PALASPATA, BOLIVIA—According to a statement released by Penn State, American and Bolivian researchers discovered a previously unknown temple built by the enigmatic Tiwanaku civilization near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca. Many scholars consider the Tiwanaku to be the precursor to the Inca Empire and one of the earliest complex societies in the Andes region. The civilization suddenly and mysteriously collapsed around a.d. 1000. The team located the ceremonial complex at the site of Palaspata using satellite imagery and drone photography. About the size of a city block, the structure consists of 15 quadrangular enclosures arranged around a central courtyard. Its layout seems aligned to perform rituals following the solar equinox. Plentiful kero cups, vessels used to drink traditional maize beer, that were found at the site indicate that the temple frequently hosted feasts and celebrations. The location for the temple may have been chosen because it sits at the intersection of three vastly different ecosystems: the highlands around Lake Titicaca to the north, the arid Altiplano to the west, and the Andean valleys of Cochabamba to the east. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. For more on Tiwanaku, go to "Six Centuries of the Condor."
