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Tiahuanaca, Bolivia

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1 Jun 2004 10:09 pm

Today I visited the pre Incan ruins of Tiahuanaco. This archeological site is pretty decimated. The Tiahuanaco civilization existed 1500 bc to 1200 ad. It was the Tiahuanacans who domesticated the llama, developed very successful irrigation techniques in the high dry altiplano, and developed 300 varieties of potatoes. Tiahuanacans worshipped the sun and moon and prized the fish, eagle and puma. The Spanish ‘discovered’ the temples here and promptly made off with the ancient stones to build a large church just a kilometer away. The Bolivian government didn’t protect the area until the 1970’s and by then many local peoples made off with many of the remaining masoned stones. The government further destroyed the area by blowing up the largest pyramid while hunting for silver they suspected the Tiahuanacans buried below. This place is a mess but Unesco recently adopted the site and plans to restore it.

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2 Responses to “Tiahuanaca, Bolivia”

  1. Cindy (June 9th, 2004 at 1:52 pm)

    300 varieties of potato?!?

  2. DAD (June 9th, 2004 at 3:18 pm)

    Dear Gulliver, Looking forward to see you in July my birthday month (hint). Sounds like you’ve had some great adventures again. We recieved a large package 6-1-04, mail by you around . Didn’t open it because it might have my present inside. Only kidding! My present will be seeing again. Love, Dad