History

Archaeologists had long believed that Tiahuanaco represented a relatively unimportant era in the history of Andean civilization. Until, that is, Alan Kolata, an anthropologist from the University of Illinois in Chicago, led an archaeological expedition to the site in 1986. Kolata came up with some amazing finds, not least of which was evidence that the Pampa Koani, now barely able to sustain a population of 7000 in dire poverty, was, 1500 years ago a vast agricultural area that produced enough to support 125,000 people.

Kolata's expedition showed that the Pampa Koani was just one Lake Titicaca valley among many that produced great harvests every year for a thousand years. This was due to an immense system of raised fields (sukakollu) built by the Tiahuanaco Empire more than 2000 years ago. These harvests fed the equivalent of the entire population of Bolivia today and even allowed for surpluses to be stored for poor years. Far from being a minor period in Andean civilization, Tiahuanaco was a great imperial capital and perhaps the inspiration for the better-known Inca Empire that followed it.

The Tiahuanaco Empire included nearly half of present-day Bolivia, southern parts of Peru, the northwest section of Argentina and nearly half of Chile. It was built on the vast production of its agricultural systems. The continual surplus crops gave Tiahuanaco the time and energy to raise armies that went on to conquer the Andes. This empire continued to expand after AD 1000, establishing huge agricultural colonies across the Andes based on its own system of raised fields. Its armies reigned supreme over many different cultures and its engineers built a vast system of roads, which enabled it to maintain a constant flow of goods throughout the empire. All these roads led to one place - next to the little market town of today, and once the site of a mighty imperial capital of 50,000 inhabitants.

The ancient city of Tiahuanaco must have been an impressive sight with its skyline dominated by great pyramids, temples and palaces. The two largest edifices, the Kalasasaya Temple and the Akapana Pyramid, were 200 m long and over 20 m high. They were constructed from blocks of andesite weighing more than 150 tonnes that were ferried on reed boats from quarries across Lake Titicaca. The exterior of the buildings was decorated with intricately carved stone friezes and bas-relief work, much of it covered with thin plates of gold or painted in hues of blue, red, gold and black.

Life in Tiahuanaco

Life in the capital city 1500 years ago would have revolved around the comings and goings of the emperor-priest, who was both leader and god to his people. He and his family conducted both the affairs of state and the culture's most sacred religious rituals. The empire's rulers inherited their positions and were raised to lead their people.

The city was also populated by the most skilled artisans in the empire; sculptors, jewellers, weavers and potters. They were patronized by the elite in order that they might further develop their skills and produce the finest possible examples of their crafts.

Life in the royal household was sumptuous. Much of their time was taken up with the observance of religious ceremonies. Hallucinogenic drugs, imported from the coastal desert regions, played an integral part in these ceremonies.

The great temples were decorated with carved sacred monoliths up to 5 m high, which depicted idols in human form. They were positioned to remind the priests of important ritual days. One of these, the Bennett Stelae - named after US archaeologist Wendell Bennet, who found it in the Kalasasaya Temple area in the 1930s - shows complex markings that have been deciphered as a solar and lunar calendar more accurate than our own.

The calendar was of vital importance as an agricultural guide. It also kept track of the religious rituals, including animal and human sacrifices, that had to be observed with the arrival of the planting season.

Life for the commoners and colonial subjects of Tiahuanaco must have been rather less sumptuous, but not without its benefits. For a start, the empire ensured freedom from hunger. Furthermore, with its vast armies, there was protection from the hostile kingdoms and savage tribes that lurked on its frontiers.

Survival through conquest

Besides their advanced agricultural techniques, the Tiahuanaco culture also relied on the conquest of rival kingdoms as a means of growth. This allowed access to additional varieties of foods that could not be grown at the extreme altitude of the Altiplano, as well as precious minerals and medicinal and psychedelic drugs.

The imperial armies were well-armed and organized. The soldiers were particularly ferocious in battle, beheading anyone who opposed them. Ritual trophy head-taking was an important Tiahuanaco practice. The style of conquest was to lay siege to the enemy. Supplied from their base by a secured route of llama caravans, the army would surround an enemy town, wait until its people began to starve, and then move in for the deciding battle.

By 100 BC Tiahuanaco was emerging as the most important urban centre on Lake Titicaca. By AD 100 it ruled all of its neighbouring kingdoms at the southern end of the lake and, by AD 400 it had defeated its main rivals, the Pukara people of Peru, and ruled the entire lake basin.

The fall of empire

Tiahuanaco was the longest-running empire of all the Andean civilizations. But sometime after AD 1000 it all ended. The empire collapsed and, the raised fields were abandoned, and no one knows why. In a 50-year period Tiahuanaco disappeared rapidly and completely. One of the earliest theories was that it was destroyed by an earthquake, but there is no geological or archaeological evidence of such an event. Another theory was that the empire was invaded, but again, there is no evidence of this. Except for looting by the Spanish, Tiahuanaco's temples and religious icons have largely remained as its people left them.

Yet another theory holds that the Tiahuanaco empire was ended by a prolonged drought. This is perhaps the most credible proposal, given that a drought ended the great Pueblo civilization in North America around the same time. Whatever the cause, the empire collapsed between AD 1150 and AD 1200 and was supplanted by smaller kingdoms made up of Tiahuanaco's former subjects. These smaller kingdoms were constantly at war with each other for more than two centuries until the armies of the newly emerged Inca empire marched in from Cuzco and conquered them all around 1430.

Tiahuanaco today bears little relation to its former magnificence. The gold-crazed Spanish had a lot to do with this. It did not take them long to tear apart every one of its temples and palaces. But not only were the Spanish to blame. Indeed, until the middle of this century, vast quantities of stonework from the imperial city were used as building material for local churches and houses. Shamefully, too, a British construction company in the 1890s dynamited temple stoneworks and icons, turning them into gravel for the train tracks of a railroad from La Paz to Peru.

Fortunately, the ancient Tiahuanaco Empire was so vast that many of its greatest works still survive and there are sites that have not been thoroughly examined nor frequently visited. Khonko Wankané, near the village of Qhunqhu Liqiliqi, 30 km south of Tiahuanaco and 15 km south of the regional centre of Jesús de Machaca, has many monoliths. The Museo Max Portugal, just off the town plaza, displays artefacts from the area and there are walking trails in the hills. Local people are reported friendly and the winter solstice observances interesting.