April 11, 2019

Rich Trove of Tiwanaku Artifacts Uncovered in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

Archaeologists in Bolivia have unearthed Tiwanaku culture artifacts from Lake Titicaca dating to the 8th-10th centuries.  Puma-shaped incense burners, gold, shell, and stone ornaments, and sacrificed juvenile llamas, stone miniatures, a ray-faced deity, pottery puma incense burners, a lapis lazuli puma figurine and other miniature stone animals, engraved sheets, a medallion, and an L-shaped piece marked with puma and condor silhouettes. Perforated gold leaves still attached to fragments of leather may have been used to make ear tassels and other regalia to dress young llamas killed in the ancient ceremonies.

Tiwanaku elites boated out to a reef and sacrificed the young llamas decorated for death, and made these offerings Tiwanaku culture spanned the 5th-12th centuries CE. The artifacts are of exceptional quality because of the way the underwater ecology preserved the artifacts.

The research is published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The Guardian has the report here with photos;
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/01/archaeologists-discover-exceptional-site-at-lake-titicaca

More photos in the Daily Mail here;
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6874655/Archaeologists-discover-ancient-religious-offerings-Lake-Titicaca.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Andean News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerisancientandeannews.tumblr.com