Puma Punku - The Ancient Civilization, Bolivia.

Описание

Puma Punku - The Ancient Civilization, Bolivia.
#Landscape universe#
Pumapunku or Puma Punku (Aymara and Quechua which literally means 'Gate of the Puma') is a 6th-century T-shaped and strategically aligned man-made terraced platform mound with a sunken court and monumental structure on top that is part of the Pumapunku complex, at the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanacu, in western Bolivia. The Pumapunku complex is an alignment of plazas and ramps centered on the Pumapunku platform mound. Today the monumental complex on top of the platform mound lies in ruins.

Puma Punku
Altitude
3,850 m (12,631 ft)
Type
an alignment of plazas and ramps centered on a man-made terraced platform mound with a sunken court and monumental complex on top
Part of
Tiwanaku Site
Length
116.7 metres
Width
167.4 metres
Area
at least 14 hectares
History
Material
sifted and layered soils (mound), andesite (superstructure), sandstone (foundation and internal channels), ternary Cu–As–Ni bronze alloy (cramps), mortar of lime and sand with ground-up malachite (turquoise green plaster floor), clay (red floor)
Founded
536–600
Cultures
Tiwanaku empire
Site notes
Discovered
1549 by Pedro Cieza de León (first European visitor)
Excavation dates
Vranich
Condition
Ruined
Architecture
Architectural styles
Pumapunku Style architecture


Stone blocks at Pumapunku
It is believed to date to AD 536. After Akapana, which is believed to be "Pumapunku's twin", Pumapunku was the second most important construction in Tiwanaku. Among all the names for the areas in Tiwanaku only the names "Akapana" and "Pumapunku" have historical relevance. At Pumapunku several miniature gates which are perfect replicas of once standing full-size gateways were found. Additionally to these miniature gateways, likely, at least five gateways (and several blind miniature gateways) were once (or were intended to be) integrated into the Pumapunku monumental complex. The foundation platform of Pumapunku supported as many as eight andesite gateways. The fragments of five andesite gateways with similar characteristics to the Gateway of the Sun were found.

Tiwanaku is significant in Inca traditions because it is believed to be the site where the world was created.In Aymara, Puma Punku's name means "Gate of the Puma". The Pumapunku complex consists of an unwalled western court, a central unwalled esplanade, a terraced platform mound that is faced with stone, and a walled eastern court.

At its peak, Pumapunku is thought to have been "unimaginably wondrous,"adorned with polished metal plaques, brightly colored ceramic and fabric ornamentation, and visited by costumed citizens, elaborately dressed priests, and elites decked in exotic jewelry. Current understanding of this complex is limited due to its age, the lack of a written record, and the current deteriorated state of the structures due to treasure hunting, looting, stone mining for building stone and railroad ballast, and natural weathering.
History

When the Spanish arrived at Tiwanaku there was still standing architecture at Pumapunku. Bernabé Cobo reports that one Gateway and one "window" was still standing on one of the platforms.
Age

Noted by Andean specialist, W. H. Isbell, professor at Binghamton University, a radiocarbon date was obtained by Vranich from organic material from the deepest and oldest layer of mound-fill forming the Pumapunku. This layer was deposited during the first of three construction epochs, and dates the initial construction of the Pumapunku to AD 536–600 (1510 ±25 B.P. C14, calibrated date). Since the radiocarbon date came from the deepest and oldest layer of mound-fill under the andesite and sandstone stonework, the stonework was probably constructed sometime after AD 536–600. The excavation trenches of Vranich show the clay, sand, and gravel fill of the Pumapunku complex were laid directly on the sterile middle Pleistocene sediments. These excavation trenches also demonstrated the lack of any pre-Andean Middle Horizon cultural deposits within the area of the Tiwanaku Site adjacent to the Pumapunku complex.

পুমাপুঙ্কু বা পুমা পুঙ্কু হল 6 তম শতাব্দীর টি-আকৃতির এবং কৌশলগতভাবে সারিবদ্ধ মানব-নির্মিত সোপানযুক্ত প্ল্যাটফর্মের ঢিবি যার উপরে একটি ডুবে যাওয়া কোর্ট এবং স্মারক কাঠামো রয়েছে যা পশ্চিম বলিভিয়ার টিওয়ানাকুর কাছে টিওয়ানাকু সাইটে পুমাপুঙ্কু কমপ্লেক্সের অংশ।