TIWANAKU (Bolivia): Pre-Hispanic vessels over 1,400 years old have been found in the centre of Bolivia’s Tiwanaku ruins, archaeologists said on Thursday.

The finding was made at the Kalasasaya temple during a research, conservation and restoration project undertaken with the support of Unesco on the grounds of the ancient city, which is about 75kms from the capital of La Paz, near the southern shore of Lake Titicaca.

Mary Luz Choque, an assistant archaeologist at the Archaeological Investiga­tions Centre of Tihu­anaco, said that the circular shape in which the objects were buried suggests they formed part of an offering made at the funeral of a person of noble lineage.

Tiwanaku was a spiritual and political centre considered to be one of the most important pre-Hispanic empires. It was declared a religious heritage site by Unesco in 2000.

Julio Condori, director of the archaeological centre, said the vessels date from the time of Tiwanaku III, between AD400 and 600, and include iconography of fish and birds.

He said the initial discoveries allowed one to “rethink what the actual function of the Kalasasaya temple was and redefine the interpretation of its origin”.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2019