Pumapunku

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Pumapunku is a large temple complex located in Tiwanaku, Bolivia. In Aymara, the name Puma Punku means, “The Door of the Cougar”. It is situated near the south eastern shore of Lake Titicaca, and sits on a plateau in the Andes at roughly 12,600 feet elevation. Pumapunku's construction is generally argued to have taken place beginning around 200 BC. The temple itself stood at least 56 feet tall and took up an area of 164 square feet while the overall site and the surrounding constructions, namely the pyramid which the ruins sit on, extend over half a kilometer in length. At its peak, Pumapunku is thought to have been “unimaginably wondrous,”[1] adorned with polished metal plaques, brightly colored ceramic and fabric ornamentation, and trafficked by costumed citizens, elaborately dressed priests and elites decked in exotic jewelry. Our understanding of this complex is limited due to its age, the lack of a written record, and the current deteriorated state of the structures due to looting, stone mining for building stone and railroad ballast and natural weathering. The technological innovation and the beautiful stonework that went into the creation of Pumapunku have drawn comparisons to the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and Easter Island.

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[edit] Age

Determining the age of these ruins has been a focus of researchers since the site's discovery. Currently archaeologists date the beginning of the Tiwanaku culture to some time around 1500 BC, and the construction of the Pumapunku complex to around 200 BC.[2][3][4] Previously, in the early 1900s, Bolivian engineer Arthur Posnansky,[5] based on astronomical alignments, concluded that Tiwanaku was constructed as early as 15,000 BC (17,000 BP), possibly even older and was not an original construction of the Tiwanaku. In the 1930s, German astronomers from the University of Bonn; Rolf Muller, Hanns Lundendorff, Friederich Becker, and Arnold Kohlshutter came to conclusions similar to Posnansky's estimate. However, as noted by Kolata[4] subsequent archaeological research[6][7], has found a complete lack of any physical evidence, including prehistoric tools and dated midden deposits, for any occupation of the Tiwanaku site as old as argued by Posnansky and the German astronomers either at the Tiwanaku Site, near it, or in direct association with the Pumapunku complex despite decades of intensive excavation and research.

[edit] Engineering

Detail of stone with precisely cut straight line and tooled holes within the line

The processes and technologies involved in the creation of these temples are still not fully understood by modern scholars. Our current ideas of the Tiwanaku culture hold that they had no writing system and also that the invention of the wheel was most likely unknown to them. The architectural achievements seen at Pumapunku are striking in light of the presumed level of technological capability available during its construction. Due to the monumental proportions of the stones, the method by which they were transported to Pumapunku has been a topic of interest since the temple's discovery. The stones are argued to have been transported up a steep incline from a quarry near Lake Titicaca roughly 20 miles away. Some of the blocks are said to weigh in the range of 100–130 tons.[8][9][10]

Recreated drawing of interlocking stone blocks

One notable block has been measured at 36 feet long, 16 feet wide and 6 feet thick.[1] Archaeologists argue that this was accomplished by the large labor force of ancient Tiwanaku. Several theories have been proposed as to how this labor force transported the stones although these theories remain speculative. Two of the more common proposals involve the use of llama skin ropes and the use of ramps and inclined planes.[3]

In assembling the walls of Pumapunku, each stone was finely cut to interlock with the surrounding stones and the blocks fit together like a puzzle, forming load-bearing joints without the use of mortar. One common engineering technique involves cutting the top of the lower stone at a certain angle, and placing another stone on top of it which was cut at the same angle.[11] The precision with which these angles have been utilized to create flush joints is indicative of a highly sophisticated knowledge of stone-cutting and a thorough understanding of descriptive geometry.[2] Many of the joints are so precise that not even a razor blade will fit between the stones.[12] Much of the masonry is characterized by accurately cut rectilinear blocks of such uniformity that they could be interchanged for one another while maintaining a level surface and even joints. The blocks were so precisely cut as to suggest the possibility of prefabrication and mass production, technologies far in advance of the Tiwanaku’s Incan successors hundreds of years later.[3] Tiwanaku engineers were also adept at developing a civic infrastructure at this complex, constructing functional irrigation systems, hydraulic mechanisms, and waterproof sewage lines.

Demonstration of the building block technique

To sustain the weight of these massive structures, Tiwanaku architects were meticulous in creating foundations, often fitting stones directly to bedrock or digging precise trenches and carefully filling them with layered sedimentary stones to support large stone blocks.[3] Modern day engineers argue that the base of the Pumapunku temple was constructed using a technique called layering and depositing. By alternating layers of sand from the interior and layers of composite from the exterior, the fills would overlap each other at the joints, essentially grading the contact points to create a sturdy base.[3][11]

Notable features at Pumapunku are I-shaped architectural cramps, which are composed of a unique copper-arsenic-nickel bronze alloy. These I-shaped cramps were also used on a section of canal found at the base of the Akapana pyramid at Tiwanaku. These cramps were used to hold the blocks comprising the walls and bottom of stone-line canals that drain sunken courts. I-cramps of unknown composition were used to hold together the massive slabs that formed Pumapunku's four large platforms. In the south canal of the Pumapunku, the I-shaped cramps were cast in place. In sharp contrast, the cramps used at the Akapana canal were fashioned by the cold hammering of copper-arsenic-nickel bronze ingots.[3][13] The unique copper-arsenic-nickel bronze alloy is also found in metal artifacts within the region between Tiwanaku and San Pedro de Atacama during the late Middle Horizon around A.D. 600-900.[14]

[edit] Cultural and Spiritual Significance

It is theorized the Pumapunku complex as well as its surrounding temples, the Akapana pyramid, Kalasasaya, Putuni and Kerikala functioned as spiritual and ritual centers for the Tiwanaku. This area might have been viewed as the center of the Andean world, attracting pilgrims from miles away to marvel in its beauty. These structures transformed the local landscape; Pumapunku was purposely integrated with Illimani mountain, a sacred peak that the Tiwanaku possibly believed to be home to the spirits of their dead. This area was believed to have existed between heaven and Earth. The spiritual significance and the sense of wonder would have been amplified into a "mind-altering and life-changing experience"[15] through the use of hallucinogenic plants. Recent excavations have unearthed hallucinogenic cacti, other psychedelic entheogens, drug paraphernalia, snuffing kits, and mummified shamans with assortments of drugs and medicines. Examinations of hair samples exhibit remnants of psychoactive substances in many mummies found in the Tiwanaku aria, even those of babies as young as 1 year of age, demonstrating the importance of these substances to the local people's spirituality.[16]

As was characteristic of civilizations around this time, the Tiwanaku actively incorporated human sacrifice into their culture. The remains of dismembered bodies have been found throughout the area. Ceramic artifacts depict imagery of warriors, masked with puma skulls, decapitating their enemies and holding trophy skulls, adorned with belts of human heads with their tongues torn out.[15]

[edit] Peak and Decline

The Tiwanaku civilization and the use of these temples appears to some to have peaked from around 700 AD to 1000 AD, by which point the temples and surrounding area may have been home to some 400,000 people. By this point, an extensive infrastructure had been developed with a complex irrigation system running over 30 square miles to support potatoes, quinoa, corn and other various crops. At its peak the Tiwanaku culture dominated the entire Lake Titicaca basin as well as portions of Bolivia and Chile.

The culture in question seems to have dissolved rather abruptly some time around 1000 AD and researchers are still seeking answers as to why. A likely scenario involves rapid environmental change, possibly involving an extended drought. Unable to support the massive crop yields necessary for their large population, the Tiwanaku are argued to have scattered into the local mountain ranges only to disappear shortly thereafter.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Vranich, A., 1999, Interpreting the Meaning of Ritual Spaces: The Temple Complex of Pumapunku, Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Doctoral Dissertation, The University of Pennsylvania. 1
  2. ^ a b Protzen, J.-P., and S.E.. Nair, 2000, On Reconstructing Tiwanaku Architecture: The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 358-371.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Protzen, Jean-Pierre; Stella Nair, 1997, Who Taught the Inca Stonemasons Their Skills? A Comparison of Tiahuanaco and Inca Cut-Stone Masonry: The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. vol. 56, no. 2, pp.146-167
  4. ^ a b Kolata, Alan L., 1993, The Tiwanaku: Portrait of an Andean Civilization. Blackwell Publishers, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  5. ^ Posnansky, A., 1943, Tihuanacu: the Cradle of American Man. J. J. Augustin Publisher, New York.
  6. ^ Kolata, A.L., 1996, Tiwanaku and Its Hinterland: Archaeology and Paleoecology of an Andean Civilization, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.
  7. ^ Kolata, A.L., 2003, Tiwanaku and Its Hinterland: Archaeology and Paleoecology of an Andean Civilization,Volume Two: Urban and Rural Archaeology, volume 2, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.
  8. ^ Browman, D.L., 1981, New Light on Andean Tiwanaku: American Scientist. vol. 69, no. 4, pp. 408-419.
  9. ^ Coe, Michael, Dean Snow, and Elizabeth Benson, 1986 “Atlas of Ancient America” p. 190
  10. ^ Fiedel, S. J., 1992, Prehistory of the Americas. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  11. ^ a b Vranich, A., 2006, The construction and reconstruction of ritual space at Tiwanaku, Bolivia (A.D. 500–1000): Journal of Field Archaeology. vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 121–136.
  12. ^ Robinson, Eugene (1990). In Bolivia, Great Excavations; Tiwanaku Digs Unearthing New History of the New World, The Washington Post. Dec 11, 1990: d.01.
  13. ^ Lechtman, H.N., 1998, Architectural cramps at Tiwanaku: copper-arsenic-nickel bronze. In Metallurgica Andina: In Honour of Hans-Gert Bachmann and Robert Maddin, Deutsches, edited by T. Rehren, A. Hauptmann, and J. D. Muhly, pp. 77-92. Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, Germany.
  14. ^ Lechtman, H.N., 1997, El bronce arsenical y el Horizonte Medio. En Arqueología, antropología e historia en los Andes. in Homenaje a María Rostworowski, edited by R. Varón and J. Flores, pp. 153-186. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Lima.
  15. ^ a b Morell, Virginia (2002). Empires Across the Andes National Geographic. Vol. 201, Iss. 6: 106
  16. ^ Choi, Charles Q. Drugs Found in Hair of Ancient Andean Mummies National Geographic News. Oct. 22, 2008

[edit] External links

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