Bolivia: Construction of the last stage of the Tiwanaku Lithic Museum begins

CAF, through its Culture for Development program, has been funding a number of cultural and tourism works in several rural communities around the country. The cornerstone for the third, and last, stage of the Tiwanaku Lithic Museum, a project involving an investment of US$252,000, was laid yesterday. In addition to the President, the CAF representative in Bolivia, José Carrera, as well as other national, departmental and municipal authorities were also present at the ceremony.

Some 72 kilometers from La Paz, near the road to Laja, lies the most important group of ancient ruins in Bolivia. It was here that a museum –inaugurated in 2002—was built to house and display the Bennett monolith and other outstanding relics of this pre-Hispanic culture.

The new Lithic Museum contains a collection taken from the same site, consisting of beautiful pieces of pottery, stone, metal, artifacts made out of bone, human remains, etc., discovered during a number of scientific digs in the area.

The third stage is intended to provide more modern facilities for displaying pieces taken from the new excavations, mainly at Akapana, work that is also being funded by CAF jointly with other institutions and companies.

The goal of the excavations at Akapana is to seek confirmation of ancient chronicles that spoke of an underground shrine at the top of the mound, with a stepped-cross floor plan similar in shape to the Andean cross.

Tiwanaku is part of the oldest culture in South America, dating back twenty-seven and a half centuries. It was the capital of a large Andean state that encompassed the western part of Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and the coastal area of Chile, from Copiapó north to the Atacama Desert. It is currently one of Bolivia’s main tourist attractions.

The civic and ceremonial area of Tiwanaku is home to such impressive structures as the Kalasasaya, the Underground Shrine, Kantatayita, the Akapana Pyramid, Pumapunku, Kerikala and Putuni.