Pumapunku

Pumapunku

View at the ruins of Pumapunku
Alternative name	Puma Punku
Altitude	3,850 m (12,631 ft)
Type	an alignment of plazas and ramps centered on a man-made terraced platform mound with a sunken court and monumental complex on top
Part of	Tiwanaku Site
Length	116.7 metres
Width	167.4 metres
Area	at least 14 hectares
History
Material	sifted and layered soils (mound), andesite (superstructure), sandstone (foundation and internal channels), ternary Cu–As–Ni bronze alloy (cramps), mortar of lime and sand with ground-up malachite (turquoise green plaster floor), clay (red floor)
Founded	536–600
Cultures	Tiwanaku empire
Site notes
Discovered	1549 by Pedro Cieza de León (first European visitor)
Excavation dates	Alexei Vranich
Condition	Ruined
Architecture
Architectural styles	Pumapunku Style architecture

16°33′42″S 68°40′48″W / 16.56169°S 68.67993°W / -16.56169; -68.67993

Pumapunku or Puma Punku (Aymara and Quechua which literally means 'Gate of the Puma') is a 6th-century T-shaped and strategically aligned man-made terraced platform mound with a sunken court and monumental structure on top that is part of the Pumapunku complex, at the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanacu, in western Bolivia. The Pumapunku complex is an alignment of plazas and ramps centered on the Pumapunku platform mound. Today the monumental complex on top of the platform mound lies in ruins.

It is believed to have been begun after AD 536. After Akapana, which is believed to be "Pumapunku's twin", Pumapunku was the second most important construction in Tiwanaku. Among all the names for the areas in Tiwanaku only the names "Akapana" and "Pumapunku" have historical relevance. At Pumapunku several miniature gates which are perfect replicas of once standing full-size gateways were found. Additionally to these miniature gateways, likely, at least five gateways (and several blind miniature gateways) were once (or were intended to be) integrated into the Pumapunku monumental complex. The foundation platform of Pumapunku supported as many as eight andesite gateways. The fragments of five andesite gateways with similar characteristics to the Gateway of the Sun were found.

Tiwanaku is significant in Inca traditions because it is believed to be the site where the world was created.^[1] In Aymara, Puma Punku's name means "Gate of the Puma". The Pumapunku complex consists of an unwalled western court, a central unwalled esplanade, a terraced platform mound that is faced with stone, and a walled eastern court.^[2][3][4]

At its peak, Pumapunku is thought to have been "unimaginably wondrous,"^[3] adorned with polished metal plaques, brightly colored ceramic and fabric ornamentation, and visited by costumed citizens, elaborately dressed priests, and elites decked in exotic jewelry. Current understanding of this complex is limited due to its age, the lack of a written record, and the current deteriorated state of the structures due to treasure hunting, looting, stone mining for building stone and railroad ballast, and natural weathering.^[2][3][5]