Object description

Tiwanaku is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. It was the capital of an empire that extended into present-day Peru and Chile, flourishing from AD 300 to 1000. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important civilizations prior to the Inca Empire; it was the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five hundred years. The ruins of the ancient city state are near the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca in Tiwanaku Municipality, Ingavi Province, La Paz Department, about 72 km west of La Paz.