The Tiwanaku Civilization

     The Tiwanaku, a mysterious civilization, that suddenly just disappeared. So what happened? This wiki page will tell you all about the Tiwanaku, and their customs, and disappearance. So let's start with how they ended up where they did.

 

     The Tiwanaku, or Tiahaunaco in Spanish, settled in an area near La Paz, Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca. The Tiwanakus settled in the area at around 500 B.C. They started as nomadic tribe of Hunter-Gatherers. They raised camelids (Llamas, Vicunas, etc.) in the area and developed an effective way to irrigate plants. Soon after the Tiwanakus turned into a thriving civilization and empire.

 

      There are many questions and ideas on the Tiwanakan people, although not much is actually known. Their diet most likely contained corn, which they ground into maize, squash, beans, and meats of wild birds and llama. The Tiwanaku were very religious people who worshipped many gods, although the name of the religion is unknown.

 

   Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire

 

 

 

Some have hypothesized that Tiwanaku's modern name is related to the Aymara

 

term taypiqala, meaning "stone in the center", alluding to the belief that it lay at the center of the world

 

 

 

The capital city of Tiwanaku dates as early as 1500 BC as a small agriculturally-based village. 

 

 

 

Tiwanaku’s location between the lake and dry highlands provided key resources of fish, wild birds, plants, and herding grounds for camelids, particularly llamas.

 

 

The Titicaca Basin is the most productive environment in the area with predictable and abundant rainfall, which the Tiwanaku culture learned to harness and use in their farming

 

The community grew to urban proportions between AD 600 and AD 800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes

 

. According to early estimates, at its maximum extent, the city covered approximately 6.5 square kilometers, and had between 15,000 - 30,000 inhabitants.

 

 

 

Religion

The name of the religion of Tiwanaku is unknown because they had no written language.

What is known, though, is that many of the gods worshipped by the people of Tiwanaku centered around agriculture

 

Their myths have been passed down to the Incas and the Spanish who in turn took that part of South America. They worshipped many gods, and one of the most important gods was Viracocha

 

, the god of action, shaper of many worlds, and destroyer of many worlds.

 

 

Tiwanaku Temple

          The Tiwanakus' built many magnificent temples , like the  one pictured above, and they were used for worship to  Viracocha, and  maybe ritualistic sacrifices. Much like the Aztecs, the Tiwanaku might have been fond of sacrifices, due to artifacts holding human skulls ,  archaeologists  that  they  held many sacrifices

Tiwanaku Art

 

                           

                                        

 

 

          The art, pictured above, is some of the many things found in Tiwanankan ruins. These pictured above are just some ways they made their pottery. Their art mostly expressed people and gods. Their art and architecture was advanced for their time, and they also created many things without modern day epoxies (Glue, Cement, etc.)

 

 

          That is about all we know about the mysterious Tiwanaku Empire. One more impotant thing to add is that they probably disappeared because of food shortage. I hope you enjoyed this information and maybe you might want to study an learn more about this civilization.

 

Sources

     ` Wikipedia. "Tiwanaku" 14 May, 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiwanaku>

          Higueras, Alvaro. "Tiwanaku and Andean Archeaology". 29 May 1999. <http://www.tiwanakuarcheo.net/1_main/tiwanaku_alt.html>

     Doore, Kathy. "Tiwanaku Photos". 18 May2009 . <http://www.labyrinthina.com/tiwanaku.htm>