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An ancient society near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca in modern-day Bolivia was once one of the continent's most powerful civilizations. Known as Tiwanaku, the ancient society is widely considered by archaeologists to be one of the earliest examples of civilization in the Andes and a precursor of the Inca empire, but it mysteriously disappeared about a thousand years ago. Now, a team led by scientists at Penn State and in Bolivia have discovered a Tiwanaku temple, shedding new light on what the society looked like in its prime.

Much about the Tiwanaku civilization remains unknown, explained José Capriles, Penn State associate professor of anthropology and lead author on a study about the temple discovery published in the journal .

"Their society collapsed sometime around 1000 CE and was a ruin by the time the Incas conquered the Andes in the 15th century," Capriles said. CE refers to the common era of the current calendar. "At its peak, it boasted a highly organized societal structure, leaving behind remnants of architectural monuments like pyramids, terraced temples and monoliths, most of which are distributed in sites around Lake Titicaca and, while we know Tiwanaku's control and influence extended much further, scholars debate how much actual control over distant places it had."

The newly discovered temple complex is located roughly 130 miles south of Tiwanaku's established historical site, on top of a hill that was known to local Indigenous farmers but was never explored in depth by researchers due to its unassuming location. However, the position of the site is actually very strategic, Capriles explained.

At the time of Tiwanaku, the spot connected three main trade routes for three vastly different ecosystems: the productive highlands around Lake Titicaca to the north, the arid Altiplano ideal for herding llamas to the west and the agriculturally productive eastern Andean valleys of Cochabamba to the east.

As such, the researchers said they understood that the site must have held some importance for connecting people. Capriles explained that people moved, traded and built monuments in places of significance throughout the arid mountain landscape. After noticing an unmapped quadrangular plot of land, the researchers used various techniques to visualize the area.

"Because the features are very faint, we blended various satellite images together," Capriles said. "We also conducted a series of UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, flights to acquire better pictures. By means of photogrammetry, a technique that uses photos to construct a 3D approximation, we got a more detailed rendering of the structure and its topography."

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Stone alignments revealed an ancient temple, called Palaspata, after the native name for the area. The temple complex is approximately 125 meters long by 145 meters wide—about the size of a city block—and includes 15 quadrangular enclosures arranged around a rectangular inner courtyard. Its layout seems aligned to perform rituals following the solar equinox, the moment when the sun is directly above the equator, Capriles said. Using data they collected, the researchers developed a reconstruction to reveal what the ancient temple might have looked like.

The surface of the temple contained numerous fragments of keru cups. The cups were used for drinking chicha, a traditional maize beer, during agricultural feasts and celebrations and point to the temple's function as a central hub for trade, Capriles said. The fact that maize was not locally grown but cultivated in the Cochabamba valleys versus the high-altitude temple site underscores the temple's importance in facilitating access to various goods, including food, and connecting different culinary traditions, he added.

Capriles said the temple likely served a religious purpose, evidenced by the designated ritual areas as well as by its physical connection mediating trade and harvest distribution.

"Most economic and political transactions had to be mediated through divinity, because that would be a common language that would facilitate various individuals cooperating," he said, as religion was often the common ground that connected different groups.

The discovery was a surprise even to the local inhabitants, explained Justo Ventura Guarayo, mayor of the municipality of Caracollo where the site is located.

"The archaeological findings at Palaspata are significant because they highlight a crucial aspect of our local heritage that had been completely overlooked," Ventura Guarayo said. "This discovery is vital for our community, and we believe its documentation will be invaluable for promoting tourism and showcasing our region's rich history."

He added that the city is working with state and national authorities to ensure proper protection and preservation of the site, following guidance from archaeology experts like Capriles.

"With more insight into the past of this ancient site, we get a window into how people managed cooperation, and how we can materially see evidence of political and economic control," Capriles added. "There's still so much to discover that we don't know about, and that could be hiding in plain sight. It just requires opening your eyes to see what's out there."