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SCIENCE MYSTERIES | STRANGE ARTIFACTS | MYSTIC PLACES | ANCIENT WRITINGS Nearly a millennium before the Inca forged a pan-Andean empire in the South American Andes, Tiwanaku emerged as a major center of political, economic, and religious life on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca.
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PERU Incidents of Travel and Exploration
in the LAND OF THE INCAS NOTE: This excerpt serves to provide a description of the
ruins before the harvesting of many stones for railroad
construction. It also provides insights into some
nineteenth-century attitudes towards archaeology sites by and the
racism of its author, cited writers, and the local priest (cura)
in Tiahuanaco village. CHAPTER XV. TIAHUANUCO, THE BAALBEC OF THE NEW WORLD. Tiahuanuco a Centre of Ancient Civilization.-Difficulties.-The
Chuño Festival.-Death of my Photographer.-Studying the Art.-My
Assistants.-The Edifices of Ancient Tiahuanuco.-The Ruins a Quarry
for Modern Builders.-Their Extent. -The Temple.-The Fortress.-The
Palace.-The Hall of Justice.-Precision of the
Stone-cutting.-Elaborate Sculptures.-Monolithic Gate-ways.-The
Modern Cemetery.-The Sanctuary.-Symbolical Slab.-The great
Monolithic Gate-way. -Its Elaborate Sculptures.-Monuments
described by Cieza de Leon and D'Or-bigny.-Material of the
Stone-work.-How the Stone was cut.-General Resume. -Tiahuanuco
probably a Sanctuary, not a Seat of Dominion. TIAHUANUCO lies almost in the very centre of the great
terrestrial basin of lakes Titicaca and Aullagas, and in the heart
of a region which may be properly characterized as the Thibet of
the New World. Here, at an elevation of twelve thousand nine
hundred feet above the sea, in a broad, open, unprotected, arid
plain, cold in the wet and frigid in the dry season, we find the
evidences of an ancient civilization, regarded by many as the
oldest and the most advanced of both American continents. It was to explore and investigate the monumental remains that
have made this spot celebrated that I had come to Tiahuannco, and
I lost no time in commencing my task. This was not an easy one,
for even with the aid of the drunken Cura we were unable to
procure laborers to assist us, for not only had we reached the
village on the eve of the Chuño, or potato festival, a remnant of
ancient observances, but before we had finished our work the Feast
of Corpus Christi had commenced. Chicha flowed like water, and the
few inhabitants that the Chuño festival had left sober
deliberately gave themselves up to beastly intoxication. This was not my only difficulty. While we were toiling our way
upwards through the mountain road, my photographer, on whose skill
I had depended, became dangerously ill. One bitter night, under an
ebon sky, with no one to assist us save some kindly Indians, we
tried in vain to relieve his sufferings and compose his mental
hallucinations. The disease baffled all our efforts, and before
sunrise death brought him relief and release. He murmured
something in the Gaelic tongue, in which only the endearing word
"mamma"—sacred in all languages—was intelligible, and died with
that word lingering on his thin, blue lips. I had provided myself with a complete and costly set of
photographic apparatus, which I regarded as indispensable to
success in depicting the ancient monuments; but I had little
knowledge of the art, and must now become my own photographer, or
lose many of the results of my labor. With no instruction except
such as I could gain from Hardwick's" Manual of Photographic
Chemistry," I went to work, and, after numerous failures, became
tolerably expert. I had but a single assistant, Mr. H-, an amateur
draughtsman, and only such other aid as I could get from my
muleteer and his men, who were eager to conclude their engagement,
and simply astounded that we should waste an hour, much more that
we should spend days, on the remains of the heathens. Still, the
investigation was undertaken with equal energy and enthusiasm,
and, I am confident, with as good results as could be reached
without an expenditure of time and money which would hardly have
been rewarded by any probable additional discoveries. We spent a
week in Tiahuanuco among the ruins, and, I believe, obtained a
plan of every structure that is traceable, and of every monument
of importance that is extant. The first thing that strikes the visitor in the village of
Tiahuanuco is the great number of beautifully cut stones, built
into the rudest edifices, and paving the squalidest courts. They
are used as lintels, jambs, seats, tables, and as receptacles for
water. The church is mainly built of them; the cross in front of
it stands on a stone pedestal which shames the symbol it supports
in excellence of workmanship. On all sides are vestiges of
antiquity from the neighboring ruins, which have been a real
quarry, whence have been taken the cut stones, not only for
Tiahuanuco and all the villages and churches of its valley, but
for erecting the cathedral of La Paz, the capital of Bolivia,
situated in the deep valley of one of the streams falling into the
river Beni, twenty leagues distant. And what is true here is also
true of most parts of the Sierra. The monuments of the past have
furnished most of the materials for the public edifices, the
bridges, and highways of the present day. The ruins of Tiahuanuco have been regarded by all students of
American antiquities as in many respects the most interesting and
important, and at the same time most enigmatical, of any on the
continent. They have excited the admiration and wonder alike of
the earliest and latest travelers, most of whom, vanquished in
their attempts to penetrate the mystery of their origin, have been
content to assign them an antiquity beyond that of the other
monuments of America, and to regard them as the solitary remains
of a civilization that disappeared before that of the Incas began,
and contemporaneous with that of Egypt and the East. Unique, yet
perfect in type and harmonious in style, they appear to be the
work of a people who were thorough masters of an architecture
which had no infancy, passed through no period of growth, and of
which we find no other examples. Tradition, which mumbles more or
less intelligibly of the origin of many other American monuments,
is dumb concerning these. The wondering Indians told the first
Spaniards that "they existed before the sun shone in the heavens,"
that they were raised by giants, or that they were the remains of
an impious people whom an angry Deity had converted into stone
because they had refused hospitality to his viceregent and
messenger. I shall give only a rapid account of these remains, correcting
some of the errors and avoiding some of the extravagances of my
predecessors in the same field of inquiry. I must confess I did
not find many things that they have described; but that fact, in
view of the destructiveness of treasure-hunters and the rapacity
of ignorant collectors of antiquities, does not necessarily
discredit their statements; for Tiahuanuco is a rifled ruin, with
comparatively few yet sufficient evidences of former greatness. The ruins are about half a mile to the southward of the
village, separated from it by a small brook and a shallow valley.
The high-road to La Paz passes close to them—in fact, between them
and some mounds of earth which were probably parts of the general
system. They are on a broad and very level part of the plain,
where the soil is an arenaceous loam, firm and dry. Rows of erect
stones, some of them rough or but rudely shaped by art; others
accurately cut and fitted in walls of admirable workmanship; long
sections of foundations, with piers and portions of stairways;
blocks of stone, with mouldings, cornices, and niches cut with
geometrical precision; vast masses of sandstone, trachyte, and
basalt but partially hewn; and great monolithic doorways, bearing
symbolical ornaments in relief, besides innumerable smaller,
rectangular, and symmetrically shaped stones, rise on every hand,
or lie scattered in confusion over the plain. It is only after the
intelligent traveler has gone over the whole area and carefully
studied the ground, that the various fragments fall into something
like their just relations, and the design of the whole becomes
comprehensible. Leaving aside, for the present, the lesser mounds of earth of which I have spoken, we find the central and most conspicuous portion of the ruins, which cover not far from a square mile, to consist of a great, rectangular mound of earth, originally terraced, each terrace supported by a massive wall of cut stones, and the whole surmounted by structures of stone, parts of the foundations of which are still distinct. This structure is popularly called the" Fortress," and, as tradition affirms, suggested the plan of the great fortress of Sacsahuaman, dominating the city of Cuzco . The sides of this structure, as also of all the others in Tiahuanuco, coincide within ten degrees with the cardinal points of the compass. Close to the left of the Fortress (I adopt this name, and the others I may use, solely to facilitate description) is an area called the "Temple," slightly raised, defined by lines of erect stones, but ruder than those which surround the Fortress. A row of massive pilasters stands somewhat in advance of the eastern front of this area, and still in advance of this are the deeply embedded piers of a smaller edifice of squared stones, with traces of an exterior corridor, which has sometimes been called the "Palace." At other points, both to the south and northward, are some remains to which I shall have occasion to refer. The structure called the Temple will claim our first attention; primarily because it seems to be the oldest of the group, the type, perhaps, of the others, and because it is here we find the great monolithic sculptured gateway of Tiahuanuco, which is absolutely unique, so far as our knowledge goes, on this continent.
The body of the Temple forms a rectangle of 388 by 445 feet,
defined, as I said before, by lines of erect stones, partly shaped
by art. They are mostly of red sandstone, and of irregular size
and height; those at the corners being more carefully squared and
tallest. For the most part, they are between 8 and 10 feet high,
from 2 to 4 feet broad, and from 20 to 30 inches in thickness. The
portions entering the ground, like those of our granite gateposts,
are largest, and left so for the obvious purpose of giving the
stones greater firmness in their position. These stones, some of which have fallen and others disappeared,
seem to have been placed, inclining slightly inwards, at
approximately 15 feet apart, measuring from centre to centre, and
they appear to have had a wall of rough stones built up between
them, supporting a terre-plein of earth, about 8 feet above the
general level of the plain. On its eastern side this terre-plein
had an apron or lower terrace 18 feet broad, along the edge of the
central part of which were raised ten great stone pilasters,
placed 15 1/2 feet apart, all of which, perfectly aligned, are
still standing, with a single exception. They are of varying
heights, and no two agree in width or thickness. The one that is
fallen, which was second in the line, measures 13 feet 8 inches in
length by 5 feet 3 inches in breadth. It is partly buried in the
earth, but shows 32 inches of thickness above ground. Among those
still erect the tallest is 14 feet by 4 feet 2 inches, and 2 feet
8 inches; the shortest 9 feet by 2 feet 9 inches, and 2 feet 5
inches. These are less in dimension than the stones composing the
inner cell or sanctum of Stonehenge , which range from 16 feet 3
inches to 21 feet 6 inches in height; but they are nearly, if not
quite, equal with those composing the outer circle of that
structure. They are much more accurately cut than those of
Stonehenge , the fronts being perfectly true, and the backs alone
left rough or only partially worked. The tops of the taller ones
have shoulders cut into them as if to receive architraves; and as
this feature does not appear in the shorter ones, it may be
inferred that their tops have been broken off, and that originally
they were all of one length. And here I may call attention to
another singular feature of this colonnade—namely, that the sides
or edges of each erect stone are slightly cut away to within six
inches of its face, so as to leave a projection of about an inch
and a half, as if to retain in place any slab fitted between the
stones, and prevent it from falling outwards. The same feature is
found in the stones surrounding the great mound or Fortress, where
its purpose becomes obvious, as we shall soon see. Such is the general character of the exterior propylon, if I
may so call it, of the structure called the Temple. But within the
line of stones surrounding it there are other features which claim
our attention. I have said that the interior is a mound of earth
raised about eight feet above the general level. But in the centre
and towards the western side is an area sunk to the general level,
280 feet long by 190 feet broad. It was originally defined on
three sides by walls of rough stones which rose above the surface
of the mound itself, but which are now in ruins. If this sunken
area communicated in any way with the more elevated interior parts
of the structure, the means of communication, by steps or
otherwise, have disappeared. Across the end of the area not shut
in by the mound, the line of stones which surrounds the Temple is
continued without interruption; but outside and connected with it
is part of a small square of lesser stones, also erect, standing
in the open plain. Regarding the eastern side of the Temple , marked by the line
of pilasters which I have described, as the front, we find here,
at the distance of 57 feet, the traces of a rectangular structure,
to which I have alluded as the" Palace," which was composed of
blocks of trachyte admirably cut, 8 to 10 feet long by 5 feet
broad, with remains of what appears to have been a corridor 30
feet broad extending around it. The piers which supported the
Palace still remain, sunk deep in the ground, apparently resting
on an even pavement of cut stones. Remove the superstructures of
the best-built edifices of our cities, and few, if any, would
expose foundations laid with equal care, and none of them stones
cut with such accuracy, or so admirably fitted together. And I may
say, once for all, carefully weighing my words, that in no part of
the world have I seen stones cut with such mathematical precision
and admirable skill as in Peru, and in no part of Peru are there
any to surpass those which are scattered over the plain of
Tiahuanuco. The so-called Palace does not seem to have been placed
in any symmetrical relation towards the Temple, although seemingly
dependent on it; nor, in fact, do any of the ancient structures
here appear to have been erected on any geometric plan respecting
each other, such as is apparent in the arrangement of most of the
remains of aboriginal public edifices in Peru. The Fortress stands to the southwest of the Temple , the sides of the two coinciding in their bearings, and is 64 feet distant from it. As I have already said, it is a great mound of earth, originally rectangular in shape, 620 feet in length and 450 in width, and about 50 feet high. It is much disfigured by the operations of treasure-seekers, who have dug into its sides and made great excavations from the summit, so that it now resembles rather a huge, natural, shapeless heap of earth than a work of human hands. The few of the many stones that environed it, and which the destroyers have spared, nevertheless enable us to make out its original shape and proportions. There are distinct evidences that the body of the mound was terraced, for there are still standing stones at different elevations, distant horizontally nine, eighteen, and thirty feet from the base. There may have been more terraces than these lines of stones would indicate, but it is certain that there were at least three before reaching the summit. This coincides with what Garcilasso tells us of the mound when first visited by the Spaniards. He says, speaking of the ruins under notice: "Among them there is a mountain or hill raised by hand, which, on this account, is most admirable. In order that the piled-up earth should not be washed away and the hill leveled, it was supported by great walls of stone. Noone knows for what purpose this edifice was raised." Cieza de Leon, who himself visited Tiahuanuco soon after the Conquest, gives substantially the same description of the so-called Fortress.
On the summit of this structure are sections of the foundations of rectangular buildings, partly undermined, and partly covered up by the earth from the great modern excavation in the centre, which is upwards of 300 feet in diameter, and more than 60 feet deep. A pool of water stands at its bottom. This latest piece of barbarism was, however, only in continuation of some similar previous undertaking. All over the Fortress and on its slopes lie large and regular blocks of stone, sculptured with portions of elaborate designs, which would only appear when the blocks were fitted together. Some portions of the outer or lower wall are fortunately nearly intact, so that we are able to discover how it was constructed, and the plan and devices that were probably observed in all the other walls, as well as in some parts of the Temple. In the first place, large, upright stones were planted in the ground, apparently resting on stone foundations. They are about ten feet above the surface, accurately faced, perfectly aligned, and inclining slightly inwards towards the mound. They are placed seventeen feet apart from centre to centre, and are very nearly uniform in size, generally about three feet broad and two feet in thickness. Their edges are cut to present the kind of shoulders to which I alluded in describing the pilasters in front of the Temple , and of which the purpose now becomes apparent. The space between the upright stones is filled in with a wall of carefully worked stones. Those next the pilasters are cut with a shoulder to fit that of the pilaster they adjoin; and they are each, moreover, cut with alternate grooves and projections, like mortise and tenon, so as to fit immovably into each other horizontally. Vertically they are held in position by round holes drilled into the bottom and top of each stone at exact corresponding distances, in which, there is reason to believe, were placed pins of bronze. We here see the intelligent devices of a people unacquainted with the uses of cement to give strength and permanence to their structures. Nearly all the blocks of stone scattered over the plain show the cuts made to receive what is called the T clamp, and the round holes to receive the metal pins that were to retain the blocks in their places, vertically. The Fortress has on its eastern side an apron, or dependent platform, 320 by 180 feet, of considerably less than half the elevation of the principal mound. Like the rest of the structure, its outline was defined by upright stones, most of which, however, have disappeared. The entrance seems to have been at its southeast corner, probably by steps, and to have been complicated by turnings from one terrace to another, something like those in some of the Inca fortresses. The tradition runs that there are large vaults filled with treasure beneath the great mound, and that here commences a subterranean passage which leads to Cuzco, more than four hundred miles distant. The excavations certainly reveal some curious subterranean features. The excavation at its southwest corner has exposed a series of superimposed cut stones, apparently resting on a pavement of similar character, twelve feet below the surface. It is said that Von Tschudi, when he visited the ruins, found some "caverns" beneath them (but whether under the Fortress or not does not appear), into which he endeavored to penetrate, but "was glad to be pulled out, as he soon became suffocated." I found no such subterranean vaults or passages in any part of Tiahuanuco; but I do not deny their existence.
To the southeast of the Fortress, and about two hundred and
fifty paces distant, is a long line of wall in ruins, apparently a
single wall, not connected with any other so as to form an
enclosure. But beyond it are the remains of edifices of which it
is now impossible to form more than approximate plans. One was
measurably perfect when visited by D'Orbigny in 1833, who
fortunately has left a plan of it, more carefully made than others
he has given us of ruins here or elsewhere. Since 1833, however,
the iconoclasts have been at work with new vigor. Unable to remove
the massive stones composing the base of what was called the Hall
of Justice, they mined them, and blew them up with gunpowder,
removing many of the elaborately cut fragments to pave the
cathedral of La Paz. Enough remains to prove the accuracy of
D'Orbigny's plan, and to verify what Cieza de Leon wrote
concerning these particular remains three hundred years ago. The structure called the Hall of Justice occupied one end of a
court something like that discoverable in the Temple. In the first
place, we must imagine a rectangle, 420 feet long by 370 broad,
defined by a wall of cut stones, supporting on three sides an
interior platform of earth 130 feet broad, itself enclosing a
sunken area, or court, also defined by a wall of cut stones. This
court, which is of the general level of the plain, is 240 feet
long and 160 broad. At its eastern end is, or rather was, the
massive edifice distinguished' as the Hall of Justice, of which
D'Orbigny says: "It is a kind of platform of well-cut blocks of stone, held
together by copper clamps, of which only the traces remain. It
presents a level surface elevated six feet above the ground, 131
feet long and 23 broad, formed of enormous stones, eight making
the length and two the breadth. Some of these stones are 25 1/2
feet long by 14 feet broad, and 6 1/2 feet thick. These are
probably the ones measured by Oiego de Leon, who describes them as
30 feet long, 15 in width, and 6 in thickness. Some are
rectangular in shape, others of irregular form. On the eastern
side of the platform, and cut in the stones of which they form
part, are three groups of alcoves, or seats. One group occupies
the central part of the monument, covering an extent of
fifty-three feet, and is divided into seven compartments. A group
of three compartments occupies each extremity of the monument.
Between the central and side groups were reared monolithic
doorways, similar in some respects to the large one, only more
simple, the one to the west alone having a sculptured frieze
similar to that of the great gateway. In front of this structure,
to the west, and about twenty feet distant, is a wall remarkable
for the fine cutting of its stones, which are of a blackish basalt
and very hard. The stones arc all of equal dimensions, having a
groove running around them, and each has a niche cut in it with
absolute precision. Every thing goes to show that the variety of
the forms of the niches was one of the great ornaments of the
walls, for on all sides we find stones variously cut, and
evidently intended to fit together so as to form architectural
ornaments." So much for the description of D'Orbigny. I measured one of the
blocks with a double niche, which is shown in the engraving of the
terrace walls of the Fortress. It is 6 feet 2 inches in length, 3
feet 7 inches broad, and 2 feet 6 inches thick. The niches are
sunk to the depth of 3 inches. One of the monolithic doorways originally belonging to this
structure is unquestionably that forming the entrance to the
cemetery of Tiahuanuco . This cemetery is an ancient rectangular
mound, about a hundred paces long, sixty broad, and twenty feet
high, situated midway between the village and the Fortress. Its
summit is enclosed by an adobe wall, and, as I have said, the
entrance is through an ancient monolithic gateway, of which I give
a front and rear view. It is 7 feet 5 inches in extreme height, 5
feet 10 1/2 inches in extreme width, and 16 1/2 inches thick. The
doorway, or opening, is 6 feet 2 inches in height, and 2 feet 10
inches wide. The frieze has a repetition of the ornaments
composing the lower line of sculptures of the great monolith, but
it has suffered much from time and violence. The ornamentation of
the back differs from that of the front, and seems to have been
made to conform to the style adopted in the interior of the
structure. In making our measurement in the cemetery we disturbed a pack
of lean, hungry, savage dogs of the Sierra-an indigenous
species—which had dug up the body of a newly-buried child from its
shallow, frozen grave, and were ravenously devouring it. They
snarled at us with bristling backs and bloodshot eyes as we
endeavored to drive them away horn their horrible feast—by no
means the first, as the numerous rough holes they had dug, the
torn wrappings of the dead, and the skulls and fragments of human
bodies scattered around too plainly attested. I subsequently
represented the matter to the cura, but he only shrugged his
shoulders, ejaculating, "What does it matter? They have been
baptized, and all Indians are brutes at the best." Returning to the Hall of Justice, we find, to the eastward of it, a raised area 175 feet square, and from 8 to 10 feet high, the outlines defined by walls of cut stone. This seems to have escaped the notice of travelers; at least, it is not mentioned by them. In the centre of this area there seems to have been a building about fifty feet square, constructed of very large blocks of stone, which I have denominated the" Sanctuary." Within this, where it was evidently supported on piers, is the distinctive and most remarkable feature of the structure. It is a great slab of stone 13 feet 4 inches square, and 20 inches in thickness. It is impossible to describe it intelligibly, and I must refer to the engraving for a notion of its character. It will be observed that there is an oblong area cut in the upper face of the stone, 7 feet 3 inches long, 5 feet broad, and 6 inches deep. A sort of sunken "portico" 20 inches wide, 3 feet 9 inches long, is cut at one side, out of which opens what may be called the entrance, 22 inches wide, extending to the edge of the stone.
At each end of the "portico" is a flight of three miniature steps leading up to the general surface of the stone, and sunk in it, while at the side of the excavated area are three other flights of similar steps, but in relief. They lead to the broadest part of the stone, where there are six mortises, 8 inches square, sunk in the stone. 6 inches, and forming two sides of a square, of 3 feet 7 inches on each side, and apparently intended to receive an equal number of square columns. The external corners of the stone are sharp, but within six inches of the surface they are cut round on a radius of twelve inches. I cannot resist the impression that this stone was intended as a miniature representation or model of a sacred edifice, or of some kind of edifice reared by the builders of the monuments of Tiahuanuco. The entrance to the sunken area in the stone, the steps leading to the elevation surrounding it, and the naos opposite the entrance, defined perhaps by columns of bronze or stone set in the mortises and supporting some kind of roof, constituting the shrine within which stood the idol or symbol of worship—all these features would seem to indicate a symbolic design in this monument. The building in which it stood, on massive piers that still remain, was constructed of blocks of stone, some of them nearly fourteen feet in length and of corresponding size and thickness, and was not so large as to prohibit the probability that it was covered in. Looking at the plan of the Temple, and of the enclosure to the area, one side of which was occupied by the building called the Hall of Justice, we cannot fail to observe features suggestive of the plan cut in the great stone which I have called symbolical. The most remarkable monument in Tiahuanuco is the great monolithic gateway. Its position is indicated by the letter m in the plan. It now stands erect, and is described as being in that position by every traveler except D'Orbigny, who visited the ruins in 1833, and who says it had then fallen down.
I give two views of this unique monument, both from photographs, of some interest to me, as the first it was ever my fortune to be called on to take. It will be seen that it has been broken—the natives say by lightning—the fracture extending from the upper right-hand angle of the opening, so that the two parts lap by each other slightly, making the sides of the doorway incline towards each other; whereas they are, or were, perfectly. vertical and parallel—a distinguishing side two small niches, below which, also on either side, is a single larger niche. The stone itself is a dark and exceedingly hard trachyte. It is faced with a precision that no skill can excel; its lines are perfectly drawn, and its right angles turned with an accuracy that the most careful geometer could not surpass. Barring some injuries and defacements, and some slight damages by weather, I do not believe there exists a better piece of stone-cutting, the material considered, on this or the other continent. The front, especially the part covered by sculpture, has a fine finish, as near a true polish as trachyte can be made to bear. The lower line of sculpture is 7 1/2 inches broad, and is
unbroken; the three above it are 8 inches high, cut up in
cartouches, or squares, of equal width, but interrupted in the
centre, immediately over the doorway, by the figure in high-relief
to which I have alluded. This figure, with its ornaments, covers a
space of 32 by 21 1/2 inches. There are consequently three ranges
or tiers of squares on each side of this figure, eight in each
range, or forty-eight in all. The figures represented in these
squares have human bodies, feet, and hands; each holds a sceptre;
they are winged; but the upper and lower series have human heads
wearing crowns, represented in profile, while the heads of the
sixteen figures in the line between them have the heads of
condors. The central and principal figure is angularly but boldly cut,
in a style palpably conventional. The head is surrounded by a
series of what may be called rays, each terminating in a circle,
the head of the condor, or that of a tiger, all conventionally but
forcibly treated. In each hand he grasps two staves or sceptres of
equal length with his body, the lower end of the right-hand
sceptre terminating in the head of the condor, and the upper in
that of the tiger, while the lower end of the left-hand sceptre
terminates in the head of the tiger, and the upper is bifurcate,
and has two heads of the condor. The staves or sceptres are not
straight and stiff, but curved as if to represent serpents, and
elaborately ornamented as if to represent the sinuous action of
the serpent in motion. The radiations from the head—which I have
called rays, for want of a better term—seem to have the same
action. An ornamented girdle surrounds the waist of this principal
figure, from which depends a double fringe. It stands upon a kind
of base or series of figures approaching nearest in character to
the architectural ornament called grecques, each extremity of
which, however, terminates in the crowned head of the tiger or the
condor. The face has been somewhat mutilated, but shows some
peculiar figures extending from the eyes diagonally across the
cheeks, terminating also in the heads of the animals just named. The winged human-headed and condor-headed figures in the three
lines of squares are represented kneeling on one knee, with their
faces turned to the great central figure, as if in adoration, and
each one holds before him a staff or sceptre. The sceptres of the
figures in the two upper rows are bifurcate, and correspond
exactly with the sceptre in the left hand of the central figure,
while the sceptres of the lower tier correspond with that
represented in his right hand. The relief of all these figures is
scarcely more than two-tenths of an inch; the minor features are
indicated by very delicate lines, slightly incised, which form
subordinate figures, representing the heads of condors, tigers,
and serpents. Most of us have seen pictures and portraits of men
and animals, which under close attention resolve themselves into
representatives of a hundred other things, but which are so
artfully arranged as to produce a single broad effect. So with
these winged figures. Every part, the limbs, the garb, all
separate themselves into miniatures of the symbols that run all
through the sculptures on this singular monument. The fourth or lower row of sculpture differs entirely from the
rows above it. It consists of repetitions—seventeen in all—smaller
and in low-relief, of the head of the great central figure,
surrounded by corresponding rays, terminating in like manner with
the heads of animals. These are arranged alternately at the top
and bottom of the line of sculpture, within the zigzags or
grecques, and every angle terminates in the head of a condor. The three outer columns of winged figures, and the
corresponding parts of the lower line of sculpture, are only
blocked out, and have none of the elaborate, incised ornamentation
discoverable in the central parts of the monument. A very distinct
line separates these unfinished sculptures from those portions
that are finished, which is most marked in the lower tier. On each
side of this line, standing on the rayed heads to which I have
alluded, placed back to back, and looking in opposite directions,
are two small but interesting figures of men, crowned with
something like a plumed cap, and holding to their mouths what
appear to be trumpets. Although only three inches high, these
little figures are ornamented in the same manner as the larger
ones, with the heads of tigers, condors, etc. These are the only sculptures on the face of the great monolith
of Tiahuanuco. I shall not attempt to explain their significance.
D'Orbigny finds in the winged figures with human heads symbols or
representations of conquered chiefs coming to pay their homage to
the ruler who had his capital in Tiahuanuco, and who, as the
founder of sun-worship and the head of the Church as of the State,
was invested with divine attributes as well as with the insignia
of power. The figures with condors' heads, the same fanciful
philosopher supposes, may represent the chiefs of tribes who had
not yet fully accepted civilization, and were therefore
represented without the human profile, as an indication of their
unhappy and undeveloped state. By parity of interpretation, we may
take it that the eighteen unfinished figures were those of as many
chieftains as the ruler of Tiahuanuco had it in his mind to
reduce, and of which, happily, just two-thirds had claims to be
regarded as civilized, and, when absorbed, to be perpetuated with
human heads, and not with those of condors. Another French writer,
M. Angrand, finds a coincidence between these sculptures and those
of Central America and Mexico, having a corresponding mythological
and symbolical significance, thus establishing identity of origin
and intimate relationship between the builders of Tiahuanuco and
those of Palenque, Ocosingo, and Xochicalco. Leibnitz tells us that nothing exists without a cause; and it
is not to be supposed that the sculptures under notice were made
without a motive. They are probably symbolical; but with no
knowledge of the religious ideas and conceptions of the ancient
people whose remains they are, it is idle to attempt to interpret
them. Nowhere else in Peru, or within the whole extent of the Inca
empire, do we find any similar sculptures. They are, as regards
Inca art, quite as unique in Peru as they would be on Boston
Common or in the New York Central Park. The reverse of the great monolith shows a series of friezes
over the doorway, five in number, of which the engraving will give
a better idea than any description. Above the entrance on either
hand are two niches, twelve by nine inches in the excavation. It
will be observed that those on the right have a sort of sculptured
cornice above them which those on the left have not. The second
one on the left, it will also be observed, is not complete, but
evidently intended to be finished out on another block, which was
to form a continuation of the wall of which the gateway itself was
designed to be a part. Indeed, as I have said, nearly all the
blocks of stone scattered over the plain are cut with parts of
niches and other architectural features, showing that they were
mere fragments of a general design, which could only be clearly
apparent when they were properly fitted together. The lower niches, now on a level with the ground, show that the
monolith is sunk deeply in the soil. They exhibit some peculiar
features. At each inner corner above and below are vertical
sockets, apparently to receive the pivots of a door, extending
upwards and downwards seven inches in the stone. D'Orbigny avers
that he discovered the stains of bronze in these orifices and I
have no doubt that these niches had doors, possibly of bronze,
hinged in these sockets, and so firmly that it was necessary to
use chisels (the marks of which are plain) to cut into the stone
and disengage them. These large niches are 28.2 inches by 18.2
inches wide. On the face of the monolith, on each side of the
doorway, but near the edges of the stone, are two mortises 10
inches by 9, and 6 inches deep, and 12 inches by 6, and 3 1/2
inches deep respectively, which are not shown in the drawings
published by D'Orbigny and some others. I very much question if this remarkable stone occupies its
original position. How far it has sunk in the ground it was
impossible for me to determine, for the earth was frozen hard, and
we had no means of digging down to ascertain. D'Orbigny, as I have
already said, states it was fallen when he visited it. Who has
since raised it, and for what purpose, it is impossible to say.
Noone that we could find either knew or cared to know anything
about it. It seems to me not unlikely that it had a position in
the hollow square of the structure called the Temple, in some
building corresponding with that called the Hall of Justice. Or,
perhaps, it had a place in the structure enclosing the stone I
have ventured to call symbolical. It is neither so large nor so
heavy that it may not be moved by fifty men with ropes, levers,
and rollers and although we no not know of any reason why it
should have been removed from its original position, we know that
many of the heaviest stones have been thus moved, including the
monolithic doorway at the entrance of the cemetery. In addition to the various features of Tiahuanuco already
enumerated, I must not neglect to notice the vast blocks of unhewn
and partially hewn stones, that evidently have never entered into
any structure, which lie scattered among the ruins. The positions
of two or three are indicated in the plan. The one to the
northeast of the Temple is 26 by 17, and 3 1/2 feet aboveground.
It is of red sandstone, with deep grooves crossing each other at
right angles in the centre, twenty inches deep, as if an attempt
had been made to cut the stone into four equal parts. Another of
nearly equal dimensions, partly hewn, was between the Temple and
the Fortress. Another, boat-shaped and curiously grooved, lies to
the northwest of the great mound. It measures upwards of forty
feet in length, and bears the marks of transportation from a
considerable distance. There were formerly a number of specimens of sculpture in
Tiahuanuco besides the two monolithic gateways I have described.
Says Oiego de Leon: "Beyond this hill [referring to the Fortress]
are two stone idols, of human shape, and so curiously carved that
they seem to be the work of very able masters. They are as big as
giants, with long garments differing from those the natives wear,
and seem to have some ornament on their heads." These, according
to D'Orbigny, were broken into pieces by blasts of powder inserted
between the shoulders, and not even the fragments remain on the
plain of Tiahuanuco. The head of one lies by the side of the road,
four leagues distant, on the way to La Paz , whither an attempt
was made to carry it. I did not see it, but I reproduce the sketch
of it given by D'Orbigny, merely remarking that I have no doubt
the details are quite as erroneous as those of the figures
portrayed by the same author on the great monolith. The head is 3
feet 6 inches high and 2 feet 7 inches in diameter; so that if the
other proportions of the figure were corresponding, the total
height of the statue would be about eighteen feet. D'Orbigny found several other sculptured figures among the
ruins; one with a human head and wings rudely represented; another
of an animal resembling a tiger, etc. Castelnau mentions "an
immense lizard cut in stone," and other sculptured figures. M.
Angrand, whose notes have been very judiciously used by M.
Desjardains, speaks of eight such figures in the village of
Tiahuanuco, besides two in La Paz , and one, broken, on the road
thither. I found but two; rough sculptures of the human head and
bust, in coarse red sandstone, one of a man and the other of a
woman, standing by the side of the gateway of the church of
Tiahuanuco. They are between four and five feet high, roughly cut,
much defaced, and more like the idols which I found in Nicaragua,
and have represented in my work on that country, than any others I
have seen elsewhere. Among the stones taken from the ruins, and worked into
buildings in the town of Tiahuanuco, are a number of cylindrical
columns cut from a single block, with capitals resembling the
Doric. One of these stands on each side of the entrance to the
court of the church, 6 feet high and 14 inches in diameter. There
are also many caps of square columns or pilasters, besides numbers
of stones cut with deep single or double grooves, as if to serve
for water-conduits when fitted together—a purpose the probability
of which is sanctioned by finding some stones with channels
leading off at right angles, like the elbows in our own
water-pipes. The stones composing the structures of Tiahuanuco, as already
said, are mainly red sandstone, slate-colored trachyte, and a
dark, hard basalt. None of these rocks are found in situ on the
plain, but there has been much needless speculation as to whence
they were obtained. There are great cliffs of red sandstone about
five leagues to the north of the ruins, on the road to the
Desaguadero; and, on the isthmus of Yunguyo, connecting the
peninsula of Copacabana with the mainland, are found both basaltic
and trachytic rocks, identical with the stones in the ruins. Many
blocks, hewn or partially hewn, are scattered over the isthmus. It
is true this point is forty miles distant from Tiahuanuco in a
right line, and that, if obtained here, the stones must have been
carried twenty-five miles by water and fifteen by land. That some
of them were brought from this direction is indicated by scattered
blocks all the way from the ruins to the lake; but it is difficult
to conceive how they were transported from one shore to the other.
There is no timber in the region of which to construct rafts or
boats; and the only contrivances for navigation are floats, made
of reeds, closely bound into cylinders, tapering at the ends,
which are turned up so as to give them something of the outline of
boats. Before they become water-soaked these floats are
exceedingly light and buoyant. As to how the stones of Tiahuanuco were cut, and with what kind
of instruments, are questions which I do not propose to discuss. I
may, nevertheless, observe that I have no reason to believe that
the builders of Tiahuanuco had instruments differing essentially
in form or material from those used by the Peruvians generally,
which, it is certain, were of champi, a kind of bronze. I have thus rapidly presented an outline of the remains of
Tiahuanuco-remains most interesting, but in such an absolute
condition of ruin as almost to defy inquiry or generalization.
Regarding them as in some respects the most important of any in
Peru, I have gone more into details concerning them than I shall
do in describing the better-preserved and more intelligible
monuments with which we shall have hereafter to deal. We find on a review that, apart from five considerable mounds
of earth now shapeless, with one exception, there are distinct and
impressive traces of five structures, built of stones or defined
by them—the Fortress, the Temple, the Palace, the Hall of Justice,
and the Sanctuary—terms used more to distinguish than truly
characterize them. The structure called the Fortress may indeed
have been used for the purpose implied in the name. Terraced, and
each terrace faced with stones, it may have been, as many of the
terraced pyramids of Mexico were, equally temple and fortress,
where the special protection of the divinity to whom it was reared
was expected to be interposed against an enemy. But the absence of
water and the circumscribed area of the structure seem to weigh
against the supposition of a defensive origin or purpose. But,
whatever its object, the Fortress dominated the plain; and when
the edifices that crowned its summit were perfect, it must have
been by far the most imposing structure in Tiahuanuco. The Temple seems to me to be the most ancient of all the
distinctive monuments of Tiahuanuco. It is the American
Stonehenge. The stones defining it are rough and frayed by time.
The walls between its rude pilasters were of uncut stones; and
although it contains the most elaborate single monument among the
ruins, and notwithstanding the erect stones constituting its
portal are the most striking of their kind, it nevertheless has
palpable signs of age, and an air of antiquity which we discover
in none of its kindred monuments. Of course, its broad area was
never roofed in, whatever may have been the case with smaller,
interior buildings no longer traceable. We must rank it,
therefore, with those vast open temples (for of its sacred purpose
we can scarcely have a doubt), of which Stonehenge and Avebury, in
England, are examples, and which we find in Brittany, in Denmark,
in Assyria, and on the steppes of Tartary, as well as in the
Mississippi Valley. It seems to me to have been the nucleus around
which the remaining monuments of Tiahuanuco sprung up, and the
model upon which some of them were fashioned. How far, in shape or
arrangement, it may have been symbolical, I shall not undertake to
say; but I think that students of antiquity are generally prepared
to concede a symbolical significance to the primitive pagan
temples as well as to the cruciform edifices of Christian times. We can hardly conceive of remains so extensive as those of
Tiahuanuco, except as indications of a large population, and as
evidences of the previous existence on or near the spot of a
considerable city. But we find nowhere in the vicinity any decided
traces of ancient habitations, such as abound elsewhere in Peru,
in connection with most public edifices. Again, the region around
is cold, and for the most part arid and barren. Elevated nearly
thirteen thousand feet above the sea, no cereals grow except
barley, which often fails to mature, and seldom, if ever, so
perfects itself as to be available for seed. The maize is dwarf
and scant, and uncertain in yield; and the bitter potato and
quinoa constitute almost the sole articles of food for the pinched
and impoverished inhabitants. This is not, prima facie, a region
for nurturing or sustaining a large population, and certainly not
one wherein we should expect to find a capital. Tiahuanuco may
have been a sacred spot or shrine, the position of which was
determined by an accident, an augury, or a dream, but I can hardly
believe that it was a seat of dominion. Some vague traditions point to Tiahuanuco as the spot whence
Manco Capac, the founder of the Inca dynasty, took his origin, and
whence he started northwards to teach the rude tribes of the
Sierra religion and government; and some late writers, D'Orbigny
and Castelnau among them, find reasons for believing that the
whole Inca civilization originated here, or was only a reflex of
that which found here a development, never afterwards equaled,
long before the golden staff of the first Inca sunk into the earth
where Cuzco was founded, thus fixing through superhuman design the
site of the imperial city. But the weight of tradition points to
the rocky islands of Lake Titicaca as the cradle of the Incas,
whence Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, his wife and sister, under the
behest of their father, the Sun, started forth on their beneficent
mission. Certain it is that this lake and its islands were
esteemed sacred, and that on the latter were reared structures, if
not so imposing as many other and perhaps later ones, yet of
peculiar sanctity. But before starting on our visit to that lake and its sacred islands, I must relate some of the incidents of our stay in Tiahuanuco.
CHAPTER XVI. AT TIAHUANUCO, AND TO THE SACRED ISLANDS.
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BOOKS & VIDEO |
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The
Tiwanaku : Portrait of an Andean Civilization (Peoples of
America) Kolata's book shows how, contrary to their implicit racism, the indigenous people of the Titicaca basin were more than ingenious enough to come up with ways to construct major monuments, carve incredible fantastic stone sculptures, and make the high arid plain of the altiplano bloom with potatoes, tubers and quinoa. These people had indoor plumbing and public sewage systems 1500 years ago! The Tiwanaku is a bit simplistic and general for the Andean or archaeological specialist; it is more appropriate for the first year University student or educated layman. Nonetheless, it brings together the current general state of knowledge about this important civilization in a highly readable fashion. |
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Valley
of the Spirits : A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara A millennium before the Incas built their empire, the city of Tiahuanaco sat at the center of a great empire of its own. Located on Lake Titicaca, the world's highest at 13,000 feet, in what is now Bolivia, at the very limits of agriculture, the people of Tiahuanaco developed an ingenious system of cultivation based on raised planting beds alternating with trenches that served as irrigation ditches. From A.D. 400 to 800, the temples of Tiahuanaco glittered with gold and the empire supported as many as 250,000 people. Kolata, who has spent more than 17 years excavating the empire's ruins, weaves together the story of Tiahuanaco and the region's modern inhabitants, the Aymara. |
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Lukurmata by Marc Bermann Household archaeology, together with community and regional settlement information, forms the basis for a unique local perspective of Andean prehistory in this study of the evolution of the site of Lukurmata, a pre-Columbian community in highland Bolivia. First established nearly two thousand years ago, Lukurmata grew to be a major ceremonial center in the Tiwanaku state, a polity that dominated the south-central Andes from a.d. 400 to 1200. After the Tiwanaku state collapsed, Lukurmata rapidly declined, becoming once again a small village. In his analysis of a 1300-year-long sequence of house remains at Lukurmata, Marc Bermann traces patterns and changes in the organization of domestic life, household ritual, ties to other communities, and mortuary activities, as well as household adaptations to overarching political and economic trends. Prehistorians have long studied the processes of Andean state formation, expansion, and decline at the regional level, notes Bermann. |
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Is it possible that intelligent life forms visited Earth thousands of years ago, bringing with them technology that drastically affected the course of history and man s own development? Presented in the 1968 bestselling book Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Daniken, the theory of ancient aliens rocked people s beliefs in mankind s progress. Ancient cave drawings of strange creatures, remains of landing strips in Peru, and Indian texts that describe the flying machines of the gods were just a few of the odd archaeological artifacts cited by von Daniken as proof that ancient astronauts were well known to our ancestors. Produced with the exclusive cooperation of von Daniken himself, Ancient Aliens launches all-new expeditions to seek out and evaluate this evidence, with a concentration on the latest discoveries of the last 30 years, including unusual DNA findings on man s evolution and newly decoded artifacts from Egypt to Syria to South America. It is a balanced investigation into a theory some believe cannot be true, but many agree cannot be ignored. |
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El
enigma de Tiahuanaco |
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Inca
Architecture and Construction at Ollantaytambo
In this book, Protzen describes and interprets the archaeological complex of Ollantaytambo, discovers temporal and functional links among its components, uncovers the planning and design criteria that governed its layout and architecture, and compiles all that has been written about the site. |
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| It is a modern-day mystery how the Inca, who did not have iron tools or knowledge of the wheel, mined and transported stones and dressed and fitted them in remarkable structures. Jean-Pierre Protzen has spent much of the past decade investigating the quarrying and stonecutting techniques of the Inca, and problems of Inca construction practices. His work is based principally on observation, careful measurements of structures, and experiments using stones and tools the Inca stonemasons would have used. Ollantaytambo, probably the best-preserved Inca town, offers an ideal laboratory with its well-thought-out site plans, its intimate integration of the built form with the natural environment, the unity of its architecture, and the sheer perfection of its cut-stone masonry. Offering the only extensive analysis of Inca construction practices, Protzen describes and interprets the archaeological complex of Ollantaytambo, discovers temporal and functional links among its components, uncovers the planning and design criteria that governed its layout and architecture, and compiles all that has been written about the site. | |
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The Secret of the Incas - Myth, Astronomy, and the War Against Time Step by step, Sullivan pieces together the hidden esoteric tradition of the Andes to uncover the tragic secret of the Incas, a tribe who believed that, if events in the heavens could influence those on earth, perhaps the reverse could be true. Anyone who reads this book will never look at the ruins of the Incas, or at the night sky, the same way again. Illustrations. (Note: This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.) |
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Between
the Lines: The Mystery of the Giant Ground Drawings of
Ancient
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Searching
for Lost Worlds: Machu Picchu: Secrets of the Incan Empire
(1999) |
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More Subject Related Books |
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International explorer, archaeologist and author Jonathan Gray has traveled the world to gather data on ancient mysteries. He has penetrated some largely unexplored areas, including parts of the Amazon headwaters. The author has also led expeditions to the bottom of the sea and to remote mountain and desert regions of the world. He lectures internationally.
"Dead Men's Secrets" by Jonathan Gray is 373 pages
of discovering ancient technology and lost secrets. Book 1 –
"The Killing Of... PARADISE PLANET" lays out stunning evidence of a
once-global paradise, Book 2 –
"SURPRISE WITNESS" shows what happened DURING that great Deluge
- the cosmic calamity that ripped the Earth to shreds and wiped out the
original Mother Civilization. Not only were the antedeluvian people
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"The Corpse CAME BACK!"
Now comes the fast moving, fascinating
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Archaeoastronomy: Ollantaytambo, Tiahuanaco, Tiwanaku, Puma Punku, Bolivia, Peru