Disclaimer

The intention of this content is to expand awareness about certain places, myths and stories told at some point by humanity. Much of the information may not be scientifically supported or may contradict current theories. Knowledge, throughout history, is constantly updated, built or replaced when there is greater understanding. Therefore, we believe in free thinking and its use in a reasonable and beneficial way for collective evolution.

As part of our explorations and travels to unusual places, we cannot disregard the stories and myths that circulate especially through the local people. It is known that there are scientific explanations and stories considered official by scholars, mostly foreigners, but what do the natives have to say? Should we erase their stories and mythology from the annals of knowledge, but still keep the saints, lords and miracles alive where it is convenient?

Thus, we bring you another very controversial and mythical place to explore: Tiahuanaco.

Tiauanaco or Tiwanaku is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, and one of the largest archaeological sites in South America. The ruins encompass monumental structures and megalithic blocks. The population of the site probably peaked around the year 800, with a population of between 10,000 and 20,000 people [1]

The site was recorded for the first time in written history in 1549 by the Spanish conqueror Pedro Cieza de León. Reports rescue the name given to the city by the Aymaras, which means "stone in the center", alluding to the belief that it was at the center of the world.

Who built Tiahuanaco?

It is quite common to ask the natives - “Who built Tiahuanaco?” - and the answer is quite intriguing - “It was not our ancestors, nor before them. Someone very ancient built this city, which was inhabited by the Incas.” This account is even present in the book Chronicles of Peru, written in the 16th century by Garcilaso de La Vega.

It is quite difficult to find anything written there. The Aymara peoples who still inhabit the region did not use writing for records, being introduced only with the arrival of the Latin alphabet through the Spanish colonists.

There are legends told, once again, of giants who piled the megalithic stones at the site. But this is not impressive considering the myriad of accounts in various mythologies and religions around the world, including the Bible, about these mysterious beings.

The age of Tiahuanaco

The age of the mythical city has been the subject of much disagreement in the last century. Beginning in the 1970s, Carlos Ponce Sanginés proposed that the site was first occupied around 1580 BC However, researchers have recently come to recognize that this dating is unreliable, indicating that the site is no older than 200 BC or 300 BC [1]

However, one of the greatest scholars of Tiahuanco, Arthur Posnansky [2] observed based on astronomical measurements of building landmarks, that Tiahuanaco was built an incredible 17 thousand years ago. With more accurate measurements today, a no less surprising date has been calculated: 12 thousand years ago. This information makes Tiahuanaco one of the oldest human settlements on the face of the Earth, along with Gobekli Tepe in Turkey.

This information, if true, also undermines the theory of human migration to the Americas across the Bering Strait, already seen as an official, and little fought. It is highly unlikely that nomadic hunters would have been able to build such an advanced city with so little resources and energy available.

An underground city?

A recent discovery shook the archaeological world when an underground city near the Tiahuanaco area was revealed. In full, a bulletin sent to AFP reads that:

“With the new data obtained with the help of precision camera technology that took photographs from above, and infrared, a pre-Hispanic citadel located outside the archaeological perimeter was discovered, where it was detected that there is an underground square and up to two platforms of what is considered to be a pyramid"[3]

The extension of the citadel is such that its excavation would take at least 50 years, according to the Bolivian Ministry of Culture. The discovery took place during the work of preservation and conservation of Tiwanaku, carried out with the cooperation of Japan and UNESCO. [4][5]

The renowned news agency also cites the finding and reconstruction of several elongated skulls that pre-date the milestones already established for the Tiahuanaco civilization in the last century [6].

Lake Titicaca and its legends

The most well-known legend that revolves around the origin of the lake is the following one: Lake Titicaca was a fertile valley where happy men lived in this paradise protected by the Apus, the mountain gods.

To enjoy this paradise, men had only one rule: they could not climb to the top of the mountain, where the Sacred Fire burned. But in those lands there was also the Devil, who could not bear to see so much happiness. Therefore he incited the man to do the forbidden, and to climb to the top of the mountain.

The Apus, seeing the men climbing the slope, were so furious that they released the cougars, which devoured the entire population, except for a couple.

Faced with such a slaughter, Inti the Sun God wept for 40 days and 40 nights, thus creating Lake Titicaca. Everything was flooded and as a result of this the cougars turned to stone.

Any resemblance to the biblical story of the search for the apple in paradise and Noah's flood is not purely coincidental.

Lake Titicaca is famous in mystical communities for being a center of interests and powerful energetic emanations. There are controversial reports by some authors about underground tunnels in their islands [7]. Garcilaso de La Vega also cites several mystical passages through Inca lore about the lake:

Our father the sun, seeing men as I said to him, had pity on them, and sent from heaven to earth a son and a daughter of his own, to teach them in the knowledge of our father the sun, that they might worship him, and had him for their god. And that they might give them precepts and laws, in which they would live like men, in reason and urbanity; so that they would live in houses and villages, know how to plow the land, cultivate plants and crops, raise cattle and enjoy them and the fruits of the earth, as rational men and not, as beasts. [8]

According to the myth recorded by Juan de Betanzos, Viracocha, the Supreme Inca God, emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca. Viracocha was also described as "a man of medium height, white, bearded, dressed in a white robe, with a bow attached to his waist, and carrying a staff and a book in his hands".

Once again, there is a lot of similarity with the Islamic-Jewish-Christian myths. But how would this be possible if these peoples, in theory, never had contact with each other until their “discovery”?

Well, we've covered the subject of Tiahuanaco and Lake Titicaca quite a bit here with an eagle's eye. Possibly we will return to these topics in a next opportunity, considering the infinity of subjects, myths and unexplored points that we leave here.

The mark that remains after exploring each of these subjects in the light of curiosity, legends and the story told is that there are many dots still to connect. What would this newly discovered underground city be? What were and (still) would be there? Who built and lived there? How did they build? Can the answers not brought by science be found in myths?

Until the next one!

[1] https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiauanaco
[2] Arthur Posnansky - Tihuanacu, the Cradle of American Man
[3] News - https://www.france24.com/es/20180728-arqueologos-descubren-ciudad-subterranea-preincaica-en-bolivia
[4] News - https://en.unesco.org/courier/2018-3/secrets-tiwanaku-revealed-drone
[5] News - https://www.france24.com/es/20180408-reconstruyen-craneos-alargados-de-milenarios-aborigenes-de-tiwanaku-en-bolivia
[6] News - https://www.france24.com/es/20180518-salen-la-luz-rasgos-faciales-de-craneos-alargados-de-tiwanakotas
[7] The Chinkana of the Titicaca, The secret tunnels of the Sacred Lake - G. Antonio Portugal Alvizuri
[8] Inca - Garcilaso de La Vega