Tiwanaku in the Titicaca Basin and Its Expansion in the South-Central Andean Region

Recent research reveals that the Tiwanaku culture, through its unique political and religious ideology, achieved unprecedented integration of diverse societies across the south-central Andes during the Late Formative period (200 BC to 500 AD). By consolidating power around 500–600 AD, likely leveraging population migration from the Taraco Peninsula due to rising lake levels and strategic ideological and economic control, Tiwanaku established a four-tier hierarchical settlement system with itself at the apex. This study highlights how Tiwanaku employed religious, political, and economic mechanisms to exert hegemony over vast territories, while also acknowledging the agency of local societies within its sphere of influence. The findings underscore the dynamic nature of this phenomenon, shaping the Middle Horizon period in Andean archaeology.

Rivera-Casanovas, C., & Agüero, C. (2026). Tiwanaku in the Titicaca Basin and Its Expansion in the South-Central Andean Region. The Oxford Handbook of South American Archaeology, 797–816. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195391367.013.54