The center cannot hold: A Bayesian chronology for the collapse of Tiwanaku.

The timing of Tiwanaku's collapse remains contested. Here we present a generational-scale chronology of Tiwanaku using Bayesian models of 102 radiocarbon dates, including 45 unpublished dates. This chronology tracks four community practices: residing short- vs. long-term, constructing monuments, discarding decorated ceramics, and leaving human burials. Tiwanaku was founded around AD 100 and around AD 600, it became the region's principal destination for migrants. It grew into one of the Andes' first cities and became famous for its decorated ceramics, carved monoliths, and large monuments. Our Bayesian models show that monument building ended ~AD 720 (the median of the ending boundary). Around ~AD 910, burials in tombs ceased as violent deaths began, which we document for the first time in this paper. Ritualized murders are limited to the century leading up to ~AD 1020. Our clearest proxy for social networks breaking down is a precise estimate for the end of permanent residence, ~AD 1010 (970-1050, 95%). This major inflection point was followed by visitors who used the same ceramics until ~AD 1040. Temporary camps lasted until roughly ~AD 1050. These four events suggest a rapid, city-wide collapse at ~AD 1010-1050, lasting just ~20 years (0-70 years, 95%). These results suggest a cascading breakdown of community practices and social networks that were physically anchored at Tiwanaku, though visitors continued to leave informal burials for centuries. This generation-scale chronology suggests that collapse 1) took place well before reduced precipitation, hence this was not a drought-induced societal change and 2) a few resilient communities sustained some traditions at other sites, hence the chronology for the site of Tiwanaku cannot be transposed to all sites with similar material culture

Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the potential and promise of 3D printing

Abstract The ruins of Tiwanaku (A.D. 500–950), in the modern republic of Bolivia, present an archaeological challenge owing to intense looting during the colonial period that effectively demolished the site. One building in particular, known as the Pumapunku, was described by Spanish conquistadors and travelers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as a wondrous, though unfinished, building with gateways and windows carved from single blocks. Unparalleled in the pre-Colombian New World, the craftsmanship of this masonry has long been considered the architectural apogee of Andean pre-Colombian lithic technology. Unfortunately, during the last 500 years, treasure hunters have ransacked this building to the point that none of approximately shattered remains of 150 blocks of the standing architecture are to be found in their original place. Over the last century and a half, several different scholars have carefully measured the shattered architecture and even managed to join several fragments to form complete pieces. This research revisited these historic field notes with a view to transforming this century and a half of documentation into solid 3D form. These measurements were entered by hand into an architectural modeling program; the virtual form was subsequently printed in 3D form at 4% reduced scale. Unlike large architectural pieces — or notes or models on a computer screen — 3D-printed pieces can be manipulated quickly and intuitively, allowing researchers to try combinations and seek connections rapidly, turning over pieces and testing possible fits. This tactile engagement, along with the ability to quickly try out combinations of the 3D-printed pieces, led to fresh and often unexpected insights. Once refined and simplified, this methodology, was demonstrated to the indigenous site managers who were provided with a full copy of the printed architectural fragments with a view to continuing research and to present the work to visitors, stakeholders and other scholars

Interpreting the meaning of ritual spaces: The temple complex of Pumapunku, Tiwanaku, Bolivia

The built environment embodies symbolic messages and helps transform human activity into meaningful experience. Anthropological archaeologists often study buildings from a materialist perspective, examining their functions, the labor investment they required, or their role in the political economy; they generally ignore important symbolic and phenomenological aspects of the built environment. This investigation addresses this lacuna through an examination of the Temple Complex of Pumapunku, one of the largest and most important ritual precincts in the pre-Columbian city of Tiwanaku. Architectural analysis of data from detailed mapping and selective excavation shows that the Pumapunku. Complex is an extensive integrated compound consisting of platforms, buildings, plazas, courtyards, and stairways, measuring half a kilometer in length. Although this complex was modified several times, its formal plan remained unchanged. Two interpretive approaches are used to understand the experience and meaning of the temple complex. The first is a phenomenological approach. The architectural spaces are interpreted from the point of view of a pilgrim walking through the complex, examining the physical and emotional reactions he or she might have experienced. The Pumapunku Complex was designed to funnel groups of people across specially constructed architectural spaces, and to display a series of symbolically important and ritually charged images and activities. The pilgrim was thus exposed to the cosmological meanings imbedded in the architecture of the compound and indoctrinated into important aspects of Tiwanaku religion. The second interpretive approach is structuralist. A model of the axis mundi is developed based on historical and archaeological evidence of a specific architectural form used by the Inka. The material correlates of this model are compared to the Pumapunku Complex, and analysis suggests that the temple complex is an architectural representation of the center of the Andean world. Together the two complementary approaches provide a better understanding of the purpose and meaning of this complex to the people who built it and participated in rituals within it

Interpreting the meaning of ritual spaces: The temple complex of Pumapunku, Tiwanaku, Bolivia

The built environment embodies symbolic messages and helps transform human activity into meaningful experience. Anthropological archaeologists often study buildings from a materialist perspective, examining their functions, the labor investment they required, or their role in the political economy; they generally ignore important symbolic and phenomenological aspects of the built environment. This investigation addresses this lacuna through an examination of the Temple Complex of Pumapunku, one of the largest and most important ritual precincts in the pre-Columbian city of Tiwanaku. Architectural analysis of data from detailed mapping and selective excavation shows that the Pumapunku. Complex is an extensive integrated compound consisting of platforms, buildings, plazas, courtyards, and stairways, measuring half a kilometer in length. Although this complex was modified several times, its formal plan remained unchanged. Two interpretive approaches are used to understand the experience and meaning of the temple complex. The first is a phenomenological approach. The architectural spaces are interpreted from the point of view of a pilgrim walking through the complex, examining the physical and emotional reactions he or she might have experienced. The Pumapunku Complex was designed to funnel groups of people across specially constructed architectural spaces, and to display a series of symbolically important and ritually charged images and activities. The pilgrim was thus exposed to the cosmological meanings imbedded in the architecture of the compound and indoctrinated into important aspects of Tiwanaku religion. The second interpretive approach is structuralist. A model of the axis mundi is developed based on historical and archaeological evidence of a specific architectural form used by the Inka. The material correlates of this model are compared to the Pumapunku Complex, and analysis suggests that the temple complex is an architectural representation of the center of the Andean world. Together the two complementary approaches provide a better understanding of the purpose and meaning of this complex to the people who built it and participated in rituals within it

Comment on Arnold et al. “Drought and the collapse of the Tiwanaku Civilization: New evidence from Lake Orurillo, Peru” [Quat. Sci. Rev. 251 (2021): 106693]

This paper revives a fascinating debate: did a drought start before, during, or after the collapse of the Andean polity of Tiwanaku? Here we present an alternate age model that highlights the real issue: the data from Lake Orurillo, no matter the age model, are too imprecise to address the question. The authors neglect the significance of four-century error ranges (95% probability) for a drought that lasted a single century, according to their estimates. They are content to treat an imprecise correlation between drought and collapse as a causal relationship. Future efforts will require much greater attention to refining both paleoclimate and cultural chronologies, which is a necessary first step in understanding complex episodes of human–environment interaction.Fil: Marsh, Erik Johnson. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas. - Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas; ArgentinaFil: Contreras, Daniel. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Bruno, Maria C.. Dickinson College; Estados UnidosFil: Vranich, Alexei. University of Texas at San Antonio; Estados UnidosFil: Roddick, Andrew P.. Mcmaster University; Canad