page_title: Andean civilizations
section_title: Tiwanaku
hierarchical_section_title: Andean civilizations / Archaeological cultures / Tiwanaku
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Sonnentor von Tiahuanaco in Bolivia Français&#160;: La porte du soleil de la civilisation Tiwanaku en Bolivia Nederlands: Zonnepoort van Tiwanaku in Bolivia English: The Gateway of the Sun from the Tiwanaku civilization in Bolivia
context_page_description: The Andean civilizations were complex societies of many cultures and peoples mainly developed in the river valleys of the coastal deserts of Peru. They stretched from the Andes of Ecuador southward down the Andes to northern Argentina and Chile. Archaeologists believe that Andean civilizations first developed on the narrow coastal plain of the Pacific Ocean. The Caral or Norte Chico civilization of Peru is the oldest civilization in the Americas, dating back to 3200 BCE.
  Despite severe environmental challenges, the Andean civilizations domesticated a wide variety of crops, some of which became of worldwide importance. The Andean civilizations were also noteworthy for monumental architecture, textile weaving, and many unique characteristics of the societies they created.
  Less than a century prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Incas, already established on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, united most of the Andean cultures into one single that encompassed all of what is usually called Andean civilization. The Muisca of Colombia and the Timoto Cuica of Venezuela remained outside the Inca orbit. The Inca Empire was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples.
context_section_description: Tiwanaku (Spanish: Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as 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 the La Paz Department, Ingavi Province, Tiwanaku Municipality, about 72 km (45 mi) west of La Paz. The site was first recorded in written history by Spanish conquistador and self-acclaimed "first chronicler of the Indies" Pedro Cieza de León. Leon stumbled upon the remains of Tiwanaku in 1549 while searching for the Inca capital Qullasuyu. Some have hypothesized that Tiwanaku's modern name is related to the Aymara term taypiqala, meaning "stone in the center", alluding to the belief that it lay at the center of the world. However, the name by which Tiwanaku was known to its inhabitants may have been lost, as the people of Tiwanaku had no written language.
caption: The "Gate of the Sun" built by the Tiwanaku culture
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