Penn State University scientists have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple in the Bolivian Andes built by an enigmatic ‘lost’ civilization known as the Tiwanaku, which mysteriously vanished from the region more than 1,000 years ago.
The team behind the historic discovery says the temple’s ruins will help shed more light on this mysterious culture, which many believe was one of the earliest advanced civilizations to inhabit the region during its prime.
José Capriles, a Penn State associate professor of anthropology and the lead author of a study detailing the research team’s findings, said that the lost civilization of Tiwanaku flourished for several centuries before it collapsed “sometime around 1000 CE.” By the time the Incas conquered the Andes in the 15th century, Capriles says the Tiwanaku civilization was essentially “in ruin.”
“At its peak, it boasted a highly organized societal structure, leaving behind remnants of architectural monuments like pyramids, terraced temples and monoliths, most of which are distributed in sites around Lake Titicaca,” the professor said.
Before making the discovery, the team noticed one plot of land in a well-studied area that had not yet been mapped. According to a press release, they decided to employ several satellite mapping techniques and images to “visualize” the unmapped area.
“Because the features are very faint, we blended various satellite images together,” Capriles said. The team also conducted several unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights to acquire what the professor termed “better pictures.”
After collecting all the data, Capriles’ team used a technique called photogrammetry to construct a three-dimensional site profile. The anthropology professor said this high-quality composite, combining data from all the varying sources, allowed his group to get a “more detailed rendering” of the temple structure and the site’s overall topography.
The team highlighted one compelling feature: a series of stone alignments that they say “revealed” the ancient temple of Palaspata. According to the release, Palaspata is also the native name for the area where the temple was found.
More detailed analysis revealed that the temple complex, built over 1,000 years ago by a lost civilization, was roughly 125 meters long and 145 meters wide. 15 “quadrangular enclosures” were arranged within the temple grounds around what the team termed an “inner courtyard.”
The researchers said the site was known by locals but hadn’t previously been explored by scientists due to its “unassuming” location at the top of a small hill. The temple is also located roughly 130 miles south of Tiwanaku’s established historical center, making its discovery even more fortuitous.
Surprisingly, Capriles said Palaspata’s location was likely strategic. For example, the site was the connection point of three “main” trade routes during the time this lost civilization was flourishing. The researcher said these three distinct trade routes also represented three “vastly different” ecosystems. The northern route connected them to the “productive” highlands around Lake Titicaca, the more arid Altiplano area, which was “ideal for herding llamas” to the west, and the “agriculturally productive” eastern Andean valleys of Cochabamba were to the east.
The team also found numerous fragments of keru cups, used for drinking a traditional maize beer called chicha, on the temple’s surface. Because the maize used to make Chicha was not a local product, the professor said its discovery at the site “underscores the temple’s importance in facilitating access to various goods, including food, and connecting different culinary traditions.”
As previously noted, the researchers think Palaspata’s layout indicated the site likely served a religious function in the Tiwanaku culture. For example, the temple’s alignment may mean the area was used to perform rituals at the solar equinox, the longest day of the year, when the sun is directly overhead at this location. Capriles said 1,000 years ago commerce and religion were also intertwined in this ancient Andean civilization, meaning the access to trade routes supports the temple’s likely religious function.
“Most economic and political transactions had to be mediated through divinity, because that would be a common language that would facilitate various individuals cooperating,” he explained, noting that religion was often the “common ground” that connected different groups.
Justo Ventura Guarayo, the mayor of the municipality of Caracollo where the site is located, said findings like Palaspata are significant since “they highlight a crucial aspect of our local heritage that had been completely overlooked.”
“This discovery is vital for our community, and we believe its documentation will be invaluable for promoting tourism and showcasing our region’s rich history,” Guarayo added.
Following the site’s discovery and its connection to the lost civilization of Tiwanaku, the mayor says efforts to ensure the site is protected and preserved are already underway, The plans are expected to include state and national authorities working under the “guidance” of archaeology experts like Professor Capriles, who says learning more about this mysterious culture and how far their influence extended across the region over 1,000 years ago before disappearing into history merely requires the right approach.
“With more insight into the past of this ancient site, we get a window into how people managed cooperation, and how we can materially see evidence of political and economic control,” he said. “There’s still so much to discover that we don’t know about, and that could be hiding in plain sight. It just requires opening your eyes to see what’s out there.”
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.