TIWANAKU & ITS HINTERLAND V1

TIWANAKU & ITS HINTERLAND V1
ISBN-10
156098600X
ISBN-13
9781560986003
Category
Nature / Ecology
Pages
323
Language
English
Published
1996-05-17
Publisher
Smithsonian
Author
KOLATA ALAN L

Description

"For nearly a millennium (ca. A.D. 100-1000), the pre-Hispanic, pre-Inca state of Tiwanaku was one of the great centers of native Andean civilization, controlling a vast territory that would today extend from southern Peru to northern Argentina. Until recently, however, archaeologists believed that the site of its capital was merely a ceremonial gathering place, its location high in the Bolivian Andes unsuited to sustained settlement because of climatic extremes. Archaeologists Alan L. Kolata and his colleagues now have discovered that Tiwanaku supported a large population that prospered for centuries because it used a farming and hydrological system known as raised-field agriculture." "Between 1986 and 1992, Kolata and his team discovered and revived the technique of raised-field agriculture. Through close inspection of aerial photographs, extensive surveys, and systematic excavations, they found continuous tracts of abandoned raised fields intersected by network of causeways and canals that extended from Lake Titicaca fifteen kilometers into the surrounding hinterland. By rehabilitating some of these fields, they proved that thermal retention from the canals could prevent crop damage from the frequent frosts. This ingenious system enabled the inhabitants of Tiwanaku, despite the harsh climate, to achieve crop yields well beyond those of farmers in the region today. Raised-field agriculture now has been adopted by many of the subsistence farmers in the region, helping to increase their production."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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