{"id":4025,"date":"2013-05-18T11:34:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T15:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/?p=4025"},"modified":"2013-06-21T19:26:05","modified_gmt":"2013-06-21T23:26:05","slug":"tiwanaku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/2013\/05\/18\/tiwanaku\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiwanaku"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alex<\/a>

Alex and the Gateway of the Sun<\/p><\/div>\n

The trip to Tiwanaku is a “must-do” excursion from La Paz. \u00a0The remains of the capital of the longest-lived empire in South America is something you don’t want to miss. \u00a0The ruins are impressive. \u00a0The history behind them is even more impressive. \u00a0I’m not going to get into all of that here, so you definitely want to get a good guide book and read about the history and the place, perhaps during the drive out.<\/p>\n

Tiwanaku (also spelled\u00a0Tiahuanaco,\u00a0Tiahuanacu,\u00a0<\/i>and probably in several other ways, as well) was the capital of a huge realm, covering about half of present-day Bolivia, southern Peru, northwestern Argentina, and about half of Chile. \u00a0It’s rise began in about 100 BC and control over the Titicaca basin was established by about 400 AD. \u00a0The empire continued to expand and lasted until sometime after 1000 AD. \u00a0Expansion of the empire was, in part, by conquest, but some experts believe that many peoples joined this very prosperous empire voluntarily, as well.<\/p>\n

\"Aliciya<\/a>

Aliciya in the Semi-Subterranean Temple<\/p><\/div>\n

The prosperity and success of the Tiwanaku culture was based, first and foremost, on agricultural innovation. \u00a0The inhabitants came up with a system of raised fields which not only avoided flooding, it also allowed them to control the salinity of the soil, minimize the impact of drought and moderate temperatures in the fields. \u00a0As a result, the altiplano region around Tiwanaku was more productive during this period then ever before or since, allowing the empire a level of prosperity not previously seen in the area and enabling the financing of wars of conquest or just enticing other groups to join up to this expanding, highly prosperous civilization. \u00a0We looked for remnants of the raised fields, which some authors say exist, but have not found them. \u00a0If you find any, please leave the location in the comments.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Some archaeologists believe that the heads on the walls of the Semi-Subterranean Temple represent people conquered by the empire<\/p><\/div>\n

Tiwanaku, as the site of the capital of the empire is now known, is an impressive place to wander around. \u00a0You can hire a tour guide to show you the site and tell you the stories (some of which may be\u00a0apocryphal) , or you can just wander through it yourself. \u00a0You certainly cannot miss the Gateway of the Sun or the\u00a0Semi-Subterranean Temple<\/p>\n

There are two museums at Tiwanaku, and both are well worth visiting. \u00a0The “Ceramics Museum is by far the most interesting, with far more than ceramics covered. \u00a0There is an interesting display on the raised fields and some metalcrafts, including some gold. \u00a0The other museum is sadly crumbling, but you should still go in to see its one display, a huge statue from the Semi-subterranean\u00a0Temple.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a>

Another portion of the Semi-Subterranian temple, with the entrance into the main temple in the background<\/p><\/div>\n

Given that the inhabitants of Tiwanaku lacked a written language, we have no way of knowing whether Tiwanaku was the name locals gave their city or empire, is a term others had for them, or was invented later. \u00a0We also know little about why this successful empire crumbled, but\u00a0crumble\u00a0it did, and well before the rise of the Inca Empire. \u00a0Some\u00a0archaeologists\u00a0hypothesize that a severe, multi-year drought may have overcome even the ability of the raised fields to produce at levels necessary to sustain the empire. \u00a0This seems a reasonable explanation, as it might also help to explain why the system, which had worked so well, was abandoned.<\/p>\n

Tiwanaku has become a site for “traditional” celebrations of various types. \u00a0Last year the Vice President of Bolivia was married in a ceremony here. \u00a0Each year Aymara New Year<\/a> is celebrated here, as well.<\/p>\n

Tiwanaku is only 1-2 hours from La Paz, so it is an easy day drip. \u00a0There are a number of other visits you can undertake in the area, as well. \u00a0For directions and links to other sites in the area which you should not miss, see\u00a0Tiwanaku, Colonial Churches and Natural Arches<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The trip to Tiwanaku is a “must-do” excursion from La Paz. \u00a0The remains of the capital of the longest-lived empire in South America is something you don’t want to miss. \u00a0The ruins are impressive. \u00a0The history behind them is even more impressive. \u00a0I’m not going to get into all of that here, so you definitely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,125,92,61,100,91,59],"tags":[21,15,190,200,187,172,154,189],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4025"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4083,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025\/revisions\/4083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}