Transformations in ritual practice and social interaction on the Tiwanaku periphery

Archaeological evidence from Cueva del Chileno in the southern Andes reveals that emergent local elites adopted Tiwanaku ritual practices during the Middle Horizon (AD 500–1100), a period marked by the expansion and eventual fragmentation of Tiwanaku influence. The discovery of a leather bag containing snuffing tablets and traces of psychoactive substances suggests the integration of Tiwanaku ideological symbols into peripheral communities. However, the bag's burial indicates that local elites later abandoned these practices as Tiwanaku control waned, signaling a shift in social and ritual dynamics during the decline of centralized political structures.

Albarracin-Jordan, J., Capriles, J. M., & Miller, M. J. (2014). Transformations in ritual practice and social interaction on the Tiwanaku periphery. Antiquity, 88(341), 851–862. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00050730