Archaeologists say they have discovered the ruins of what they believe are the boundaries of an ancient temple belonging to the mysterious Andean society of Tiwanaku that disappeared around AD 1000.
The research team unearthed the immense temple complex in the highlands of what is now Bolivia’s municipality of Caracollo. The site is southeast of Lake Titicaca, a different region than where researchers had previously focused their search for clues that might help unravel the secrets of this lost society.
The extraordinary find is roughly 130 miles (about 210 kilometers) south of the established archaeological site of Tiwanaku, the capital of the powerful empire that preceded the Incas. The latest findings were described in a study published on June 24 in the journal Antiquity.
Called Palaspata after the native name for the region, the temple lies outside the borders of where Tiwanaku was previously known to have expanded, said Dr. José Capriles, a Bolivian archaeologist and associate professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University.
Capriles, who was the lead author of the study, noted that the building’s architectural elements, including a terraced platform and sunken courtyard, have a striking resemblance to the Tiwanaku style found in other parts of the Lake Titicaca region. “We don’t expect it in this particular place and the fact that it exists there is remarkable,” he said.
