A great flood? True or false? Although the deep covering of earth over the Akapana and the Kalasasaya has never been clearly explained, the geological history is understood. Long before the arrival of the people who built Tiwanaku the altiplano or high plain of the central  Andes was covered by two huge lakes. Over the years these lakes have  evaporated leaving traces of ancient beaches in the surrounding mountains. The decline of the great lakes was gradual and their remnants can be seen today as shallow salt lakes or enormous saltpans or salares such as those of Uyuni or Coipasa.

The modern Lake Titicaca is the most northerly of the present day lakes and it drains gently southward by a  shallow river, the Desaguadero, which  in Spanish means quite literally a 'drain' . This river meanders for 450kms through a near featureless plain at an altitude of approximately 3750 meters until it reaches the lake system of Poopo. Within living memory Lake Poopo was a significant wetlands area where many species of waterbirds congregated. The past forty years have seen changes and Poopo has been drying. One reason has been the silting of the Desaguadero as the water flow from Lake Titicaca diminishes. Silt has accumulated naturally in the outlet of the Desaguadero river where it enters Lake Poopo holding back the water to create a totally new lake known as Uru-Uru. Today even that is drying and Poopo itself has become a large mudflat with just a few pools of brackish water
'Land Above the Clouds'  by Tony Morrison and published in 1974  ISBN 233 95737 5 has a full account of the lakes, climate and wildlife.
 

To see a simple map of the lakes and rivers     click the winged figure

 

Do the people hold the clues?    Tales handed down through the generations are still told around  firesides on the altiplano. A rich folklore contains elements of a past great flood, angry gods, the arrival of white gods from over the oceans and so on. These tales were recorded as long ago as the sixteenth century so there are no doubts about their origin. But the stories seem to conflict with the science. For example tiny arrow heads of basalt and quartz have been found along the edge of some of the old beaches. These are not seen on the highest beaches and neither on the lowest or around the present day shoreline.  One conclusion seems certain. People were there at some time during the age of the great lakes, perhaps as long as ten thousand years ago.  Anthropologists have traced the course of the migration of the first tribes along an overland route from north America revealing how tribes arriving in the Andes lived nomadically, hunting and gathering wild food as they travelled.  Tiwanaku came much later as the nomads began to settle, to cultivate and domesticate some of the wild animals.

Who were 'The Tiwanakans'? The early farmers lived simply but gradually drew together as communities, possibly for protection from surrounding tribes and in a predictible way some of these communities advanced more quickly. Around Tiwanaku the land was good for agriculure and hand in hand with massive crop production the ceremonial centre was built. Eventually Tiwanaku became a dominant culture in the south-central Andes and its influence can be traced far and wide. Then quite suddenly it began to decline and the ceremonial centre was virtually abandoned. No one knows why but perhaps it was no more than squabbles among the leaders. Later history is a much clearer picture with accounts of two powerful kinggdoms the Lupaca and Colla on the northwest and southwest corners of Lake Titicaca with others of lesser importance scattered in the highlands. Names such as Pacaje, Umasuyu, Charca and Canchi 'live on' as present-day political divisions in the Bolivian highlands. Remains of these smaller groups exist in many places and have been studied, largely by Bolivian archaeologists. Because the area is vast and until recently has been largely inacccesible research has been limited. But times are changing quickly and several good roads cross the Desagadero river into the old land of the Pacajes. Burial sites and fortifiications can be spotted from the road. 
Chullpas Tombs locally known as chullpas dominate ridges and high places seen by the ancient people as people as being closer to the sky and their hilltop gods. Some chullpas were built of mud-sods or adobe, others were of stone. Some were elaborate and other simple. Bodies of the deceased were placed inside, usually knees to chin in beautifully made baskets.

In many ways these various tribes are regarded as the ancestor of the Aymara speaking people who dominate the region today.The specialists in folklore have long known of small differencess in customs and the legends handed down which are rapidly being lost or simply becoming a single homogeneous 'altiplano culture'. Languages and dress are changing too, and only old photographs serve to remind us of what existed, even at the turn of the 19th century.
 

People-Past and Present
	Right -The Chipaya of Carangas have long been known to their neighbours as 'the people of the chullpas'. Their origin is obscure and both their language and dress is unique among the people of the central Andes
Long ago the people were buried in baskets housed in the chullpa tombs
	Right - Even in the early 20th century other languages were still used on the altiplano. The Urus (right) lived in swamps on the southern edge of Lake Titicaca and along the Desaguadero river. The last of the tribe died in the late 1950's
Aymara is the dominant language today

Dates and evidence on the ground hardly add up to Atlantis being set in the ancient Andes.   So what can account for the myths of 'The Flood'? Many questions about Tiwanaku have yet to be answered and Part Three of this series will take a look at the world and universe known to the ancient people.

With special thanks to the late Alicia Posnansky and the late Brian Fawcett

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