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<< Our Photo Pages >> Pumapunku - Ancient Temple in Bolivia

Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 28 June 2011  Page Views: 13423

Multi-periodSite Name: Pumapunku Alternative Name: Puma Pumku, Puma Puncu, Puma Punku
Country: Bolivia Type: Ancient Temple

Latitude: 16.56169S  Longitude: 68.679931W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Dutch visited on 16th Mar 1997 - their rating: Cond: 2

Andy B have visited here

Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by Andy B : Demonstration of the building block technique Creative Commons image by Brattarb. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Pumapunku is part of a large temple complex or monument group that is part of the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanaku, Bolivia. In Aymara, its name means, “The Door of the Cougar”. The Pumapunku complex consists of an unwalled western court, a central unwalled esplanade, a terraced platform mound that is faced with megalithic stone, and a walled eastern court.

The Pumapunku is a terraced earthen mound that is faced with megalithic blocks. It is 167.36 m wide along its north-south axis and 116.7 m long along its east-west axis. On the northeast and southeast corners of the Pumapunku it has 20-meter wide projections that extend 27.6 meters north and south from the rectangular mound.

The eastern edge of the Pumapunku is occupied by what is called the “Plataforma Lítica.” The Plataforma Lítica consists of a stone terrace that is 6.75 by 38.72 meters in dimension. This terrace is paved with multiple enormous stone blocks. The Plataforma Lítica contains the largest stone slab found in both the Pumapunku and Tiwanaku Site. This stone slab is 7.81 meters long, 5.17 meters wide and averages 1.07 meters thick.

Based upon the specific gravity of the red sandstone from which it was carved, this stone slab has been estimated to weigh 131 metric tons. The core of the Pumapunku consists of clay. The fill underlying selected parts of the edge of the Pumapunku consists of river sand and cobbles instead of clay. Excavations at the Pumapunku have documented “three major building epochs, in addition to small repairs and remodeling.”

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

Read more at Wikipedia and see also Hub Pages

Note: Video of Puma Punku by Brien Foerster showing details and close ups of some of the surfaces
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Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by durhamnature : Painting from "Expedition dans les pays de Sud America" via archive.org (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by durhamnature (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by durhamnature : Old photo from "Across the Andes and Down the Amazon" via archive.org (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by SolarMegalith : Tiahuanaco is widely considered to have risen to power around 5th century BC (photo taken on July 2003). (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by Andy B : Detail of stone with precisely cut straight line and tooled holes within the line Creative Commons image by Matt Corbitt.

Pumapunku
Pumapunku submitted by Andy B : Demonstration of the building block technique Creative Commons image by Brattarb.

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"Pumapunku" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Re: Puma Punku: Perhaps The Strangest Stone Construction On Earth by Andy B on Saturday, 08 October 2011
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Wikipedia's location for this site is -16.332618, -68.402606
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Puma Punku: Perhaps The Strangest Stone Construction On Earth by davidmorgan on Sunday, 09 October 2011
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    That's way off. We've got the correct position.
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Puma Punku: Perhaps The Strangest Stone Construction On Earth by Aluta on Thursday, 30 June 2011
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This is truly, as it says, a strange site. When I see pictures of what's there, I simply don't know what to make of it and I can't imagine the people who made these things. This is not to say I don't think the indigenous people made them. I just mean it's a very different view of who these people were. It challenges me to reconsider what we've been told about them.
[ Reply to This ]

Puma Punku: Perhaps The Strangest Stone Construction On Earth by Andy B on Tuesday, 28 June 2011
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    Re: Puma Punku: Perhaps The Strangest Stone Construction On Earth by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 28 June 2011
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    "... sungate, similar to the famous one that's nearby at, er, ...[long pause]... the sister site".
    I think the word he's looking for is Tiwanaku.
    [ Reply to This ]

Video: Puma punku, details and close ups of Surfaces. by Andy B on Tuesday, 28 June 2011
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Video: Puma punku, details and close ups of Surfaces.
By Brien Foerster



More videos available on YouTube
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