The Fortress of Tiwanaku

In the last post we covered the Fortress of Kuelap, showing how well it fit into the Book of Mormon description of Nephite structures as described specifically in Alma. Here we will cover another fortress, that of Tiwanaku, sometimes called Tiahuanaco.  Considered less a fortress than a religious center and social structure complex by archaeologists, the original site was enclosed by four walls and surrounded by a moat, and numerous stone structures about create a walled enclosure about much of the site.

Built just south of Lake Titicaca, it is claimed that the original port of Tiahuanacu was built on the shores of the lake then less then 600 feet away, but whose coastline now lies 12 miles away. Inside the walls were many images of human origin representing the beginning of all humans. The city and its inhabitants left no written history, and modern local people know little about the city and its activities. When the Inca were asked about the site by the conquering Spanish, they only said it had been built long before their ancestors. It is interesting that an archaeologically based theory asserts that around AD 400, Tiwanaku went from being a locally dominant force to a predatory state.

According to early estimates, at its maximum extent, the city covered approximately four square miles and had between 15,000 and 30,000 inhabitants. However, satellite imaging was used recently to map the extent of fossilized suka kollus (irregular water channels) across the three primary valleys of Tiwanaku, arriving at population-carrying capacity estimated between 285,000 and 1.5 million people. Unfortunately, the name by which the original inhabitants knew their city is today unknown, since no written language can be attributed to the ancient people. However, an ancient bowl dating far into B.C. times was found around Lake Titicaca with Sumerian cuneiform writing, which could suggest that there was a written language among those who settled the area (see a previous post).

The lintel surrounding the subterranean courtyard is carved with 48 winged effigies each in a square, 32 with human faces, and 16 with condor's heads. surrounding a central figure of a man with the head surrounded by 24 stripes that represent rays shooting from his face, who some believe is Viracocha, the Sun God, or Creator of the Universe

Tiwanaku monumental architecture is characterized by large stones of exceptional workmanship, much like those found at Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo. In contrast to the masonry style of the later Inca, Tiwanaku stone architecture usually employs rectangular ashlar blocks laid in regular courses, and monumental structures were frequently fitted with elaborate drainage systems. The drainage systems of the Akapana and Puma Punku include conduits composed of red sandstone blocks held together by ternary (copper/arsenic/nickel) bronze architectural cramps. The I-shaped architectural cramps (a strip of metal with ends bent at right angles; used to hold masonry together) of the Akapana were created by cold hammering of ingots. In contrast, the cramps of the Tiwanaku were created by pouring molten metal into I-shaped sockets. The blocks have flat faces that do not need to be fitted upon placement because the grooves make it possible for the blocks to be shifted by ropes into place. The main architectural appeal of the site comes from the carved images on the blocks along with carved doorways and giant stone monoliths. The stone used to build Tiwanaku was quarried and then transported 25 miles or more to the city.

Built as early as 1500-1200 B.C., little is known of the 30,000 to 60,000 urban dwellers or of the city's crafts or administrative functions, nor is it known how a storage system worked that was required for the bounty of surplus foods from the agricultural fields, the vast llama herds on the Poona, and the abundant fish caught in the lake. During the time period between 300 BC and AD 300 Tiwanaku is thought to have been a moral and cosmological center to which many people made pilgrimages. The ideas of cosmological prestige are the precursors to Tiwanaku's powerful empire.

The so-called Gateway of the Sun, earlier found in two pieces, was originally built of one solid stone weighing about 10 tons. It was so situated as to show the Sun through the opening during the Winter Solstice

Considered by some the oldest city in the world, much of Tiwanaku's creation defies the laws of physics and mathematics even by today's standards. Many monuments bear close resemblance to those created by other ancient cultures and remains an enigma allowing researchers to speculate on its origins and purpose, then parallel that with other ancient civilizations left behind by unknown beings surviving in time with great stone markers which bear clues to humanity's creation story. Gods, temples, idols, metaphors, all clues in a puzzle archaeologists are trying to unravel.

The most important edifice for dating purposes is the Kalasasaya ("Place of the Vertical Stones"). It is built like a stockade with 12 foot high columns jutting upward at intervals, each of these being carved into human figures. The steps of the Kalasasaya (Temple), are each a rectangular block of stone about 30 feet wide.

The megalithic entrance to the Kalasasaya Temple, viewed from the sunken courtyard looking west

The Kalasaya stairway is a well-worn megalith, a single block of carved sandstone. Like the Kalasaya mound, the Sunken Courtyard is walled by standing stones and masonry infill. In this case the stones are smaller and sculptured heads are inset in the walls. Several stelae are placed in  the center of the square courtyard.

The largest terraced step pyramid of the city, the Akapana, was once believed to be a modified hill, and has proven to be a massive human construction with a base 656 feet square and a height of 55.8 feet. It is aligned perfectly with the cardinal directions. Its base is formed of beautifully cut and joined facing stone blocks. Within the cut- stone retaining walls are six T- shaped terraces with vertical stone pillars, an architectural technique that is also used in most of the other Tiwanaku monuments. It originally had a covering of smooth Andesite stone, but 90% of that has disappeared due to weathering. The ruinous state of the pyramid is due to its being used as a stone quarry for later buildings at La Paz, and the the base of railroads.

The massive Akapana Pyramid at Tiwanaku, over two football fields long, is the largest stepped pyramid in the entire city complex

 Its interior is honeycombed with shafts in a complicated grid pattern, which incorporates a system of weirs used to direct water from a tank on top, going through a series of levels,and finally ending up in a stone canal surrounding the pyramid. On the summit of the Akapana there was a sunken court with an area 164 feet square serviced by a subterranean drainage system that remains unexplained.
Associated with the Akapana are four temples or palaces: the Semi-subterranean, Kalasasaya, the Putuni, and the Kheri Kala. The ancient Tiwanaku heartland is estimated to have been about 365,000 people, of whom 115,000 lived in the capital and satellite cities, with the remaining 250,000 engaged in farming, herding, and fishing. The cut-stone building foundations supported walls of adobe brick, which have been eroded away by the yearly torrential rains over the centuries.