Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
labour for the construction of monumental temples and palaces. It also allowed trade with
other societies, though as their power grew, direct control of other regions through conquest
or colonization probably came to replace this. Tiwanaku's influence thus spread to encom-
pass a vast area, crisscrossed with paved roads along which caravans of hundreds of llamas
carried all kinds of produce to the centre of the empire.
SUKAKULLOS
The most impressive achievement of the Tiwanaku civilization was undoubtedly the in-
tensification of agriculture along the shores of Lago Titicaca using a system of raised fields
known in Aymara as
sukakullo
. This system enabled the inhabitants of Tiwanaku to over-
come the problems of drought, floods, frost and soil exhaustion. The Altiplano, the plain
surrounding the ruins - which today provides a marginal living for just over seven thou-
sand campesinos - was 1500 years ago producing harvests big enough to feed over one
hundred thousand people.
The platforms stand over 1m high, with planting surfaces up to 200m long and 15m wide,
and each is carefully structured, with a base of stones followed by a layer of clay to prevent
salination
by the slightly brackish waters of Lago Titicaca. Above this is a layer of gravel,
followedbyoneofsandysoilandfinallyacoatingofrich,organictopsoil.Theraisedfields
run in parallel lines, with
water-filled ditches
running between them, providing irrigation
during the dry season and preventing flooding when the level of the lake rose. By storing
the heat of the sun during the day and releasing it at night, the water in the ditches also pro-
tected crops from frost, extending the growing season considerably. Whereas present-day
farmers produce about three tons of potatoes per hectare, research suggests that the
sukak-
ullo
produced astonishing yields of up to twenty tonnes a hectare. Experimental projects
are now under way to help local
campesinos
reintroduce these techniques.
Decline and abandonment
Sometimeafter1000AD,Tiwanakufellintoarapidandirreversible
decline
.Thefieldswere
abandoned, the population dispersed and, within a period of about fifty years, the empire dis-
appeared, most likely due to climate change. Scientists studying ice cores from Andean glaci-
ers have discovered that from about 1000 AD the region suffered a long-term decline in rain-
fall. Though the imperial storehouses could no doubt withstand a few lean years, this searing
drought
lasted for decades, even centuries. Unable to feed the hungry masses, Tiwanaku's
civilization collapsed.
The colonial era to the twentieth century
Most of the
destruction
of the remains of Tiwanaku occurred relatively recently. When the
Spanish first came here many of the buildings were still standing, but the presence of gold
meant that they quickly set about tearing them down. Licences to loot the site were handed
