Ceremonial Waterscapes: The Desaguadero River Valley in Antiquity

Summary

The Lake Titicaca Basin in the Bolivian Andes was a dynamic place that saw the development of early religious centers like Chiripa and Khonkho Wankane, the subsequent emergence and expansion of the Tiwanaku state, and the incursion of the Inca empire. The Desaguadero River is the only river that drains Lake Titicaca, flowing south and connecting the region to the central altiplano and Lake Poopó some 250 kilometers downriver. This paper examines the ceremonial and political importance of the Desaguadero River itself. I draw on excavation, survey, and remote sensing data from the sites of Iruhito, Cerro Chijcha, Simillake, and Khonkho Wankane to explore the ways that the river actively shaped the ceremonial and political lives of residents of the region throughout the pre-Columbian period, and into the early Colonial period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21757