The Tiwanaku sacred center and its influence in eastern Cochabamba valleys
Tiwanaku is an important referent in Andean Archaeology. Its monumental buildings and enigmatic motifs carved in massive stones are the center of many theories and interpretations. Its capital was the center of an expanding state that allowed the integration of diverse societies and regions to a scale never seen in the South Central Andes. Tiwanaku influence expanded into a vast territory forging a common bonding language through cultural practices expressed in the material domain as religious objects, as well as patterns of consumption. It had a profound impact in diverse societies, changing and generating new forms of relationship among them. The eastern interandean valleys of Bolivia formed part of these dynamic in Cochabamba and neighboring areas, spaces in which diverse forms of interaction and sociopolitical relations produced a rich social phenomenon that will be discussed in this presentation.
Claudia Rivera Casanovas has a licenciatura degree in archaeology at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz-Bolivia. She received a M.A and Ph.D. in Anthropology with a specialty in Archaeology from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a tenured professor in Archaeology and Researcher at the Institute of Anthropological and Archaeological Investigations at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. She leads the Additive Technologies Laboratory. Over the years, she organized a number of research projects in different regions of Bolivia including the Titicaca basin in sites like Tiwanaku and Chiripa, the interandean central and southern valleys, as well as the tropical piedmont. She has conducted investigations in ceramic and textile technologies, the development of complex societies, regional settlement patterns and rock art.
This presentation is hosted by ANTH 5589: Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory led by Professor Sonia Alconini.