Underwater ritual offerings in the Island of the Sun and the formation of the Tiwanaku state

Recent underwater archaeological excavations near the Island of the Sun, Bolivia, have uncovered ritual offerings that provide new insights into the formation and consolidation of the Tiwanaku state. These offerings, consisting of ceramic feline incense burners, juvenile llamas, and sumptuary metal, shell, and lapidary ornaments, reveal cyclically repeated state rituals. The study uses these findings to explain how religion played a pivotal role in promoting the economic, political, and ideological systems that defined the Tiwanaku polity during its peak between the 5th and 12th centuries CE.

Delaere, C., Capriles, J. M., & Stanish, C. (2019). Underwater ritual offerings in the Island of the Sun and the formation of the Tiwanaku state. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(17), 8233–8238. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820749116