TIHUANACO CULTURE: ARCHITECTURE, RELIGION AND CHARACTERISTICS - HISTORY - 2024

The Tihuanaco culture was a civilization that developed on the shores of Lake Titicaca, approximately in the year 200 BC. C., and it lasted until the year 1100 d. C.

This culture spread in Peru, Bolivia and Chile, but its focus of cultural irradiation developed in the Bolivian highlands.

According to studies carried out, this culture was divided into four historical stages. The first stage is called Chamak Pacha and it was a time characterized by the search for an identity.

The second stage is called Thuru Pacha, in which towns, cities and villages were formed.

The third stage is known as Qhana Pacha and represents the cultural stage and the expansion of art, science and technology. The last stage is the Kaxa Pacha and represents the development of the imperialist current.

Cultural expansion was made possible through advances in agriculture, mathematics, metallurgy, architecture, religious cults, and sculpture, among other activities.

Around 1100 AD. C. the tiahuanaco culture disappeared due to the intense droughts. Its inhabitants had to leave the city and the Tiahuanaco people dispersed throughout Bolivia.

However, the cultural power of Tiahuanaco was so important that its habits lasted for more than 2000 years, passing on its cultural legacy from generation to generation until today. In Bolivia these customs are still alive.

Main features

1- Architecture

Most of the architecture of this civilization has careful planning and technology. Its construction was advanced for the time.

Among the buildings, the sunken courtyards, the stepped pyramids and the platforms stand out.

The famous pyramids of the city are Akapana, Puma Punku, Kalasasaya and the semi-underground temple, Kori Kala and Putuni.

In addition to the Puerta del Sol, the Ponce and Benett monoliths were declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2000.

3 of the most relevant works of architecture and sculpture of the Tihuanaco culture are described below: La Puerta del Sol, Kalasasaya and Puma Punku.

- The door of the sun

This construction is located in the semi-subterranean patio and is the most emblematic religious temple of the architecture of the Tihuanaco culture.

This large block of stone measures 3 meters high by 3.73 meters wide, and weighs approximately 12 tons.

This monolith is sculpted throughout its surface in relief plane. In the center is the god of the Wands.

This door gives access to the temple of ceremonies in Tiwanaku. The huge stone was brought from a distance of between 100 to 300 kilometers.

- Kalasasaya

It is also known as the central courtyard of the ceremonies and measures 126 meters long by 117 meters wide.

Its shape is rectangular and it is semi-underground. To descend, single stone stairs with six steps are used, surrounded by a rocky wall adorned by nail heads.

In Kalasasaya there are three recognized sculptures: the Ponce monolith, with a height of three meters with zoomorphic forms; the monolith El Fraile or God of Water, which represents a mystical being and has a height of two meters; and the Puerta del Sol.

- Puma Punku

It is translated as Puerta del Puma and is recognized for its huge stones and for its impressive cuts and location, which weigh approximately 131 tons. However, many are smaller.

As part of the working instruments, stone hammers were found throughout the andesite quarries. These stones were ground and polished. They also used metal tools.

The H-shaped blocks represent a real mystery, as these stone blocks fit together perfectly.

Religion

The god of the Tihuanaco culture was the god Wiracoca or the Crosier. This supreme being is carved in the center of the Puerta del Sol, surrounded by mythological beings.

Evidence has been found that priests used hallucinogenic substances and alcoholic beverages in religious ceremonies.

In addition, they processed the coca leaf and the seeds of parica and cebil, which they inhaled through their noses.

These hallucinogens were discovered in the tombs of Tiahuanaco and were represented in the sculptures of Bennet and Ponce. They also gave people who were sacrificed to consume.

The priests were the ones who did the rituals and ceremonies. In their artistic representations they show that they were also the sacrificers.

Human remains and sacrificed animals were found, and the skulls show torture. Dismembered corpses were also found. These ceremonial acts were done at the foot of the pyramids.

Economy

The Tiwanaku civilization cultivated potatoes, corn, yucca, chili, olluco, coca and other products. They established extensive crops thanks to the waru waru technique.

This technique consists of excavations in the earth, creating connected channels where water was stored using the capture of solar rays.

At night the heat was expelled, creating a special climate for the plantations. This system increased the production of crops and prevented floods.

Livestock was part of the economy. Thanks to the grazing of llamas and alpaca, meat, wool, bones, fat and fertilizer were obtained for the crops.

Fishing played an important role; they used totora boats and bartered with the other villages.

Out of their immense respect for Mother Earth (Pachamama) they only sowed what was necessary to survive. They also saved the best harvest to share with the other communities.

Ceramics

They created fragile ceramics, with hybrid anthropomorphic forms of condor and human. The color orange, ocher, white, red, black and gray predominated in his pieces.

The decorations had geometric shapes and used to reflect jungle animals such as the puma, the alpaca, the llama, the condor and the snake.

Among the pieces made were kero glasses, which was a utensil for alcoholic beverages during the ceremonies. These vessels had human portraits.

It is said that the tiahuanaco ceramics were influenced by the pucara culture, especially in the religious sphere in which they recreated the sacrificial shamans.

The use of lines, right angles, stepped and spiral drawings, in a symmetrical style, are part of the decoration of the ceramics.

The most common forms were short-necked jugs, jars with bridges, and vessels shaped like birds and human heads.

References

1. Mark Cartwright. Tiwanaku. (2014). Source: ancient.eu
2. Tiwanaku: culture and archaeological site, Bolivia. Source: britannica.com
3. Tiwanaku Culture. Source: crystalinks.com
4. Owen Jarus. Tiwanaku: Pre-Incan Civilization in the Andes. (2013). Source: livescience.com
5. Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Source: sacred-destinations.com