Ancient site · City
Tiwanaku (early city)
Also known as Tiahuanaco
A ceremonial city near the southern end of Lake Titicaca in western Bolivia, about 70 km from La Paz. It grew from about the 2nd century CE and by 500 CE was the leading power of the Titicaca basin, with the terraced Akapana platform, the Kalasasaya enclosure and the precisely cut stone platforms of Pumapunku.
Perhaps 10,000–20,000 people lived there around 800 CE. The famous Gate of the Sun belongs to its later centuries. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Dates
- founded c. 100 CE (dates debated); peak c. 500–1000; abandoned c. 1050 CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 16.55° S, 68.67° W
How we know
No writing existed; older claims of 1500 BCE or earlier are rejected, and a study of reliable radiocarbon dates puts its founding around 110 CE.
Nearby sites
- Cahuachi c. 1–500 CE
- Nazca Lines c. 500 BCE – 500 CE
- Paracas cemeteries (Cerro Colorado) c. 800–100 BCE
- Caral (Sacred City of Caral-Supe) c. 2600–2000 BCE
- Chavín de Huántar c. 1200–500 BCE (dates debated)
- Sechín Bajo c. 3500–1300 BCE
Related
- Tiwanaku (early) archaeological culture
- The world in 100: Trajan's Rome, Han China chapter