with coastal and valley polities including Pacajes, Moquegua, and Arequipa regions. Material culture, including obsidian sourcing and exotic marine shell ornaments, demonstrates exchange with coastal centers such as Moche and craft linkages to highland centers like Cuzco.
Ritual centrality at Kalasasaya, the Gateway of the Sun, and sculptural iconography, including the Staff God motif, manifest state cults that drew on broader Andean religion motifs. Iconographic parallels with Chavín and continuity into later Wari and Inca ceremonial repertoires suggest ideological transmission across centuries. Pilgrimage, feasting, and ancestor veneration inferred from ritual caches, human offerings, and mammal remains at plazas and platform mounds align with practices documented ethnographically among Aymara and chronicled in colonial accounts referencing Andean rites.
Tiwanaku architecture exhibits megalithic stonework at Puma Punku, finely cut orthostats at Kalasasaya, and platform-mound construction at Akapana, reflecting monumental planning comparable to contemporaneous Andean centers such as Chan Chan and Kuelap. Sculpture, portable stone carvings, and polychrome ceramics display standardized motifs—Staff God, felines, and anthropomorphic figures—paralleling iconography found at Wari and echoing earlier designs from Chavín de Huántar. Urban layout around plazas, causeways, and ceremonial precincts at Tiwanaku (archaeological site) indicates planned cityscapes with infrastructure for ritual gatherings and artisan quarters akin to those in the central Andes.
Demographic reconstructions based on cemetery populations, isotopic analyses, and settlement surveys suggest a heterogenous society of farmers, herders, artisans, and priestly elites, with estimates for the urban population range varying widely among field researchers. Diet included quinoa, potatoes, domesticated camelids, and lacustrine resources from Lake Titicaca, as evidenced by zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from sites like Taraco. Social differentiation is visible in burial goods, cranial modification patterns, and differential access to imported prestige items comparable to social stratification seen in Wari and later Inca records.
Tiwanaku projected influence through colonization, trade, and ritual affiliation across the southern Andes and into the Desert Pacific coast, with outposts and Tiwanaku-style ceramics appearing in regions such as Moquegua, Arequipa, and the Central Andean highlands. Interaction spheres linked Tiwanaku with contemporary polities including Wari, Nazca, and numerous local chiefdoms; reciprocity and coercion mechanisms are debated using evidence from warp-weighted textiles, ceramic distribution, and isotopic mobility studies. Tiwanaku iconography and agricultural innovations subsequently influenced successor entities including Aymara kingdoms and set precedents later incorporated by Inca Empire administration.
By c. 1000 CE, urban decline and political fragmentation are indicated by site abandonment, reduction of monument construction, and climatic stressors identified in palaeoclimatic records such as lake-level reconstructions of Lake Titicaca. Processes of dispersal and cultural transmission seeded Tiwanaku architectural and ideological motifs in regional polities and influenced emergent Aymara states and ritual practices recorded in colonial-era chronicles. Modern scholarship, conservation at Tiwanaku (archaeological site), and designation debates reflect ongoing reevaluation of Tiwanaku's role in Andean prehistory and its legacy in contemporary Bolivia and Peru cultural identity.
Category:Pre-Columbian cultures of Bolivia