Death in the Bolivian High Plateau: Burials and Tiwanaku Society

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Endnote 3

Chapter 2: Archaeological burial data as a reflection of past societies 5 2.1.Introduction 5 2.2.Burialsandtheearlyyearsofarchaeology 5 2.3.TheprocessualapproachI:BinfordandSaxe 6 2.4.TheprocessualapproachII:The1970sandearly1980s 8 2.5.Postprocessualandcontextualcriticismofprocessualmortuarystudies 10 2.6.Theprocessualismofthe1990sandtheearly21stcentury 12 2.7.Someadditionalconsiderations 13 2.8.Discussion:thearchaeologyofdeathandtheTiwanakuState 14 Endnotes 15

Chapter 3: Central Andean mortuary practices and social differentiation in the light of the written sources of the 16th and early 17th centuries 17 3.1.Introduction 17 3.2.Didpronouncedsocialhierarchyexistinthepre-ConquestAndes? 18 3.3.Onthewaysinwhichthesocialpositionofapersonwasmanifestedinthepre-ConquestCentralAndes 19 3.4.ThefuneralritualsandancestorcultoftheIncarulers 19 3.5.Thefuneralritualsofthenobles 22 3.6.Thefuneralritualsofthecommoners 24 3.7.Deviantfuneralpractices 25 3.8.Thereligiousideologybehindfuneralrituals 26 3.9.InformationrelatedspecificallytotheCollasuyuquarter,theAymarapeople,andtheBolivianaltiplano 27 3.10.Discussion 30 Endnotes 31

Chapter 4: Ethnographic data on indigenous mortuary practices and social hierarchy 39 4.1.Introduction 39 4.2.Aymaramortuarypractices 40 4.3.SomedataonQuechuaandUrumortuaryrituals 47 4.4.AdministrativestructureandsocialhierarchyamongtheAymara 48 4.5.Discussion 49 Endnotes 50

Chapter 5: On the Tiwanaku culture 53 5.1.Introduction 53 5.2.Formativebeginnings 53 5.3.Thecentre:thecityofTiwanaku 55

Contents

Death in the Bolivian High Plateau

5.4.Tiwanakuheartland 63 5.5.TiwanakucoloniesandthenatureoftheTiwanakuState 66 5.6.Raised-fieldagriculture 72 5.7.Tiwanakuartsandcrafts 73 5.8.ThecollapseoftheTiwanakuState 79 Endnotes 80

Chapter 6: Review of archaeologically investigated Tiwanaku cemeteries and burials 85 6.1.Introduction 85 6.2.Tiwanaku–thecapital 85 6.3.Tiwanakuheartland 92 6.4.Theoutlyingprovinces 103 6.5.Discussion 108 Endnotes 110

Chapter 7: The archaeological investigations of the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cemetery of Tiraska 115 7.1.Introduction 115 7.2.The1998investigations–burials1–7 115 7.3.The2002investigations–burials8–15 120 7.4.The2003investigations–burials16–32 124 7.5.14Cdates 140 7.6.Analysisanddiscussion 142 Endnotes 148

Chapter 8: Conclusions 151 8.1.ProblemsrelatedtotheinterpretationofTiwanakuburialpractices 154 8.2.ReviewofTiwanakuburialpractices 155 8.3.SomecomparisonsbetweentheTiwanakuandtheWari 159 8.4.Theoreticalconsiderations:thecaseoftheNorthCoastofPeru 162 8.5.Epilogue 165 Endnotes 166

References cited 169

�

Chapter �

Introduction

This study presents a multi-disciplinary analysis of the mortuary practices of the Tiwanaku culture of the Bolivian high plateau (i.e. altiplano), situated between the two Andean cordilleras, at an altitude of c. 3800–4000 m above sea level. The Tiwanaku State (Tiwanaku IV and V, c. AD 500–��50) – the heartland of which was situated in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin – was one of the most im-portant pre-Inca civilisations of the South Central Andes. Since the late �950s – and especially since the mid-�980s – our understanding of the Tiwanaku culture has increased rapidly. However, no systematic study of Tiwanaku burial practices – combining older and newer archaeological data with information from historical and ethnographic sources – has been available. My study aims precisely at filling this gap and in so doing at further advancing our understanding concerning the Tiwanaku.

The writings of Lewis Binford (e.g. �972) and Arthur Saxe (�970) in the late �960s and early �970s gave birth to a new socially interested study of prehistoric burial practices. Such North American scholars as Joseph A. Tainter (e.g. �977; �980), Lynne Goldstein (e.g. �98�), and John O’Shea (e.g. �98�; �984) further developed the methodology and theory of this so-called “archaeology of death”. The early years of the archaeology of death were tightly connected with the development of the so-called New Archaeology or processualist school. As a result of this, in the �980s some of its basic assumptions fell under attack by the mostly British/European postprocessualist school. Some of the criticism of the postprocessualists was well-founded, but the socially interested study of prehistoric mortuary practices has remained popular until the present day.

I think that the archaeology of death – in its processual sense – still has a lot to offer to contemporary archaeology. More specifically, I think that the Central Andean region of South America is an area especially suitable for this kind of study: Early historical sources – the great majority of which were written by Spanish conquistadors and clerics

– testify to the existence of multiple social “classes”, often separated by profound status differences. Additionally, the ethnographic writings of the �9th, 20th, and 2�st centuries can help us unravel some of the religious and philosophi-cal issues connected with the pre-Columbian burial practi-ces of the area. Furthermore, “rich” pre-Columbian tombs of, for example, the North Coast of Peru prove that inequa-lities in life were – at least among some Central Andean peoples – also reflected in death.

Mainly due to the richness of the archaeological record, the burials of many parts and periods of pre-Columbian Peru are relatively well known. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said concerning the pre-Columbian burial traditions of the Bolivian altiplano. Very little has been published concerning the burials of the Wankarani, Chiripa, and Tiwanaku cultures; the chullpa burial towers of the Late Intermediate Period/Late Horizon are a little better known. Hundreds of pre-Columbian burials have been excavated, however not all investigations have been adequately re-ported to the Dirección Nacional de Arqueología (from now on, DINAR) of Bolivia. Furthermore, detailed and individualised accounts of excavated burials rarely feature in published excavation reports and studies. All this has led to a situation in which very few “hard” archaeological facts concerning the pre-Columbian burial practices of the Bolivian altiplano are easily available to scholars.

The pre-Columbian burials of the Bolivian altiplano can be characterised as quite “poor” and simple. In the rela-tively humid climate of the high plateau, textiles and other burial offerings of an organic nature have very rarely sur-vived, and not a single one of the Bolivian burials exca-vated so far can compete with the magnificence and wealth of even moderately “rich” Moche and Sicán tombs of the North Coast of Peru. In the case of the Tiwanaku State, this lack of rich burials containing impressive quantities of gold and silver artefacts is particularly perplexing. The only archaeologically known burial approaching anything like a “royal” scale is that of San Sebastián. Enigmatically,

2


this burial – which contained a number of impressive gold objects – came to light in the “provincial” Cochabamba Valley, not in the Tiwanaku heartland.

It could of course be argued that all the richest and most magnificent Tiwanaku burials have been looted during the long centuries of Colonial and Republican rule in Bolivia. Many high-status Tiwanaku tombs have indeed undoubtedly been looted at Tiwanaku and other important centres of the Tiwanaku State. However, had the richness of these burials come even close to that of the “royal” burials of the North Coast of Peru, knowledge of such extraordinary finds would undoubtedly feature in historical records. Furthermore, some of the artefacts uncovered in this manner would probably have ended up in public and private collections in Bolivia and abroad. As we do not possess knowledge of the discovery of spectacularly “rich” burials in the altiplano, and as Tiwanaku gold and silver are rather scarcely represented in public and private collections, the Tiwanaku case seems to differ quite notably from other Central Andean cases. In the Bolivian high plateau, religious beliefs may have differed from those of North and Central Peru, or society may have been organised in a different manner. It may also be that gold and silver simply were not that readily available to the inhabitants of the altiplano, or that for example textiles were considered the most important media for the representation of the status of the deceased.

In addition to this brief introduction, my study includes six long “essays” and a concluding chapter. As this is a mono-graph, there are of course cross textual references between the essays. However, most of them can also be read on their own, separated from the larger context.

Chapter 2 presents the theoretical basis of my study. I discuss Binford and Saxe’s influential writings concern-ing the anthropology and archaeology of death and then examine how these affected the (North American) mortu-ary studies of the �970s and early �980s. I also treat the criticism aimed at processualism by Ian Hodder and his postprocessual followers, before concluding the chapter with a discussion of the contemporary state of processu-ally influenced mortuary research and presenting my own theoretical stance. I am of the opinion that in order to carry out meaningful research related to mortuary practices, one has to take into account not only the burials but the ar-chaeological (and if possible, historical and ethnographic) record as a whole. This provides a “background” against which to project and test one’s hypotheses and results.

Chapter 3 deals with the chronicles and other early his-torical sources written in the �6th and early �7th centuries, following the Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire. In my reading of these (published) sources I have concen-trated on certain specific issues, such as how strongly Inca society was stratified, how the differences between the

“classes” and statuses were manifested, and what kinds of mortuary practices and religious beliefs related to death and the afterlife were represented? One of the basic points I try to make in chapter 3 is that pronounced social hier-archy undoubtedly existed in the Central Andes before the Conquest – i.e. it is not a purely European concept which we would be trying to project to a totally different social reality. Most of the data contained in the early historical sources concerning the mortuary practices of the Late Horizon/early Colonial period is strongly skewed towards the Cuzco area and Inca aristocracy. However, some data related specifically to the Bolivian altiplano is also avail-able and is discussed at the end of chapter 3.

In chapter 4 I treatise on the ethnographic sources related to the contemporary indigenous peoples inhabiting the Bolivian high plateau – particularly the Aymara. These sources are less “racist” than the writings of the chroniclers, but – on the other hand – the customs and beliefs described in them are separated from the pre-Columbian era by a centuries-long period of cultural change and syncretism. I am quite critical of the tendency of many Andeanists to quite indiscriminately project historical and ethnographic data onto the pre-Columbian past. However, used with due caution, these sources can help us in our interpretation of the archaeological record – in this case Tiwanaku mortu-ary practices.

The archaeological part of this study begins with chapter 5, in which I present a fairly detailed analysis of the Tiwanaku culture. Even if much of this data does not directly concern burials, for the correct interpretation and contextualisation of mortuary practices it is very important to be aware of the “bigger picture”. One of the more specific aims of chapter 5 is to prove that many facets of the archaeological record point to the existence of rather marked social stratification within the Tiwanaku State.

In chapter 6 I have tried to collect and present as much information related to previously excavated and published Tiwanaku cemeteries and burials as is presently available. The chapter is organised geographically in the sense that at first I discuss burials excavated at Tiwanaku, then the burials of the immediate Tiwanaku heartland, and finally burial data from more faraway areas under Tiwanaku control/influence. The level of detail of the data available for study differs widely from site to site and excavation to excavation, and chronological control is often poor. However, I am convinced that chapter 6 offers a fairly accurate picture of the social, contextual, and geographical variation apparent in excavated (and published) Tiwanaku burials. Furthermore, the collected data will hopefully offer a firm basis from which scholars can plan and undertake further studies related to Tiwanaku mortuary practices.

In chapter 7 I present my own archaeological research at the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cemetery of

3

1 • Introduction

Tiraska. This cemetery – situated on the island of Cumana near the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca – acciden-tally came to the attention of archaeologists in �998. That same year, seven burials were excavated. The investiga-tions at Tiraska were continued in 2002 and 2003. My colleagues and I have excavated altogether 32 burials at Tiraska – making the site one of the very few more or less comprehensively investigated Tiwanaku cemeter-ies in the altiplano. The (surviving) grave goods – from zero to two rather “Decadent” ceramic vessels per tomb – were not by any means “spectacular”. However, in many cases the preservation of human bone was good enough to enable osteological analyses and �4C dating – even up to DNA analyses(�). In chapter 7 I discuss each tomb exca-vated at Tiraska individually. I also describe and analyse the ceramic and other finds. Furthermore, I present and discuss Tiraska’s �2 radiocarbon dates. At the end of the chapter, I present my interpretation of the archaeological contexts of Tiraska.

Chapter 8 sums up the research presented in this study. Many chronological and otherwise problematic hindrances arise in the objective interpretation of Tiwanaku mortuary practices. However, I am of the opinion that I have arrived at some rather important insights. For one thing, significant regional differences characterise the Tiwanaku burial record, probably testifying to the existence of different ethnic (or other) groups, each with their own beliefs and customs regarding death and the afterlife. Furthermore, despite the marked stratification characterising Tiwanaku society, no magnificently rich “royal” tombs featuring a

host of sacrificial victims seem to have existed. In this sense, the Tiwanaku case offers a warning against drawing conclusions concerning the structure of any particular society solely on the basis of burial data.

Some terminology has to be defined here. In my mind, the Tiwanaku ceramic styles (as defined by Wendell C. Bennett in 1934) and cultural phases (as defined by Carlos Ponce Sanginés and most recently redefined by Alan L. Kolata and John W. Janusek) do not correlate in a satisfactory way. For this reason, I use the term style to refer specifically to the ceramic sequence and the term phase to refer to the socio-cultural sequence.

For me a cist is a stone-lined subterranean burial facil-ity – very often incorporating at least some upright stone slabs in its walls. I refer to burials without apparent struc-ture (apart from the burial pit) as (simple) pit burials. I apply the terms burial, tomb, and grave interchangeably – i.e. they do not carry any special nuances. For me, a burial or a tomb is a single burial facility and/or context. Consequently, a pit into which three deceased were buried counts as one single burial. By the term individual burial I refer to a tomb into which only a single deceased was buried. Conversely, a tomb containing the remains of two or more persons is a collective burial. By primary burial I refer to the burial of a corpse without much physical manipulation – in most cases quite soon after death. In the case of a secondary burial an incomplete corpse was buried. It was manipulated prior to its (final) interment, for example by removing the soft tissues and only burying (some of) the bones.

Endnote

�. In 200�–02, Ville Pimenoff of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Helsinki tested whether it would be possible to extract ancient mitochondrial DNA from Tiraska bone samples. He concluded that sufficiently well-preserved ancient mtDNA was indeed present. (Pimenoff & Korpisaari 2002.) However, the mtDNA research had to be discontinued because of lack of funding.

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Fig 7.1. AerialviewofthevillageofTiraskaanditssurroundings.NotetheextensivefieldterracesliningMountTiraska.PhotocourtesyoftheInstitutoGeográficoMilitarofBolivia.

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Chapter 7

The archaeological investigations of the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cemetery of Tiraska

7.1. Introduction

The Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cemetery of Tiraska – located at the coordinates S 16º19’26.8” – W 68º42’50.5”, on the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca (Figs. 5.11, 6.9, and 7.1–7.3) – was discovered in July 1998, when three cist tombs accidentally came to light in the course of construction work. At that time, the Finnish-Bolivian “Chullpa Pacha” project was carry-ing out fieldwork in the neighbouring village of Qiwaya. Fortunately, our group was notified of the discovery of the above-mentioned tombs, and we proceeded to ex-cavate seven burial contexts at Tiraska during the 1998 field season. Four years later, in 2002, the funding of the “The Amazonian Interests of the Incas” project, financed by the University of Helsinki, enabled my team and I to return briefly to Tiraska in order to investigate eight more burials. In December 2002, the University of Helsinki granted funding for a new project titled “Formations and Transformations of Ethnic Identities in the South Central Andes, AD 700–1825”. During its first field season – 2003 – this archaeological-historical project carried out further archaeological investigations at Tiraska.(1)

In the three following subchapters, I give a detailed account of the 1998, 2002, and 2003 excavations at Tiraska. Later on, I discuss the 14C dates. At the end of the chapter, I will analyse the archaeological material recovered in the course of the investigations.

7.2. The 1998 investigations – burials 1–7

7.2.1. Introduction

On July 10th, 1998, the “Chullpa Pacha” project staff was preparing for a normal day of fieldwork at Qiwaya, when Sr. Sabino Lima – a resident of the neighbouring village of Tiraska – approached us. He told us that something ancient

had come to light in his village and offered to lead us to the place of discovery. The archaeologists and anthropologists in our multi-disciplinary team decided to visit Tiraska – located only some 500 m to the north of Qiwaya – at once. In Tiraska, we were guided to a spot some 40 m east of the village’s Catholic church. The owner of this plot, Sr. José Quisbert Coronel, had decided to even out his courtyard and had contracted men from La Paz to do the digging. Not long after the work had begun, an interesting stone construction had come to light. Following the discovery, the plot owner had halted the work and sent Sr. Lima to fetch us.

Between the uncovered structure’s stones we could see a cavity, at the bottom of which was some human bone. It was clear that the workers had stumbled upon a pre-Columbian cist tomb. To the north of this first burial, we could discern the superstructures of two other cists. The plot owner was anxious for the work on his courtyard to proceed as quickly as possible, but we were able to nego-tiate one day for the archaeological investigation of the three accidentally discovered cists (burials 1–3). As the day proceeded, a fourth burial context – this time a collec-tion of human remains and broken ceramic vessels with no apparent burial architecture attached – came to light, also requiring investigation. Although we managed to study the four burial contexts in the allotted time of one day, un-fortunately the hurry we were in meant that the level of documentation was often far from satisfactory.

The following day, a fourth cist (burial 5) was excavated close to burials 1–3. On October 20th, 1998, archaeological work continued at Tiraska. This time, a test pit of 1.5 m x 1.5 m was opened on an artificial terrace situated above the Catholic church of the village, c. 30 m to the west of the first accidentally discovered cists. The excavation of this pit led to the discovery of two more burials. Burial 6 – a large chamber tomb – was situated in the south-western part of the test pit, burial 7 – a smaller cist tomb – in the eastern part of the pit. (Sagárnaga 1999: 46-48.)

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Fig. 7.3. ThegeneralmapoftheLateTiwanaku/earlypost-TiwanakucemeteryofTiraska.Thelocationsofburials1–5areapproximations.

Fig. 7.2. ThevillageofTiraskaseenfromthesouth(photoRistoKesseli).

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7 • The archaeological investigations of the cemetery of Tiraska

The seven burials investigated in 1998 are described in greater detail below.

7.2.2. Burials 1–7

Burial 1 (Figs. 7.4–7.5)

This burial was the southernmost of the three cists (burials 1–3) situated in a row close to each other. The cist’s cap lay c. 20 cm below present ground surface. The cap was formed by three longish stone slabs, the longest of which measured 72 cm. The grave chamber was hexagonal in plan. The chamber’s maximum inner diameter was 50 cm, and its walls were formed by irregularly set stones. In the course of the centuries, some soil had filtered into the cist, but c. 70 cm of space still separated the soil lying at the bottom of the chamber from the capstones. As the removal of the soil proceeded, the more or less normally preserved remains of a 10–15-year-old possible female(2) (Villamor 1999) soon came to light. The deceased had been buried in a seated, flexed position, with her back against the chamber’s north wall and her face towards the south. (Sagárnaga 1999: 41-44.)

The only (surviving) grave goods encountered were two ceramic vessels – a tazon and a vasija – which lay to the southwest of the deceased. The vasija was found inside of the tazon.(3) (Sagárnaga 1999: 44.) On its exterior surface the tazon (base diameter 92 mm, rim diameter 147 mm, height 77 mm) features decoration in black and white on

red. A small piece is missing from the vessel’s rim, which also shows other signs of wear. The one-handled vasija (base diameter 60 mm, rim diameter c. 60 mm, height 94 mm) features decoration in dark brown and white on light brown on its exterior surface and inside its rim. As is the case with the tazon, the vasija’s rim also shows signs of wear. The giving of worn and even broken ceramic vessels as grave goods was frequent at Tiraska, and will be dis-cussed in more detail below.

Burial 2 (Fig. 7.5)

This was the middle burial of the three cists (burials 1–3) situated in a row close to each other. Unfortunately, very little information is available concerning its inves-tigation. The cist’s cap lay c. 20 cm below the present ground surface. The tomb’s structure was rather irregular. The burial chamber contained the quite poorly preserved remains of a 30–45-year-old individual of undetermined sex. This deceased had been buried in a seated, flexed po-sition. A single ceramic vessel accompanied the deceased. (Villamor 1999.) Originally, this vasija (base diameter 76 mm, rim diameter 86 mm, height 127 mm) featured elabo-rate decoration in black on red over its exterior surface. Unfortunately, most of this decoration has now been lost due to the erosion of extensive areas of the slip once cover-ing the vessel’s exterior and the interior of its rim. A wavy line painted in black circles the interior of the vessel’s rim. The vasija’s spouted handle is missing. As it was not found in the excavation, it had very probably broken off before the vessel was placed in the cist.

Fig. 7.4. Burial1.Notethehumanremainsandthetwoceramicvessels.(PhotoRistoKesseli.)

Fig. 7.5. The tazon (no.1,height77mm)andvasija(no.2,height94mm)ofburial1andthevasija(no.3,height127mm)ofburial2(drawingAnttiKorpisaari).

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Burial 3 (Figs. 7.6–7.7)

This burial was the northernmost of the three cists (burials 1–3) situated in a row close to each other. Burial 3 was situated only 2 m to the south of the corner of the modern house depicted in the general plan of the site (Fig. 7.3). As in the two previous cases, the cist’s cap lay c. 20 cm below the present ground surface. The cap was formed by two longish stone slabs – each measuring c. 65 cm x 30 cm x 10 cm – and several smaller stones. Although some soil had fil-tered into the cist, at the time of the opening of the chamber c. 60 cm of space still separated the soil lying at its bottom from the capstones. The chamber’s total depth was c. 80 cm. The burial chamber was hexagonal in plan and had the inner diameter of c. 60 cm. The cist’s structure was quite elaborate; large upright stone slabs formed the bases of the walls, while their upper parts consisted of 3–4 courses of smaller stones. The cist housed the well preserved remains of a 30–35-year-old male(4) (Villamor 1999). He had been buried in a seated, flexed position, facing south or south-east, in the north-western part of the cist.(5) Two ceramic vessels – a kero and a sahumador – rested in the southern part of the chamber, at the deceased’s feet.

The kero (base diameter 88 mm, rim diameter 148 mm, height 148 mm) features decoration in black on orange on its exterior surface, in addition to which a wavy line painted in black circles the interior of the vessel’s rim. The kero also features a very slightly protruding exterior torus. The vessel’s rim shows signs of wear. The two-handled sahumador (base diameter 99 mm, rim diameter 170 mm, height 94 mm) is un-slipped and totally lacking in decoration. A small piece is missing from its rim, and was not found in the cist.

Burial 4 (Fig. 7.8)

In many ways, burial 4 is the most enigmatic burial context encountered at Tiraska. This burial was situated c. 6.5 m to the west-southwest of burial 3, and only c. 1 m south of the wall of the modern house neighbouring burials 1–5. The finds of burial 4 included a large quantity of badly preserved human bone, an almost whole tazon, almost all of the shards of a broken tazon and a broken kero, and two large basal shards of a vasija. The finds rested at the depth of c. 30–45 cm below the present ground surface, in a matrix of loose soil. No cist structure or other kind of burial architecture was related to these finds, which lay in apparent disorder covering an area of c. 1 m2. The most logical explanation for the formation of burial 4 is that the contents of some destroyed Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cist tombs would have been dumped and buried here – probably because of the fear caused by ancient human remains and artefacts among the local Aymara. The destruction of these hypothetical tombs may be related to the building of the house neighbouring burials 1–5.(6)

Fig. 7.6. Burial3.Notethehumanremainsandthetwoceramicvessels.(PhotoRistoKesseli.)

Fig. 7.7. Thesahumador(top,height94mm)andkero(bottom,height148mm)ofburial3(drawingAnttiKorpisaari).

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The almost whole tazon (base diameter 78 mm, rim diameter 126 mm, height 73 mm) – which is only missing one rather large rim shard – is quite sparsely decorated in black on red. In addition to the missing shard, the vessel’s rim also shows other signs of wear. However, as this and the other vessels of burial 4 had probably been looted and reburied, it is not clear whether they were already worn and/or broken when originally buried. It has been possible to reconstruct the broken tazon and kero of burial 4 more or less completely. The tazon (base diameter 81 mm, rim diameter 122 mm, height 64 mm) features decoration in black and orange on red on its exterior surface. The kero (base diameter 67 mm, rim diameter 146 mm, height 145 mm) features elaborate polychrome decoration in black, orange, and white on red on its exterior surface. The upper register is dominated by the depictions of two flamingos, while cross motifs circle the vessel’s lower body. The two decorative fields are separated by a very slightly protruding exterior torus. The reconstructed kero’s rim is extremely worn. The surviving basal part of a vasija (base diameter 76 mm, maximum height of the preserved part 99 mm) is

decorated in black, brown, and light brown on brownish red.

The badly preserved human remains of this burial context belong to three individuals: a c. 30-year-old male, a c. 20-year-old male, and a c. 15-year-old possible female (Villamor 1999). As all of Tiraska’s investigated Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cists were individual burials containing from zero to two ceramic vessels, the presence of the partial remains of three individuals and four Tiwanaku affiliated ceramic vessels in this burial context accords well with a hypothesis according to which burial 4 would represent the reburied contents of three destroyed cists.

Burial 5

This cist tomb was situated a little to the south of burial 1. Its structure was in a state of total disorder, which led its investigator (Sagárnaga) to assume that the burial had been looted prior to investigation. No ceramic grave goods were encountered, which might be interpreted to support Sagárnaga’s opinion. The cist did contain the badly preserved remains of a 20–30-year-old individual of undetermined sex(7). (Sagárnaga 1999: 44; Villamor 1999.)

Burial 6 (Fig. 7.9)

This subterranean chamber tomb was situated on the lower terrace of the cemetery, immediately to the east and c. 5 m above the courtyard of Tiraska’s Catholic church. The chamber’s cap lay quite close to the level of the present ground surface. The beehive-shaped burial chamber was rather spacious. In plan, it was ellipsoidal, measuring 105 cm x 92 cm. The chamber’s depth was 120 cm, and its base was paved.(8) The burial held the poorly preserved remains of a 35–40-year-old male(9) (Villamor 1999). In addition to these human remains, the chamber contained a crude, globular-bodied vasija (base diameter 63 mm, maximum

Fig. 7.8. Thekero(top,height145mm),oneofthetwotazones (centre,height64mm),andthebasalfragmentofavasija(bottom,height99mm)ofburial4(drawingAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.9. Thesemi-completevasijaofburial6(photoRiikkaVäisänen).

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height of the preserved part 108 mm), which is missing its neck and handle. Some guinea pig bones were also present. (Sagárnaga 1999: 47.) These might be interpreted as evi-dence of food offered to the deceased and/or of divination.

Burial 7 (Fig. 7.10)

This cist tomb was situated immediately to the east of burial 6. A single stone slab served as the cist’s cap. The burial chamber was notably smaller than that of burial 6.(10) The cist held the poorly preserved remains of a single indi-vidual.(11) This deceased was accompanied by two ceramic vessels – a kero and a tazon. The burial chamber’s base was paved. (Sagárnaga 1999: 48.)

The kero (base diameter 78 mm, rim diameter 143 mm, height 172 mm) features a protruding exterior torus and sparse decoration in black on red on its exterior surface. The tazon (base diameter 96 mm, rim diameter 149 mm, height 96 mm) is decorated in black and cream on red on its exterior surface.


7.3.1. Introduction

In August 2002, I was presented with an opportunity to briefly return to Tiraska. During three intensive days of fieldwork (August 14th–16th, 2002), our four-member team excavated and documented eight cist tombs, all of which were situated on the lower terrace of the cemetery. All eight burials investigated were visible on the ground surface, and with the exception of burial 13, all had lost their caps prior to excavation. In addition to the eight burials already men-tioned, we excavated a test pit of 1.5 m x 1.5 m in order

to attempt to locate better preserved burials still covered entirely by soil. Unfortunately, we did not encounter more burials, but we did find hundreds of ceramic shards and other interesting cultural material.

7.3.2. Burials 8–15


This burial was situated on a slope and had been almost completely destroyed by erosion and present day human activity. Only a single upright stone slab, which once be-longed to one of the cist’s walls, remained in situ. A kero – missing its rim but otherwise intact – could be partly seen on the present ground surface, where the burial chamber was originally situated. This vessel (base diameter 72 mm, maximum height of the preserved part 109 mm) features polychrome decoration in black, orange, and white/cream on red on its exterior surface. As this vessel was found partly above ground, it is impossible to know whether it was broken already at the time of deposition, or whether it was damaged later. Small bone fragments were spread around the burial. Since this cist had been so completely destroyed, we only collected the above-mentioned finds, without investigating the burial more profoundly. Due to the disturbed burial context and the extremely fragmentary state of the recovered bone material, data on the age and sex of the deceased is not available.


Similarly to almost all of the burials investigated in 2002, this small cist had lost its cap, and the tops of the upright slabs forming the walls of the burial chamber rose above the present ground surface. Following the removal of c. 40 cm of soil – which had filled the cist after it had lost

Fig. 7.10. Thekeroandtazonofburial7(photoRiikkaVäisänen).

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its cap – we encountered two ceramic vessels: a prosopo-morphic kero (base diameter 84 mm, maximum height of the preserved part 101 mm) with polychrome decoration in black, orange, and white/cream on red on its exterior surface and a small tazon (base diameter 78 mm, rim di-ameter 114 mm, height 59 mm) with sparse decoration in black on red on its exterior and interior surfaces. The kero has lost its rim, and as the missing pieces were not found in the cist, it seems that the vessel was broken already at the time of deposition.

The diameter of the cist was only 30–40 cm, which would seem to point to the fact that it had been intended to house a young deceased. Unfortunately, only very fragmentary bone remains could be recovered from this burial, prevent-ing the osteological verification of this assumption. Only one small phalanx was found to be human. Additionally, probable dog vertebras and an upper mandible fragment, as well as some small rodent bones were identified. (Villamor 2002.) A single stone slab formed the floor of the burial chamber.

Fig. 7.11. Thetenceramicvesselsofburials8–14.Vessels1and4fromburial9;vessel2fromburial8;vessels3and10fromburial12;vessel5fromburial10;vessels6and7fromburial14;vessel8fromburial13;vessel9fromburial11.(DrawingAnttiKorpisaariandRistoKesseli.)

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This burial was found in a very poor condition. The cist had lost its roof slab(s) and the upper parts of its walls. The rim of a small escudilla – broken into three large shards – protruded above the present ground surface. It was pos-sible to almost completely reconstruct this vessel (base di-ameter 65 mm, rim diameter 102 mm, height 60 mm). It features quite simple decoration in black and white/cream on red on its exterior surface, as well as decoration in black on red inside its rim. The vessel was probably broken after deposition, and seems to have been in quite good condition when put in the cist. The original diameter of the cist seems to have been about 40–45 cm. Very few human remains were found in this burial, but some long bone fragments and a vertebra probably belonging to an adult of indetermi-nable sex could be identified (Villamor 2002).


This cist had lost its roof slab(s), but had otherwise re-mained more or less intact. The burial chamber was framed by three upright stone slabs which enclosed a space with a diameter of 40–55 cm. The cist contained the more or less normally preserved, articulated remains of a 4–6-year-old possible female (Villamor 2002). The position in which these remains were found indicates that she had been tightly flexed and rested on her left side. The deceased was probably originally set in a flexed sitting position in the western part of the chamber (with her face towards the east), and at some point of the decomposition process had fallen onto her side. A single tazon lay to the east of the deceased. This vessel (base diameter 96 mm, rim diameter 144 mm, height 81 mm) features quite simple decoration in black on red on its exterior surface. Below the unpaved

floor of the cist, we encountered a cultural layer containing carbon and quite a lot of fish bones and scales.

Burial 12 (Figs. 7.11–7.12)

This cist, which had lost its capstone(s), was situated directly in between burials 8 and 10. The burial chamber was quite spacious (with a diameter of c. 60 cm). The human remains contained in this burial were found in an advanced state of decay. Judging by a femur fragment, the deceased had been a young person of indeterminable sex (Villamor 2002). Two ceramic vessels accompanied this deceased. The first of these is a tazon (base diameter 97 mm, rim diameter 147 mm, height 71 mm). It features relatively simple decoration in black and cream/white on its exterior surface, in addition to which a rather carelessly painted wavy line circles the interior of the vessel’s rim. The cist also contained a rather crude vasija (base diameter 68 mm, rim diameter 71 mm, height 112 mm) featuring sparse decoration in black on red. As both vessels have partly eroded surfaces, it is hard to tell whether, for example, the rim of the tazon was damaged before or after its deposition in the cist.

Burial 13 (Figs. 7.11 and 7.13–7.15)

Burial 13 was the best preserved of all the burial contexts investigated in 2002. Some of the small stones at the tops of the cist’s walls rose a little above the present ground surface, but the cist’s cap (formed by two long stone slabs) remained intact. Because of this, relatively little soil had filtered into the burial chamber. The structure of this quite spacious cist (with a diameter of c. 60 cm) was impressive: The lower parts of the walls were formed by large upright slabs, on top of which lay 2–3 rows of smaller stones. The two slabs of the cap (each with a length of c. 80 cm) rested on top of the topmost row of wall stones. The depth of the burial chamber was 63 cm.

Fig. 7.12. Burial12.Notethetwoceramicvessels.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

Fig. 7.13. Thecapofburial13(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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The cist housed the quite well preserved and articulated remains of a 30–45-year-old female(12) (Villamor 2002). Judging by the position in which her bones were found, it would seem that she was originally placed in a seated, flexed position against the north wall of the burial chamber (with her face towards the south-southeast), and that later on she had fallen on her side during the process of decom-position. A tazon (base diameter 101 mm, rim diameter 140 mm, height 86 mm) had been placed to the east of the deceased. This vessel, which features crude decoration in black on red, was found in three large shards, but could be completely reconstructed. The tazon is very interesting: before it had been placed in the cist it had broken in two and been repaired – this is evidenced by small drilled holes situated on both sides of the ancient fracture.


This small cist (with a diameter of only 30–40 cm) was framed by upright stone slabs, the tops of which rose above the present ground surface. The cap and upper parts of the walls had disappeared. The small burial chamber housed the fragmentary remains of a 4–8-year-old child of indeterminable sex (Villamor 2002). The deceased was accompanied by two ceramic vessels, which lay in the south-eastern part of the burial chamber. The first of these vessels is a small vasija (base diameter 49 mm, maximum height of the preserved part 89 mm) featuring polychrome decoration in black, cream, and white on red. This vessel had lost its rim and neck prior to deposition. The cist also contained a “plate” (base diameter 63–65 mm, maximum height of the preserved part 31 mm) improvised from the basal part of a broken vasija, cuenco, or escudilla. The only surviving decoration on this piece is a part of a hori-zontal band painted in black on red. A stone slab covered a part of the cist’s floor.

Burial 15

This cist had lost its capstone(s), and a huge eucalyptus root had penetrated the burial chamber displacing some of the wall slabs. Because of the destruction caused by the root, the form of the burial chamber was quite irregu-lar (with the chamber’s diameter varying from 40 to 65 cm). The cist contained the regularly preserved remains of a 12–15-year-old juvenile of indeterminable sex. No ceramic vessels were encountered. It is possible that the deceased had not received any ceramics as part of his/her grave goods, but it is also possible that the cist had been looted. Among the fill of the chamber we found a small “stone cone”.

7.3.3. Test pit 1 (2002)

All of the burials described above – investigated in 2002 – were in one way or another visible at the present ground surface. With the intention of locating better preserved burials still covered entirely by soil, we excavated a test pit of 1.5 m x 1.5 m – test pit 1 – two meters to the north of burials 6 and 7. Test pit 1 was excavated in two layers (0–20 cm and 20–30 cm) down to a depth of 30 cm, in addition to which an area of 80 cm x 80 cm in the south-eastern part of the pit was excavated down to a depth of 50 cm (layer 3: 30–50 cm). Unfortunately, we could not locate any new burials. We did, however, find other types of cul-tural material. The plentiful ceramic material (578 shards) from test pit 1 is mostly utilitarian in nature. Decorated shards were quite rare, mostly featuring straight or angular black lines on red. The great majority of this ceramic mate-rial is of the Tiwanaku V style. Tiwanaku IV style shards were very rare, although some were found in layer 1. In addition to ceramic shards, we found lots of bone and four small “stone cones”.

Fig. 7.14. Burial13.Notethehumanremainsandtherimofthebrokentazon.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

Fig 7.15. Thetazonofburial13.Notethedrilledholestestifyingtopre-Columbianrepairwork.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

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7.3.4. Surface collection

In addition to carrying out small-scale excavations, in 2002 we also carried out some unsystematic surface col-lection in the area of the present day village of Tiraska. In the fields situated near the shore of Lake Titicaca (and only some 1–2 m above the present surface of the lake), we located a zone at least 200 m wide with a lot of superficial ceramic shards (dating to the Tiwanaku IV/V phase, the Late Intermediate Period, and the Inca era). We found this superficial cultural material to continue until the second or third terraces situated above the Catholic church of Tiraska (approximately 30–35 m above the present level of the lake). Judging by these observations, it would seem that the area of the present day village of Tiraska was quite intensively (and more or less continuously) inhabited from at least the Tiwanaku V phase (c. AD 800–1150) until the Inca era (c. AD 1450–1532).


7.4.1. Introduction

In August-October 2003, I finally got an opportunity to carry out archaeological investigations of a somewhat larger scale in Tiraska. As the excavations of 2002 were very short-term in nature, we had mostly concentrated on investigating isolated burial cists, the outlines of which were visible above the present ground surface. With con-siderably more time and resources at hand in 2003, this strategy was changed into one in which larger (and deeper) units were excavated in order to expose pre-Columbian burials still covered entirely by soil. We began (modestly) with a single unit of 1.6 m x 2 m, unit 1, around which more units (of varying shapes and sizes) were opened as the work progressed. Soil was removed in layers of 20–30 cm, mostly using picks and spades. Only soil from special contexts – such as burials – was sieved.

The 2003 field season proved to be rather successful. We excavated a total area of 57.69 m2. Our main excavation area – situated on the main cemetery terrace immediately above and to the east of the Catholic church of Tiraska, c. 25 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca – had an area of 44.44 m2 (Fig. 7.3). We also excavated an area of 11 m2 on the upper cemetery terrace, close to burials 1–5, and a test pit of 2.25 m2 on a lower terrace, closer to the shore of Lake Titicaca. A total of 17 new burials and some other interesting features were investigated and documented. On both of the two terraces on which we excavated burials, we also encountered deep cultural layers. In the course of our excavations, we collected over 10,000 ceramic shards (about 68 kg of material), c. 10 kg of animal bone, and some bone and stone tools and tool fragments.

Below, each excavation unit, burial, and feature is dis-cussed individually.

7.4.2. Main excavation area (Fig. 7.16)

Unit 1

This unit was 1.6 m (N-S) x 2 m (E-W) in size. It was situ-ated a couple of meters to the east of burials 9 and 13. Three tombs (burials 16, 17, and 19) were encountered in this unit. Additionally, the remains of a human baby (feature 1), severely disturbed by a blow from a workman’s pick, were encountered near the eastern limit of the unit. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm, the second from 20 to 50 cm, and the third from 50 to c. 60 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 247 ceramic shards (in total, 1817 g) and 77 bone fragments (in total, 183 g). Layer 2 contained 137 shards (1205 g) and 130 bone fragments (309 g). Layer 3 yielded 70 shards (399 g) and 57 bone fragments (116 g).

Burial 16

This 25–30-year-old male(13) (Clavijo 2003) had been buried face down, arms flexed along his sides, the upper part of the legs extended and the lower part of the legs flexed, so that the remains of the feet rested near the level of the pelvis. The length of the burial, oriented WSW-ENE, with the head to WSW, was c. 100 cm. The cranium rested between one large stone and another smaller stone, and a number of other stones rested on top of the body. Excepting the previously-mentioned stones, no burial architecture was associated with this rather superficial burial (situated 10–30 cm below the present ground surface). The outlines of the burial pit could not be defined due to the extreme hardness and dryness of the soil. A piece of llama bone, a possible wichuña (i.e. weaving tool), was found at the level of the pelvis near the deceased’s right side. No other offerings were encountered aside from this possible grave good. The cap of burial 17 rested almost immediately below the cranium and thoracic region of the deceased of burial 16. However, the close association between these two burials may be unintentional.

Burial 17 (Figs. 7.17–7.19)

As was already stated, the cap of this burial rested almost immediately below the cranium and thoracic region of the deceased of burial 16, at a depth of 20–30 cm below the present ground surface. The cap was formed by rather long stone slabs, in between which smaller stones had been inserted. The stone-lined burial chamber had a depth of 60–70 cm and a maximum interior diameter of c. 100 cm. Overall, the chamber was rather spherical in form. In the chamber’s NNW part there was a slightly raised “bench”.

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Fig. 7.16. Theplanofthe2003mainexcavationareasituatedonthelowerterraceofthecemeteryofTiraska.

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The base of the chamber – which was situated 23.14 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca – was partly paved.

The human remains contained in this burial were quite poorly preserved, but as fragments of only the cranium and the long bones of the legs were recovered, it is pos-sible that we are dealing here with a secondary burial. The bones rested in the southern part of the chamber. The de-ceased had been a c. 45-year-old male(14) (Clavijo 2003). A little to the north of the human remains, two ceramic vessels were found. One of these vessels was a small one-handled vasija (base diameter 55–59 mm, rim diameter 63 mm, height 124 mm) decorated with geometrical designs painted in black on red on its exterior surface. A large frag-ment is missing from the vessel’s rim, and was not found in the burial. The other vessel was an extremely crudely manufactured undecorated greyish-brown small “cup” (base diameter 74–77 mm, rim diameter c. 80 mm, height 34 mm). Both the human remains and the ceramics were found in the burial chamber itself, not on the “bench”.


This burial was situated near the southern limit of unit 1, extending somewhat to unit 3. The burial position of this adult female(15) (Clavijo 2003) is the strangest so far docu-mented in Tiraska: From the waist upwards, the remains of the deceased rested horizontally at a depth of 60–65 cm below the present ground surface, face down, and arms flexed, with the head to the SSW. The bones of the lower legs were, however, found in a nearly vertical position (the bones of the feet were discovered c. 20 cm below the present ground surface). Rather large stones rested near to and on top of the human remains, but these stones would seem to have been thrown into the pit and/or on top of the deceased, and did not represent any kind of regular burial architecture. We did not recover any burial offerings and were unable to discern the outlines of the burial pit.

Feature 1

The quite poorly preserved remains of a human baby were discovered near the south-western corner of unit 1. The context of these rather superficial (c. 20–30 cm below present ground surface) remains was severely damaged by a direct hit from a workman’s pick (for which reason the burial did not receive an “official” number). No burial architecture or grave goods were related to the human remains.

Unit 2

This unit of 2 m x 2 m was situated immediately to the east of unit 1. The most noteworthy features of unit 2 were a


Fig. 7.18. Thegravechamberofburial17.Notetheraised“bench” in the top-left corner of the image.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

Fig. 7.19. Thetwoceramicvesselsofburial17(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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simple pit burial (burial 18) located near the northern edge of the unit and a cist tomb (burial 21) situated near the south-eastern corner of the unit. Near the western edge of the unit, there was a large boulder and some smaller stones. A huge boulder covered most of the north-eastern quadrant of the unit. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to 50 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 231 ceramic shards (in total, 1668 g), 72 bone fragments (in total, 125 g), and 1 obsidian flake. Layer 2 contained 403 shards (2911 g), 291 bone fragments (412 g), and 2 obsidian flakes.

Burial 18

This burial was found when parts of a human cranium came to light between a couple of stones 166 cm N and 50 cm E of the south-western corner of unit 2. As the exca-vation of these human remains proceeded, we discovered the rest of the skeleton of a 6–7-year-old child(16) (Clavijo 2003) to the east of the cranium. The deceased had rested either on his/her stomach or back; due to the poor state of preservation of the skeleton, this was hard to determine, but I tend to favour the on-the-stomach position. The de-ceased’s arms were flexed along his/her sides, the legs flexed slightly to one side. The head pointed more or less towards the west. We noted no associated burial architec-ture, and it was impossible to define the limits of the burial pit. No grave goods were found. The burial was very su-perficial, with the last of the human remains situated at the depth of 17 cm below the present ground surface.

Burial 21 (Figs. 7.21–7.22)

This smallish cist was situated just south of a huge boulder which formed a part of the north-western wall of the burial chamber. A single stone slab measuring 58 cm x 30 cm x 10 cm functioned as the cap of the chamber. This cap lay at the depth of c. 40 cm below the present ground surface. The grave chamber was almost rectangular in form, with the longer axis (NW-SE) measuring 40–45 cm, and the shorter one (NE-SW) measuring 25–30 cm. The walls of the chamber were mostly formed by 1–2 larger stone slabs each. The depth of the burial chamber was c. 50 cm. Its base was situated 23.72 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca. The remains of the 9-month-old deceased (Clavijo 2003) were very poorly preserved. Consequently, we could not define the baby’s burial position.

During the centuries, some stones had fallen from the upper parts of the cist, breaking one of the two ceramic vessels deposited in the tomb. However, this vessel – a kero (base diameter 83 mm, height of the preserved part 99 mm) featuring a slightly protruding exterior torus and decorated with horizontal lines in black and orange on red on its exterior surface – seems to have been broken prior to the time of deposition, as its rim shards were not re-

Fig. 7.20. Partialviewofburial19(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.21. Burial 21. Note the ceramics. (PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

covered in the excavation. In addition to the remains of the kero, a tazon (base diameter 90–91 mm, rim diameter 142 mm, height 77 mm) was situated in the north-western corner of the burial chamber. This vessel is decorated with black, white, and orange scroll-motifs on red on its exte-rior surface. Near the base of the vessel, there is a narrow horizontal band in black, and a wavy line painted in black circles the vessel’s interior rim. A part of the tazon’s surface is badly worn. On this same side there is even a small hole, and some small pieces are missing from the vessel’s rim. The tazon may have been broken and/or worn already at the time of deposition, but later damage caused by falling stones and erosion cannot be ruled out.

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Unit 3

This unit, measuring 1 m (N-S) x 4 m (E-W), was situated immediately to the south of units 1 and 2. The placement and size of this unit were dictated by the fact that some of the wall stones of a cist tomb (burial 20) were discovered in the south-eastern corner of unit 1, and that the remains of the deceased of burial 19 continued into the southern profile of unit 1. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to c. 50 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 248 ceramic shards (in total, 1928 g) and 50 bone fragments (in total, 110 g). Layer 2 contained 492 shards (3490 g) and 215 bone fragments (592 g).


The cap of this cist lay c. 45–50 cm below the present ground surface and was formed by three rather irregular-

shaped stone slabs. The stone-lined burial chamber was quadrangular in plan. Large upright stone slabs formed two of the chamber’s walls. A third wall was formed by what appears to be a large rock encountered during the digging of the burial pit and incorporated into the cist construc-tion. Smaller stones formed the fourth wall. Three large stone slabs, situated to the east of the grave chamber, had also been incorporated into the cist construction. With the inclusion of these huge stones, the outer diameter of the structure was increased to c. 160 cm. The interior diameter of the “mouth” of the burial chamber was 47 cm, and the depth of the chamber c. 67 cm. The interior diameter of the base of the chamber varied from c. 45 cm (E-W) to c. 60 cm (N-S). The base of the burial chamber – the southern edge of which was paved – was situated 23.25 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

We found the remains of a 10–11-year-old child (Clavijo 2003) in a rather poor state of preservation in the northern

Fig. 7.22. Thetazonandkeroofburial21(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.23. Thetazonandchallador (upsidedown)ofburial20(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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part of the chamber. As the long bones of the legs were found rather vertically flexed near the NNW wall of the cist, the deceased had probably originally rested in a seated, flexed position with his/her back against the mentioned wall. Two ceramic vessels lay to the south of the human remains. The first of these vessels is a small tazon (base diameter 88–89 mm, rim diameter 136 mm, height 76 mm), rather sparsely decorated in black on red on its exterior surface. The other vessel is a so-called challador, a tall cup with a very narrow base (base diameter 33–34 mm, rim diameter 126 mm, height 159 mm). This vessel is the only one of its kind among the Tiraska finds.(17) The upper part of the challador’s exterior surface features step-designs painted in black, orange, and white on red. Both vessels are intact, but their rims show some signs of wear.

Unit 4

This unit was only 1.2 m x 1.2 m in size. It was opened to the north of units 1 and 2 in order to uncover a chamber tomb (burial 22), some of the wall stones of which had been encountered in the north-western corner of unit 2. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to c. 40 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 72 ceramic shards (in total, 568 g) and 81 bone fragments (in total, 146 g). Layer 2 contained 60 shards (613 g) and 57 bone fragments (142 g).


About 40–47 cm of soil covered the cap of this chamber tomb, which was formed by three rather long stone slabs, in between which smaller stones had been placed. The grave chamber was smaller than those of the two other

intact chamber tombs excavated at Tiraska (burials 6 and 17). Burial 22 did not feature a “bench” similar to that of burial 17. The walls of the rather hexagonal burial chamber were covered with small stones. The inner diameter of the chamber varied from 50 to 65 cm, with the longest axis running in the direction NW-SE. The depth of the burial chamber was c. 70 cm. Its base – a part of which was covered with a stone slab – was situated 23.19 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

In the burial chamber, we discovered the rather poorly preserved remains of a 25–30-year-old female(18) (Clavijo 2003), buried in a seated, flexed position facing E/ESE. Additionally, a small vasija (base diameter 57 mm, rim diameter c. 48 mm, height 101 mm) was encountered in the southern part of the chamber. This crude and undeco-rated vessel was missing its handle and most of its rim. The handle was found in the excavation, but the rim was seemingly damaged before deposition.

Unit 5

This unit of 2 m x 2 m was opened directly to the south of unit 3. Its principal features included a small cist (burial 23) situated near the south-western corner of the unit and a small semi-complete utilitarian ceramic vessel. This vasija had broken on the spot into about a dozen shards and has since been partly reconstructed. The vessel (base diameter c. 36 mm, height of the preserved part 90 mm) (Fig. 7.25) is decorated in black on light brown. The shards of the vasija were found 65 cm N and 0 cm E of the south-western corner of the unit, at a depth of 15–20 cm, i.e. almost directly above burial 23. Additionally, in the south-eastern corner of the unit, at a depth of 29–34 cm below the present ground surface, we encountered a rather

Fig. 7.24. The semi-complete vasija of burial 22(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.25. Thepartly reconstructedsmallvasijaofunit5(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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regular stone pavement, measuring some 100 cm (N-S) x 70 cm (E-W) and continuing into the southern and eastern profiles of the unit.

The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to c. 50 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 218 ceramic shards (in total, 1842 g) and 19 bone fragments (in total, 57 g). Layer 2 contained 442 shards (3165 g), 211 bone fragments (503 g), and one half of a perforated stone.

Burial 23 (Figs. 7.26–7.28)

The cap of this small cist lay 35 cm below the present ground surface. It was formed by a single rather quadran-gular stone slab measuring 37 cm x 30 cm x 7 cm. The shape of the burial chamber was rather irregular, with four of its five walls consisting of more than one stone. The inner diameter of the chamber was c. 35 cm, and its depth c. 40 cm. The base of the burial chamber – a part of which was covered with several small stones – was situated 23.65 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

Due to the small size of this cist, I initially assumed that the deceased would have been a child. The study of the poorly preserved human remains indicated, however, that they were in fact those of a 25–30-year-old male (Clavijo 2003). In the light of this finding, the small size of the cist and the poor preservation of the human remains might perhaps indicate a burial of a secondary nature. Unfortunately, the advanced state of decay of the human remains prevented any detailed observations concerning the articulation (or disarticulation) of the skeleton. All that can be stated in this regard is that the preserved human remains were con-centrated in the northern part of the burial chamber.

A small “plate” (base diameter 58 mm, height of the pre-served part 35 mm) improvised from the basal part of a broken vasija, cuenco, or escudilla rested near the south-ern edge of the chamber. This undecorated “vessel” resem-bles the “plate” of burial 14.

I find it very probable that this cist and the small utilitarian ceramic vessel, found c. 15 cm above its cap, were related. The small vessel might be interpreted as a final offering (or an offering of remembrance) meant to benefit the departing soul.

Unit 6

This unit of 2 m x 2 m was situated directly to the west of unit 5 (and to the south of unit 3). Extending to a depth


Fig. 7.27. Burial23.Notethefragmentaryskullontheleftandtheceramic“plate”ontheright.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

Fig. 7.28.The“plate”ofburial23(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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of c. 50 cm, this unit was remarkably rich in finds. Along with over a thousand (mostly utilitarian) ceramic shards, we found some interesting stone artefacts, such as two bolas weights/maze heads and six small “stone cones”. We also encountered a single cist tomb – burial 24. This small cist was situated near the eastern limit of the unit, cutting slightly into unit 5. In comparison with the more eastern excavation units, unit 6 contained markedly fewer boulders.

The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to 50 cm. For the first 20–30 cm excavated, the colour of the soil was noticeably dark. In the western half of the unit, we excavated a third level – from 50 to 70 cm – in order to find out the depth of the cultural layer. In comparison with the two previous layers, this third one was markedly poorer in finds. At a depth of 60–65 cm, we encountered a hard reddish soil, which contained very little cultural material. For this reason, we terminated the excavation at a depth of 70 cm.

The finds of layer 1 included 333 ceramic shards (in total, 3403 g), 158 bone fragments (in total, 298 g), 1 stone bolas weight/maze head, and 4 “stone cones”. Layer 2 contained 749 shards (5651 g), 406 bone fragments (1250 g), 1 stone bolas weight/maze head, 2 “stone cones”, and 2 obsidian flakes. Layer 3 yielded 77 shards (426 g) and 26 bone frag-ments (82 g).


This cist was situated only 35 cm to the northwest of burial 23. The cap lay 30–35 cm below the present ground surface. Three stones, the largest of which measured 54 cm x 25 cm x 9 cm, formed the cap. The burial chamber was rather ovoid in shape, with its longest axis (E-W) measur-ing c. 50 cm and the shortest (N-S) measuring 40 cm. The depth of the chamber was 40–45 cm. Most of the chamber’s wall surfaces consisted of rows of small stones, but in the western part some larger stone slabs had also been used. Three small stones rested on the chamber’s base, but these did not form a proper pavement. The chamber’s base was situated 23.48 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

The more or less normally preserved remains of a 20-year-old female(19) (Clavijo 2003) rested in the south-western part of the cist. The positioning of the long bones of the legs suggests that the deceased had originally sat here, facing west or northwest. A single ceramic vessel, a rather large one-handled vasija (base diameter 105–109 mm, rim diameter 79 mm, height 124 mm), lay to the east of the human remains. This vessel is missing its handle and large parts of its rim. Once again, the missing pieces were not found in the cist, although all the excavated soil was carefully sieved. The vasija is decorated with rather elabo-rate geometric designs (step and scroll-motifs, spirals, and

wavy lines) painted in black on red on its exterior surface. A wavy line painted in black circles the interior of the ves-sel’s rim. One side of the vessel’s body is severely eroded and even has a small hole.

Unit 7

This unit of 2 m x 2 m was situated directly to the east of unit 5. Unit 7 was opened in order to study how the stone pavement observed in the south-eastern corner of unit 5 continued to the east. The feature was found to continue for c. 50 cm, until it met with a rather straight double-row of large stones, running approximately in the direc-tion NNW-SSE. The function of this stone alignment or “wall” is not clear. At a depth of c. 30 cm below the present ground surface, most of the unit was covered with stones of different sizes and excavation could not proceed much further down. No burials were found in this unit. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to c. 30 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 132 ceramic shards (in total, 1109 g) and 18 bone fragments (in total, 42 g). Layer 2 contained 202 shards (1281 g), 127 bone fragments (231 g), and 1 obsidian flake.

Unit 8

This unit of 2 m (N-S) x 1 m (E-W) was situated to the east of units 2 and 3 and to the north of unit 7. The unit was ex-cavated in order to expose a small cist tomb first observed in the eastern profile of unit 3. Along with this cist (burial 25), large stones – continuing the alignment observed in unit 7 – were uncovered. The first excavation layer was

Fig. 7.29. Thevasijaofburial24(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to 50 cm. Because of the presence of some boulders, only parts of the unit could be excavated down to a depth of 50 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 97 ceramic shards (in total, 710 g) and 17 bone fragments (in total, 41 g). Layer 2 contained 166 shards (1249 g), 95 bone fragments (208 g), and 1 “stone cone”.

Burial 25

This cist was situated between the two rows of large stones which formed the above-mentioned stone alignment. Some 50 cm of soil covered the cap, which consisted of a single stone slab (measuring 41 cm x 28 cm x 9 cm) and some small stones. The burial chamber was almost quadrangular in plan [with its interior diameter varying from 22 cm (N-S) to 30 cm (E-W)]. All four walls of the chamber were formed by either large stone slabs or boulders, in addition to which the western wall had a sort of an “extra” interior wall formed by a smaller stone slab. Very interestingly, the huge boulder forming the northern wall of this cist also formed a part of burial 21, situated 85 cm to the NNW of the burial presently discussed. The depth of the chamber was 36 cm, and its base was situated 23.76 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

In the burial chamber, we found only a few fragments of the fragile and poorly preserved remains of a baby (Clavijo 2003). Consequently, it was impossible to determine the burial position of the deceased. No ceramics or other sur-viving grave goods were present.

Unit 9

This unit of 1 m (N-S) x 3 m (E-W) was situated to the south of units 5 and 6. At a depth of c. 20 cm, the stone

pavement – first encountered in unit 5 – covered most of the eastern half of this unit. In the central part of the unit, two small, quadrangular stone-lined features (features 2 and 3) – almost like miniature tombs – were discovered rather close to the present ground surface. In order to pre-serve these curious features, the area in question was ex-cavated only down to a depth of 10–15 cm. Along with the discovery of the pavement – which was also left intact – this left only the westernmost area of the unit, 1 m x 1 m in size, to be excavated further down. This area yielded quite a lot of ceramic shards and a small pointed copper/bronze tool (Fig. 7.30). To the west, unit 9 overlapped with test pit 1 of the 2002 excavations by c. 20 cm.

The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm. In the westernmost square meter, the second layer was from 20 to 50 cm and the third from 50 to c. 60 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 427 ceramic shards (in total, 3186 g), 122 bone fragments (in total, 250 g), and 1 obsidian flake. Layer 2 contained 251 shards (1412 g), 176 bone frag-ments (435 g), 2 obsidian flakes, and the above-mentioned small metal artefact. Layer 3 yielded 103 shards (450 g) and 29 bone fragments (86 g).

Feature 2 (Fig. 7.31)

This small, quadrangular stone-lined feature – oriented almost perfectly according to the cardinal directions – was situated 83 cm N and 123 cm E of the south-western corner of unit 9. The soil-filled feature was encountered 10 cm below the present ground surface. Its outer measurements were 20 cm x 23 cm. Its small stone slabs framed an inner area of 14 cm x 15 cm. A short distance down inside the feature, we encountered a rather circular stone slab (with a diameter of 14–18 cm), which may have originally functioned as the cap of the feature. The feature’s depth was 16–17 cm. The only finds inside the feature were a few small fragments of bone and some small ceramic shards. These finds may well have been introduced into the feature along with the fill, and so are not necessarily related to the function of the feature. This feature – along with feature 3 – may represent the “tomb” of a deceased whose body was unavailable for burial (see subchapter 3.9 for an ethno-historical description of such funeral practices). Alternatively, the pair of features may have had a function related to ancestor worship (see subchapter 7.6.3).

Feature 3 (Fig. 7.31)

This small, rectangular stone-lined feature was very similar in shape, size, and orientation to feature 2. It was situated 31 cm N and 140 cm E of the south-western corner of unit 9 – about 33 cm to the south of feature 3. Only c. 5 cm of soil covered this feature, the interior dimensions of which were 13 cm (N-S) x 19 cm (E-W). The feature – which did not have a cap – was c. 15 cm deep and filled with soil. The

Fig. 7.30. ThefourmetalfindsoftheTiraskainvestigations.Thetwotumisaresuperficialfinds.Thepointedtoolontheleftisfromunit9’slevel2,andthepossibletumistemisfromunitA2’slevel3.Allfourfindsareofcopper/bronze.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

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fill contained few finds. This feature is probably contem-poraneous with feature 2, and the two undoubtedly once had a similar function.

Unit 10

This unit of 1 m (N-S) x 3 m (E-W) was situated to the south of units 5 and 7. Most of the unit was covered either with the stone pavement – first noted in unit 5 – or rather large boulders. Other than the pavement, no notable features were encountered. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm. Due to the extensive nature of the pavement – which was left intact – the second layer rarely reached below 30 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 292 ceramic shards (in total, 1924 g), 70 bone fragments (in total, 191 g), and 2 obsidian flakes. Layer 2 contained 152 shards (1079 g), 114 bone fragments (280 g), and 1 obsidian flake.

Unit 11

We opened this unit of 2 m (N-S) x 3 m (E-W) imme-diately to the south of unit 10 in order to find out how

the stone pavement continued towards the south. A large boulder dominated the centre of this unit and was found to form the southern limit of the pavement. We encoun-tered two cist tombs (burials 26 and 27) near the limits of this unit [in order to expose burial 26, we added an extension of 60 cm (N-S) x 20 cm (E-W) to the east of the original unit]. In addition, we located a possible third tomb (feature 4) near the unit’s southern limit. Near the south-eastern corner of the unit and quite near the present ground surface, various large shards belonging to a single kero were found. This vessel (base diameter 62 mm, rim diameter 111 mm, height 122 mm) (Fig. 7.32), decorated in black, orange, and white on brownish red on its exterior surface, could be partly reconstructed. A little to the east of the large boulder, we encountered a partial human mandi-ble at a depth of c. 15–20 cm.

The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to c. 30 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 295 ceramic shards (in total, 2356 g), 103 bone fragments (in total, 231 g), 2 “stone cones”, and 1 obsidian flake. Layer 2 contained 29 shards (171 g), 34 bone fragments (51 g), and 1 “stone cone”.

Burial 26

This small cist was situated 147 cm N and 285 cm E of the south-western corner of unit 11. Its cap – covered with only c. 5 cm of soil – was formed by a rather irregular-

Fig. 7.31. Features2 (top)and3 (bottom) (photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.32. Thepartiallyreconstructedkeroofunit11(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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shaped single stone slab measuring 45 cm x 42 cm x 13 cm. The diameter of the irregularly-shaped burial chamber varied from c. 20 cm (E-W) to c. 30 cm (N-S). Single, large stone slabs formed two of the chamber’s walls, while the other two walls consisted of various smaller stones. The chamber’s depth was c. 40 cm, and its base was situ-ated 24.02 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca. The remains of the deceased – a 6–12-month-old baby (Clavijo 2003) – were in a poor and fragmentary state. No ceramics or other surviving grave goods were present.

Burial 27

This small cist was situated 43 cm N and 30 cm E of the south-western corner of unit 11. One larger stone slab (measuring 33 cm x 21 cm x 8 cm) and some smaller stones formed the cap, which was located 12–13 cm below the present ground surface. The more or less pentagonal burial chamber was quite shallow (depth 24–27 cm) and half-filled with soil. Low stone slabs, topped by a single row of smaller stones, formed the chamber’s walls. The chamber’s base measured 21 cm (N-S) x 18 cm (E-W) and was situated 23.86 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca. Hardly any human remains had survived, making the assessment of the age and sex of the deceased impossible (Clavijo 2003). However, judging by the extremely small size of the cist, the deceased was probably a very young child. We recovered no ceramics or other grave goods.

Feature 4

This feature, situated 25 cm N and 125 cm E of the south-western corner of unit 11, consisted of some upright stone slabs – resting at a depth of c. 30 cm below the present ground surface – which formed a partial circle. As a large eucalyptus root passed near these stones, it is possible that they were the surviving parts of a small cist tomb, destroyed by the root. This hypothetical cist would have had an interior diameter of c. 20–25 cm. However, as we encountered no bones, bone fragments, teeth, and/or grave goods inside the partial circle of stones, this feature cannot be designated a burial with any certainty. Nevertheless, one has to keep in mind that burials 26 and 27, situated near feature 4, also contained very few bone fragments and no surviving grave goods.

Unit 12

We opened this unit of 1 m (N-S) x 3 m (E-W) immedi-ately to the south of unit 11. Burial 15, excavated in 2002, dominated the western part of the unit. We encountered no further burials or other notable features. The first excava-tion layer was from 0 to 20 cm and the second from 20 to c. 30 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 202 ceramic shards (in total, 1398 g) and 131 bone fragments (in total, 222 g).

Layer 2 contained 54 shards (400 g) and 103 bone frag-ments (178 g).

Unit 13

We opened this unit of 3 m (N-S) x 1 m (E-W) to the east of units 11 and 12. Consequently, this unit assimilated the area of the extension sized 60 cm (N-S) x 20 cm (E-W) which we had earlier added to the east of unit 11 in order to expose burial 26. We encountered no new burials or other notable features. The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm, and the second – only in the northern part of the unit – from 20 to c. 30 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 105 ceramic shards (in total, 637 g), 29 bone fragments (in total, 44 g), and 1 “stone cone”. Layer 2 contained 30 shards (217 g), 17 bone fragments (49 g), and 1 “stone cone”.

7.4.3. Excavations on the upper terrace of the cemetery (Fig. 7.33)

In addition to the above-described 13 units of the main excavation area, in 2003 we also investigated an area of 11 m2 on the upper cemetery terrace, close to burials 1–5. The three excavation units of the upper terrace – along with their most interesting features – are described below.

Unit A1

We placed this unit of 2 m x 2 m some meters to the south-east of burials 1–3 – excavated in 1998 – in the hope of locating more burials. We did, indeed, locate a single cist tomb (burial 28) near the north-western corner of the unit, at a depth of c. 60 cm. Before this level was reached, however, we encountered other interesting features. At a depth of 20 to 40 cm, a host of rather large stones seemed to form two lines, one running N-S and the other E-W. These stone lines – which may have represented the foun-dations of a structure of some kind – met near the north-western corner of the unit. The soil “inside” the corner formed by the possible wall foundations was very loose and contained a lot of finds. The most interesting find of this layer (20–40 cm) was a decorated bone fragment – the only one of its kind found at Tiraska.

At a depth of 40 to 60 cm, rather large stones covered the whole unit. The level between 60 and 80 cm contained markedly fewer stones than the previous layer. For the most part, the soil was rather loose and somewhat greyish in colour. We initially considered a feature of stones and loose soil near the south-western corner of the unit as rep-resenting the remnants of a destroyed cist tomb, but we encountered no finds of a mortuary nature among these stones. Five large fragments belonging to a single tazon were among the most important finds of layer 4 (60–

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80 cm). We were able to partly reconstruct this tazon (base diameter c. 102 mm, height 83 mm) (Fig. 7.34), which features sparse decoration in black on red on its exterior surface. A black (wavy) line circles the interior of the ves-sel’s rim. In addition to the shards of the tazon, layer 4’s finds include a spindle whorl (or a game piece) made of a rounded-off ceramic shard and a fragment of the mandible of a large predator – probably a puma. Between a depth of 80 to 90 cm, the quantity of stones again increased.

The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm, the second from 20 to 40 cm, the third from 40 to 60 cm, the fourth from 60 to 80 cm, and the fifth from 80 to 90 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 571 ceramic shards (in total, 1956 g), 63 bone fragments (in total, 100 g), and 3 obsidian flakes. Layer 2 contained 640 shards (2405 g), 324 bone fragments (743 g), and 1 “stone cone”. Layer 3 yielded 265 shards (1458 g), 155 bone fragments (322 g), and 1 obsidian flake. Layer 4 contained 287 shards (1760 g), 173

Fig. 7.33. Theplanofthe2003excavationareasituatedontheupperterraceofthecemeteryofTiraska.

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Burial 28 (Figs. 7.35–7.36)

We encountered this partly destroyed cist in the north-western corner of unit A1 (180 cm N and 35 cm E of the unit’s south-western corner). Due to intentional destruction or the weight of the stones later piled on top of the burial, the cist’s cap and upper wall structures had collapsed, leaving only the lower parts of the burial chamber intact. Fortunately, the falling stones had not damaged the rather well preserved skeleton or the tazon lying in the chamber. Both large stone slabs and smaller stones had been utilised as construction material for the cist. The diameter of the base of the burial chamber varied between 45 cm (N-S) and 57 cm (E-W). Judging by some stone slabs visible in the north profile of unit A1, the chamber’s depth may originally have been c. 65 cm, with some 20–30 cm of soil covering the cap. The burial chamber’s base was situated 28.34 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

The deceased – a 40–45-year-old female(20) (Clavijo 2003) – had been placed in a seated, flexed position in the southern part of the burial chamber. Originally, she probably faced north or northeast, but had later fallen towards the northwest. The single ceramic vessel – a rather crudely made tazon decorated in black and white on red (base diameter 107 mm, rim diameter 156 mm, height 80 mm) – had been placed to the northeast of the deceased.

Unit A2

We opened this unit of 4 m2 to the north and west of unit A1. Near the northern limit of the unit, at a depth of only 10–15 cm below the present ground surface, we encountered a stone-filled cist tomb (burial 29). Additionally, we encountered the remains of another tomb (burial 30) near and partially beyond the unit’s western limit, at a depth of c. 10–25 cm.

The first excavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm, the second from 20 to 40 cm, the third from 40 to 60 cm, and the fourth from 60 to 80 cm. The third and fourth layers were of a rather limited extension, as burials 29 and 30 – the chambers of which were left intact – took up a lot of ground. The finds of layer 1 included 231 ceramic shards (in total, 1498 g) and 54 bone fragments (in total, 152 g). Layer 2 contained 92 shards (784 g) and 48 bone fragments (152 g). Layer 3 yielded 39 shards (462 g), 40 bone frag-ments (113 g), and a small copper/bronze artefact – possi-bly the stem of a tumi knife (Fig. 7.30). Layer 4 contained 62 shards (510 g) and 54 bone fragments (84 g).


We encountered this cist near the northern limit of unit A2 (150 cm N and 115 cm E of the unit’s south-western corner). The c. 75–80-cm-deep burial chamber was wholly filled with stones and soil (among which rubble we en-

Fig. 7.34. ThepartiallyreconstructedtazonofunitA1(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.35. Burial28withmostofthewellpreservedhumanremainsvisible(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.36. Thetazonofburial28(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

bone fragments (367 g), one half of a perforated stone, and 1 obsidian flake. Layer 5 yielded 24 shards (219 g) and 18 bone fragments (26 g).

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countered some rather interesting ceramic shards). Below the rubble – at a depth of 65–75 cm – rested the rather well preserved and apparently undisturbed remains of a 30–35-year-old male(21) (Clavijo 2003). Judging by the position of the deceased’s leg and pelvis bones, he originally rested in a seated, flexed position in the eastern part of the chamber, with his face towards the west. A single ceramic vessel – a tazon featuring a slightly protruding exterior torus and decorated in black and white on red (base diameter 104–107 mm, rim diameter 154 mm, height 81 mm) – had been placed to the northeast of the deceased. Although a falling stone had shattered this vessel it was possible to almost completely reconstruct it.

Judging by four upright stone slabs partly framing the base of the burial chamber, its plan seems to have been almost circular (diameter c. 65–70 cm). However, the chamber’s stone fill made it hard to define the cist’s original form and dimensions. It would seem that at some point after the construction of the cist, it was opened – but its contents left intact – filled with stones, and apparently partly re-constructed: the upper parts of the south and east walls had been constructed in a different manner to that of the rest of the cist. As an iron artefact formed a part of the cist’s south wall, this probable reconstruction seems to have taken place in post-Columbian times. However, the original burial seems to date to the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku period. The base of the burial chamber was situated 28.24 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

Burial 30 (Figs. 7.38–7.39)

We encountered the remains of this stone-lined chamber tomb near and partially beyond the western limit of unit A2 (105 cm N and 10 cm E of the unit’s south-western corner). In order to wholly expose this burial, we opened an extension of c. 100 cm (N-S) x 50 cm (E-W) to the west of unit A2.(22) We encountered the surviving parts of the burial structure already at a depth of 10–25 cm below

Fig. 7.37. Thereconstructedtazonofburial29(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.38. Burial30.Notetheceramicvessel.(PhotoAnttiKorpisaari.)

Fig. 7.39. Thecuencoofburial30(photoRiikkaVäisänen).

the present ground surface, so the burial seems to have been quite superficial. All traces of the chamber’s cap had disappeared. All that remained of the burial structure were the bottom 40 cm of the walls, consisting of courses of small stones. The chamber was almost circular in plan and had a diameter of c. 70 cm. The tomb’s base was situated 28.62 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca.

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Due to its semi-destroyed state, the burial chamber was full of soil. We discovered the poorly preserved and quite disarticulated remains of a 30–35-year-old male (Clavijo 2003) among this fill. A single ceramic vessel – a crude and undecorated cuenco missing a part of its rim and one of its two handles (base diameter 73–78 mm, rim diameter 165 mm, height 98 mm) – rested in the south-western part of the chamber. Additionally, we found a grooved stone – possibly a mace head or a bolas weight – among the fill.

Unit A3

This unit of 3 m2 [2 m (E-W) x 1.5 m (N-S)] was situated to the west of unit A1 and to the south of unit A2. We encoun-tered no burials, but near the eastern limit of the unit, at a depth of c. 20–30 cm, we did locate a probable wall founda-tion. This consisted of rather large stones and ran approxi-mately NW-SE. Close to this wall foundation we found half of a large grinding stone at a depth of c. 20 cm. The first ex-cavation layer was from 0 to 20 cm, the second from 20 to 40 cm, and the third from 40 to 60 cm. The finds of layer 1 included 151 ceramic shards (in total, 1037 g) and 43 bone fragments (in total, 101 g). Layer 2 contained 119 shards (1337 g) and 144 bone fragments (382 g). Layer 3 yielded 133 shards (1371 g) and 70 bone fragments (324 g).

7.4.4. The burials of the adobe brick manufacturing area of Tiraska

In early September, we learned that one or more burials had been discovered in an adobe brick manufacturing area, at the coordinates S 16º19’39.1” – W 68º43’00.6”. We visited this location, acquiring the following ceramic finds: a vasija (missing one of its two handles but otherwise complete), a nearly complete tazon, pieces of a broken – and now partly reconstructed – tazon (featuring a slightly protruding exterior torus and decorated in black on red; base diameter 113 mm, rim diameter 158–160 mm, height 83 mm) (Fig. 7.40), and pieces of a broken – and now partly reconstructed – large utilitarian vessel (undecorated; base diameter 115 mm, height c. 370 mm) (Fig. 7.41). We also documented the structure of one well preserved cist tomb – burial 32. The two almost complete ceramic vessels had come from this cist. The broken tazon may have come from another cist, but this is not very clear, as the brick maker’s wife – and not the brick maker himself – had discovered the shards of this tazon and the utilitarian vessel.

In early October, we were informed of the discovery of another tomb – burial 31 – in the same adobe brick manu-facturing area. We proceeded to excavate this burial.

The adobe brick manufacturing area is situated about 5 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca, at a level c. 20–25 m below that of the two above-described cem-etery terraces. It is significant to note that burials 31 and

32 were situated notably closer to the shore than burials 1–30, proving the existence of Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku burials and/or small cemeteries in at least two distinct areas at Tiraska.

Burial 31

As in the case of burial 32 – described below – the brick maker discovered this cist while he was digging for clay

Fig. 7.40. The reconstructed tazonof theadobebrickmanufacturingarea(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

Fig. 7.41. Thereconstructedlargeutilitarianvesseloftheadobebrickmanufacturingarea(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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for adobe bricks. According to the brick maker, he only removed the cist’s cap, found the burial chamber to be full of soil, and then replaced the cap without excavating in the chamber proper. When we later learned of the discovery of this burial, we carried out the documentation and excava-tion of it. A single stone slab measuring 58 cm x 40 cm x 14 cm formed the cist’s cap. This slab seems to have rested about 90 cm below the present ground surface. The burial chamber was almost quadrangular [35 cm (N-S) x 40 cm (E-W)] in plan. The chamber’s depth seems to have been c. 50 cm. The lower parts of the cist’s walls consisted of large stone slabs, while the upper walls were formed by smaller stones.

The cist contained the rather poorly preserved remains of a 4-year-old child(23) (Clavijo 2003). This child had ap-parently been buried in a seated position, facing west and with his/her back against the chamber’s eastern wall. No ceramics accompanied the deceased. The brick maker (or someone else) may, of course, have looted the contents of the tomb before our excavation, but as the bones of the deceased were found in an articulated state, I feel it more likely that the child had simply not received any ceramic offerings.


This cist was situated 4.3 m to the west of burial 31. It was covered with one large stone slab (measuring 75 cm x 40 cm x 15 cm) and some smaller stones. The cap had rested c. 100 cm below the present ground surface. The burial chamber was c. 75 cm deep and almost quadrangular in plan, with each of its four sides measuring 45–55 cm. Both upright stone slabs and smaller stones had been used as building material. If the brick maker’s assessment is re-liable, no human remains had been present, and he had

only found the above-mentioned ceramic vessels – a vasija and a tazon – while “excavating” the burial. The soil near the brick manufacture area is very moist, so the human remains may indeed have completely disintegrated in the course of centuries. However, as the bones of the deceased child of burial 31 were reasonably well preserved, it is also possible that the “excavators” just paid no attention to any preserved bone fragments.

The vasija (base diameter 69–72 mm, rim diameter 86 mm, height 123 mm) is rather sparsely decorated in black on red. It is missing one of its two handles and some smallish pieces of its rim, but is otherwise intact. The tazon (base diameter 82 mm, rim diameter 135 mm, height 78 mm) features scroll-motifs painted in black and white on red. It is missing one large rim fragment, in addition to which a part of the vessel’s surface is somewhat eroded.

7.4.5. Test pit 1 (2003)

We placed this test pit of 1.5 m x 1.5 m on a terrace situ-ated c. 10 m above the present level of Lake Titicaca, at the coordinates S 16º19’36.8” – W 68º43’00.9”. We hoped that a stratigraphic ceramic sequence stretching at least from Late Tiwanaku times to the Inca era could be dis-covered here. However, this proved not to be the case: We excavated the test pit down to a depth of 90 cm in 10-cm levels. The scarce diagnostic finds seem almost exclu-sively to date to the Republican and Colonial eras (glazed ceramic shards were encountered in layers 1 through 6, pieces of glass in layers 1, 4 and 5, and a plastic button in layer 4). Excavation level 9 (80–90 cm) was devoid of almost any finds, and we abandoned the test pit. It seems that the terrace on which the pit was situated has been built or at least substantially used and/or modified in post-Conquest times.

Fig. 7.42. Thevasijaandtazonofburial32(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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7.4.6. Surface collection (Figs. 7.30 and 7.43)

We carried out an unsystematic surface collection on the terraces situated in the vicinity of our two excavation areas. In addition to the discovery of a couple of dozen interest-ing (mostly Tiwanaku IV/V) shards, this work led to the finding of a copper/bronze tumi. Lower down, on the fields situated near the shore of Lake Titicaca, we carried out a somewhat more systematic surface collection. Limited surface collection carried out in these parts in 2002 had led to the discovery of interesting post-Tiwanaku and Inca shards (see subchapter 7.3.4), and the aim of the 2003 surface collection was to locate more of such material.

In particular, the high quality of the Inca ceramics surface collected in 2003 stands out. There seems to be a notable concentration of “imperial” Inca ceramics – mostly aryballo and shallow plate shards – in the fields situated near the shore of Lake Titicaca, around the coordinates S 16º19’39.0” – W 68º43’02.3”. We also discovered quite a number of decorated post-Tiwanaku shards, along with a copper/bronze tumi. However, we encountered only a handful of Tiwanaku shards – one of these few pieces being a part of the neck panel of an animal-shaped incensario.

As post-Tiwanaku and Inca shards are quite rare on the upper terraces of Tiraska, but relatively abundant nearer the

shore, it would seem that these lower-lying areas formed the focus of the post-Tiwanaku and Inca occupations at the site. However, the cists of the adobe brick manufacturing area prove that the low-lying areas were used also in the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku times, and that the later occupations (and lake sediments) have probably only buried most of the traces of this earlier occupation.

7.5. 14C dates

Twelve 14C samples from Tiraska have been dated. All 14C analyses were performed in the Dating Laboratory of the University of Helsinki. I calibrated the dates using the 14C calibration program CALIB REV4.4 (Copyright 1986-2002 M. Stuiver and P. J. Reimer; see Stuiver and Reimer 1993) and the shcal02.14c calibration data set (see McCormac et al. 2002). The results are presented in Table 7.1.

Of the dated samples, nine (samples Tiraska 1–9) were human bone from burial contexts. I preferred human bone samples to more “conventional” charcoal samples, as within the bounds of statistical considerations, human bone samples directly date an individual’s time of death. If one further makes the assumption – as I am making here – that burial followed death more or less immediately, human bone samples directly date particular burials.(24)

Fig. 7.43. Surface-collectedshards,mostlydatingtotheIncaera(photoAnttiKorpisaari).

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Within the one-sigma-range, the nine calibrated human bone (i.e. burial) dates group quite tightly together. Seven of these dates (Tiraska 2–5, Tiraska 7–9) fall mostly within the 11th and 12th centuries AD, with the “mean” situated around the year AD 1100. The Tiraska 6 date is slightly older (AD 901–917, 977–1030), indicating that burial 24 may be c. 100 years earlier than the majority of the dated tombs of the cemetery. Tiraska 1 (AD 1218–1269) is the latest date, firmly dating burial 11 in the 13th century. Consequently, the cemetery of Tiraska seems to have been used for some 200–300 years – probably from the 10th until the 13th century.

It is interesting to note that burials 28 and 29 – situated on the upper terrace of the cemetery – and burial 31 of the adobe manufacturing area both date to the same two-century-range as the majority of the dated burials of the lower cemetery terrace. This indicates that the different cemetery areas were probably in use at the same time (and that, consequently, they were not cemeteries used in suc-cession). The lower cemetery terrace may have been used for a somewhat longer period of time than the two other cemetery areas, but this impression may only be due to the fact that a greater number of dates are available in relation to the lower cemetery terrace than the two other cemetery areas.

Another interesting point concerning the dating of the burials is the fact that all three observed burial categories – cists, chamber tombs, and simple pit burials without tomb architecture – seem to be more or less contempo-raneous. My original hypothesis was that the cist tombs would date to the Late Tiwanaku period, the chamber tombs to the beginning of the post-Tiwanaku era, and the simple pit burials to either the post-Tiwanaku or the Inca period. According to the 14C dates, however, the only dated chamber tomb – burial 17 – is older than most of the dated cists, and the only dated simple pit burial – burial 16 – is more or less contemporaneous (or only a little later) than most of the dated cists. Even if only one date per group is available for the chamber tombs and the simple pit burials, the afore-mentioned results have compelled me to change my original position concerning the dating of the three burial categories. If – as it would seem – the differences

between the observed burial categories are not temporal in nature, they have to be explained in some other way. Below, I shall return to this topic.

In addition to the nine human bone samples, two samples of organic crust preserved on utilitarian ceramic shards were also dated. The first of these two samples (Tiraska 11) came from the lower cemetery terrace, from the cultur-al layer of unit 9, from a depth of 45 cm below the present ground surface. Calibrated, the one-sigma-range of this date covers the second half of the 6th century and the first half of the 7th century (AD 565–567, 581–587, 597–659). The second crust sample (Tiraska 12) came from the upper cemetery terrace, from the cultural layer of unit A1, at a depth of c. 90 cm. The calibrated one-sigma-range of this last-mentioned date covers the late 7th century and the first two thirds of the 8th century (AD 665–722, 742–770). Consequently, the two crust (i.e. cultural layer) dates are some 300–500 years older than the majority of the dated burials. This fact leads to two important observations: (1) At least from approximately the 6th to the 8th centu-ries the future cemetery terraces of Tiraska were inhabited by people using Tiwanaku ceramics.(25) Later – possibly following the abandonment of these terraces as habita-tion areas – the same terraces came to serve as cemeteries. However, it is also possible that the terraces continued to be inhabited, but that from approximately AD 1000 burial became a household activity at Tiraska.(26) (2) We do not yet know where the burials of the 6th–8th-century inhabit-ants of Tiraska are located.

Temporally, the two crust (i.e. cultural layer) dates fall within the Tiwanaku IV period (dated to c. AD 500–800). Stylistically, however, the overwhelming majority of the decorated ceramic shards discovered at Tiraska belong to the Tiwanaku V style. This observation is in accordance with the writings of Janusek (2003a: 34-35, 55-56; 2004b), Sonia Alconini (1995: 32, 64-65), and Burkholder (1997: 59, 65-70; 2002), according to which the traditional divi-sion between the Tiwanaku IV and V ceramic styles is not of a temporal nature, but rather related to contextual and/or functional differences. According to the afore-mentioned scholars, the so-called “Classic” Tiwanaku IV ceramics would be related to high-status ritual and elite contexts,

Table 7.1.The1214CdatesofTiraska.

Lab. code Sample δ13C δ15N BP Calibrated age (1 sigma) Calibrated age (2 sigma)Hela-661 Tiraska 1 (Burial 11) -17.2 - 845 ± 35 AD 1218-1269 AD 1181-1280Hela-662 Tiraska 2 (Burial 13) -15.7 - 970 ± 40 AD 1046-1089, 1102-1159, 1173-1176 AD 1027-1185, 1193-1207Hela-811 Tiraska 3 (Burial 16) -18.7 10.71 930 ± 30 AD 1052-1061, 1072-1077, 1151-1208 AD 1047-1085, 1107-1122, 1129-1221Hela-812 Tiraska 4 (Burial 17) -13.5 9.97 1065 ± 40 AD 987-1046, 1088-1103, 1124-1126 AD 898-921, 944-946, 968-1051, 1062-1069, 1078-1149Hela-813 Tiraska 5 (Burial 20) -14.8 10.15 1035 ± 40 AD 994-1001, 1019-1048, 1083-1137 AD 989-1053, 1059-1153Hela-814 Tiraska 6 (Burial 24) -16.0 10.54 1090 ± 40 AD 901-917, 977-1030 AD 893-1047, 1085-1107, 1121-1130Hela-815 Tiraska 7 (Burial 28) -17.3 9.99 1025 ± 40 AD 1022-1048, 1082-1140 AD 991-1054, 1057-1154Hela-816 Tiraska 8 (Burial 29) -17.5 9.76 985 ± 40 AD 1039-1052, 1060-1072, 1077-1094, 1096-1152 AD 1021-1184Hela-817 Tiraska 9 (Burial 31) -17.1 14.72 1000 ± 40 AD 1031-1050, 1064-1066, 1080-1148 AD 995-999, 1019-1164, 1167-1180Hela-818 Tiraska 10 (Unit 10, depth c. 45 cm) -23.2 - 2000 ± 75 44 BC-AD 129 158-132 BC, 118 BC-AD 235Hela-819 Tiraska 11 (Unit 9, depth 45 cm) -16.6 - 1475 ± 45 AD 565-567, 581-587, 597-659 AD 538-677Hela-820 Tiraska 12 (Unit A1, depth c. 90 cm) -24.7 - 1345 ± 45 AD 665-722, 742-770 AD 646-782, 790-825, 842-859

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which would explain their low frequency in the ceramic assemblage (both in the shards and in the grave goods) of Tiraska – a relatively unimportant, small Tiwanaku hamlet (see subchapter 5.7).

In addition to the above-discussed nine human bone samples and the two crust samples, a piece of charcoal dis-covered in between some of the stones forming the pave-ment of the lower cemetery terrace was also dated. I hoped that this sample (Tiraska 10) – which came from unit 10, from a depth of c. 25 cm – would give us some indication concerning the age of the stone pavement. However, the one-sigma-range of this date turned out to be as early as BC 44–AD 129. Consequently, the sample seems to have been contaminated. Alternatively, a piece of old charcoal had been displaced from its original context during the construction of the pavement or one of the burials.

7.6. Analysis and discussion

7.6.1. The burials

During the three seasons of work at Tiraska, 32 burial con-texts were investigated (see Table 7.2). As was discussed above, these burials date to the 10th–13th centuries, i.e. to the Late Tiwanaku period and partly to the early post-Tiwanaku period. As very few Tiwanaku cemetery sites per se have been excavated (see chapter 6), the relatively high number of archaeologically investigated un-looted Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku burials makes the cemetery of Tiraska an important site.

Typologically, Tiraska’s 32 investigated burial contexts include 24 cists, 4 chamber tombs, 3 simple pit burials without tomb architecture, and 1 ambiguous collection of human bones and broken ceramics found together without tomb architecture. As discussed in subchapter 7.5, 14C dates indicate that the different burial types are more or less contemporaneous. Below, the three principal types are discussed individually.

The cists

All of the 24 cists housed a single individual. These de-ceased had been buried in a seated, flexed position, prob-ably wrapped in textiles (although no traces of these had survived).(27) The orientation of the bodies in the burial chamber varied quite widely: of the nine deceased whose original burial position could be determined with rea-sonable certainty, four faced more or less south(28), three more or less west(29), one east, and one probably N or NE. Consequently, even though the southern and western direc-tions predominate, no very strict rules seem to have gov-erned the positioning of the corpse in the mortuary facil-

ity.(30) One or two ceramic vessels often accompanied the deceased – only six cists were totally devoid of ceramics. At Tiraska, two vessels per grave would seem to have been the maximum, as not a single investigated cist contained a higher number of vessels.

There does not appear to be any straightforward correlation between the deceased’s age category (child, adolescent, or adult(31)) and the number of ceramic vessels given as grave goods. In the six cases in which no ceramics were found, three of the deceased were children, one an adolescent, one an adult, and one of undetermined age. For the nine cists containing one ceramic vessel each, the numbers are: 1 child, 7 adults, and 1 deceased of undetermined age. In the nine cists containing two vessels each, 2 children, 3 adolescents, 1 adult, and 3 deceased of undetermined age were present. Consequently, children and adolescents are predominant in the cases with zero and two vessels, while the adult age group strongly correlates with cists containing one vessel.(32)

In three cases (burials 25, 26, and 27), cists found to contain no ceramic grave goods were exceedingly small. This might be taken to indicate that very young children were not often accompanied by even a single ceramic vessel. Such a possible differentiation between the very young and the rest of the population might be related to a belief according to which children became full members of the community only at the age of several years (see subchapter 4.2.6). However, two ceramic vessels accom-panied the 9-month-old deceased of burial 21, so if small children were often left without any ceramics, there were also exceptions to the rule.

Among the 27 ceramic vessels found in Tiraska’s 24 cists, by far the commonest vessel form is the tazon (n = 11). The sample also includes 6 keros [of which one is a challador and another is of the prosopomorphic variety as defined by Ponce (1948)], 6 vasijas, 2 bases of broken vessels which served as improvised “plates”, 1 escudilla, and 1 sahumador.(33) When a burial contained only a single ceramic vessel (n = 9), this vessel was in 4 cases a tazon, in 2 cases a vasija, and in 1 case each a kero, an escudilla, and an improvised “plate”. When a burial contained two vessels, the following vessel combinations were observed: a tazon and a kero (n = 4), a tazon and a vasija (n = 3), a sahumador and a kero (n = 1), and an improvised “plate” and a vasija (n = 1). Consequently, it would seem that of the paired vessels one (a tazon or a “plate”) was meant to function as a container for food and the other (a kero or a vasija) as a container for drink.

Typologically, the great majority of the 27 ceramic vessels found in the cists belong to the Tiwanaku V style – Bennett’s Decadent Tiwanaku. According to the recent Burkholder classification (Burkholder 1997; 2002), most of these vessels are of the Chambi style which Burkholder (2002: 230-232) dates to AD 600–1100. One or two

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vessels (the vasija of burial 14 and the tazon of burial 21) might be assignable to the “finer” Acarapi style (AD 700–1000). Additionally, the kero of burial 9 appears to be of Burkholder’s Early Mamani style (AD 800–900). Interestingly, of the vessels possibly belonging to the Acarapi and Early Mamani styles, the vasija of burial 14 and the kero of burial 9 were apparently broken already in antiquity. This might mean that they had been used and/or guarded for a considerable period of time prior to their burial (see below). Such an interpretation would be in accord with Burkholder’s dating of the mentioned styles as somewhat earlier than the Chambi style. Concerning the dating of this last-mentioned style, it is interesting to note that an intact vessel of this style was recovered in burial 11, 14C dated to AD 1218–1269. Consequently, Chambi style vessels may have been produced – or at least remained in use – until the 13th century AD.

The forms of the 27 vessels found in the cists are almost exclusively Tiwanaku, with the tazones and the keros making up 63 percent of the collection. Decoration is mostly monochrome (black on red/orange; n = 11) or bi-chrome (black and white/cream on red; n = 7). Five vessels feature tri-chrome decoration (black, orange, and white/cream on red in four of the five cases). The collection features some quite well fired and decorated pieces (e.g. the vasija of burial 24), but other pieces are very crudely fired (e.g. the tazon of burial 28) and/or decorated (e.g. the tazon of burial 13). The majority of the pieces making up the collection are more or less mediocre in quality. These observations accord well with the role and date of the site: one would not expect to find Tiwanaku ceramics of the finest quality in a relatively unimportant hamlet of the

type of Tiraska. Additionally, the overall quality of (im-ported) Tiwanaku ceramics probably fell near the end of the Tiwanaku period, when the Tiwanaku State was expe-riencing all kinds of external and internal problems.

Various scholars have published ceramics parallel to the Tiwanaku vessels of Tiraska. The tazon of Tiraska’s burial 7 is relatively similar to a tazon – found at Iwawi – presented by Burkholder (1997: Fig. 6.3, bottom-left). The tazon of burial 12, on the other hand, closely resembles a tazon published by Janusek (1994: Fig. 10.25, top-left; 2003a: Fig. 3.46, vessel c), found in Akapana East 1, Tiwanaku. A fragment of a rather similar tazon – found in Mollo Kontu South, Tiwanaku – has been published by Couture (2003: Fig. 8.12, piece d). The tazon of burial 21 closely resembles another tazon published by Janusek (1994: Fig. 10.25, bottom-right; 2003a: Fig. 3.46, vessel f), found in Akapana East 1, Tiwanaku – even if the Tiraska tazon’s scroll-motifs are painted much more carefully than those of the vessel presented by Janusek.

Some other tazones found in Akapana East 1, Tiwanaku, and published by Janusek (1994: Fig. 7.12, bottom-left, Fig. 10.25, top-right and bottom-left; 2002a: Fig. 9, row C, vessel on the right; 2003a: Fig. 3.46, vessels a and b; 2003b: Fig. 10.14, bottom-right; 2004b: Fig. 5.6, row C, vessel on the right) also find relatively close parallels in the Tiraska material. Additionally, various Moquegua Chen Chen style tazones published by P. Goldstein (2005: Fig. 5.22; Goldstein & Owen 2002: Fig. 13) closely resemble vessels found at Tiraska. The decoration of the vasija of Tiraska’s burial 24 is similar to the decoration of a kero found in Misiton II, Lukurmata, presented by Janusek (1994: Fig.

Table 7.2.Summaryofsomeoftheaspectsofthe32investigatedburialsofTiraska.

No. Type of burial Chamber dia. Chamber depth No. of deceased Sex Age at death Body position Orientation Grave goods Cal AD (1 sigma)1 Cist 50 cm ? (> 70 cm) 1 F? 10-15 years Seated flexed S 1 vasija and 1 tazon -2 Cist ? ? 1 ? 30-45 years Seated flexed ? 1 vasija -3 Cist c. 60 cm c. 80 cm 1 M 30-35 years Seated flexed S or SE 1 kero and 1 sahumador -4 Disturbed - - 3 2 M, 1 F? c. 30, c. 20, and c. 15 years ? ? 1 kero, 2 tazones, and fragments of 1 vasija -5 Cist ? ? 1 ? 20-30 years ? ? - -6 Chamber tomb 92-105 cm 120 cm 1 M 30-40 years ? ? 1 vasija -7 Cist ? ? 1 ? ? ? ? 1 kero and 1 tazon -8 Cist ? ? 1? ? ? ? ? 1 kero -9 Cist 30-40 cm ? (> 40 cm) 1? ? ? ? ? 1 kero and 1 tazon -10 Cist 40-45 cm ? 1? ? Adult? ? ? 1 escudilla -11 Cist 40-55 cm ? 1 F? 4-6 years Seated flexed E 1 tazon 1218-126912 Cist c. 60 cm ? 1 ? Young ? ? 1 vasija and 1 tazon -13 Cist c. 60 cm 63 cm 1 F? 30-45 years Seated flexed SSE 1 tazon 1046-117614 Cist 30-40 cm ? 1 ? 4-8 years ? ? 1 vasija and 1 ”plate” -15 Cist 40-65 cm ? 1 ? 12-15 years ? ? - -16 Simple pit burial - - 1 M 25-30 years Face down, flexed WSW Possible bone weaving tool 1052-120817 Chamber tomb c. 100 cm 60-70 cm 1 M c. 45 years ? ? 1 vasija and 1 ”cup” 987-112618 Simple pit burial - - 1 ? 6-7 years Face down (?), flexed W - -19 Simple pit burial - - 1 F Adult Face down, flexed SSW - -20 Cist 45-60 cm c. 67 cm 1 ? 10-11 years Seated flexed SSE 1 challador and 1 tazon 994-113721 Cist 25-45 cm c. 50 cm 1 ? 9 months ? ? 1 kero and 1 tazon -22 Chamber tomb 50-65 cm c. 70 cm 1 F 25-30 years Seated flexed E or ESE 1 vasija -23 Cist c. 35 cm c. 40 cm 1 M 25-30 years ? ? 1 ”plate” -24 Cist 40-50 cm 40-45 cm 1 F c. 20 years Seated flexed W or NW 1 vasija 901-103025 Cist 22-30 cm 36 cm 1 ? Baby ? ? - -26 Cist 20-30 cm c. 40 cm 1 ? 6-12 months ? ? - -27 Cist 18-21 cm 24-27 cm 1? ? ? ? ? - -28 Cist 45-57 cm c. 65 cm (?) 1 F 40-45 years Seated flexed N or NE 1 tazon 1022-114029 Cist 65-70 cm 75-80 cm 1 M 30-35 years Seated flexed W 1 tazon 1039-115230 Chamber tomb c. 70 cm ? (> 40 cm) 1 M 30-35 years ? ? 1 cuenco -31 Cist 35-40 cm c. 50 cm 1 ? c. 4 years Seated flexed W - 1031-114832 Cist 45-55 cm c. 75 cm ? ? ? ? ? 1 vasija and 1 tazon -

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10.39, top-right). The basal part of a vasija from Tiraska’s burial 4 resembles a vasija found at Kirawi, published by Janusek and Kolata (2003: Fig. 6.31, bottom-left).

Interestingly, most of the ceramic vessels deposited in the cists as grave goods seem to have been worn or even broken. Of the 27 vessels, the rim of at least 9 was more or less worn at the time of deposition, and 8 vessels were broken outright. The exact reason for the giving of worn and broken vessels as grave goods will probably never be revealed, but perhaps the following explanations could apply: (1) The vessels had belonged to the deceased (or in the case of small children to their family members), who had made use of them in life and would continue to do so in death. (2) Ceramic vessels were not produced locally and it was deemed too “expensive” or difficult to acquire new vessels for mortuary use. (3) The vessels deposited in tombs were some kind of family heirlooms which might have acquired “supernatural” importance and were buried decades after their manufacture.(34)

Some general observations can be made concerning the size and shape of Tiraska’s cists. Their stone-lined burial chambers are usually more or less quadrangular, pen-tagonal, or hexagonal in plan. Cist size seems to corre-late roughly with the physical size of the cadaver. This is apparent when one compares average cist diameters and chamber depths between different age categories. For chil-dren, average cist diameter is 34.3 cm (n = 6), and average chamber depth 44.0 cm (n = 4). For adolescents, these values are 52.8 cm (n = 4) and 67.0 cm (n = 1), and for adults 51.6 cm (n = 7) and 61.3 cm (n = 6). Consequently, children’s cists tend to be notably smaller than those meant for adolescents and adults. Between the latter two age cat-egories, there is not much variation in cist dimensions. Chamber depth is almost always larger than cist diameter. The opposite holds true for only 1 of the 15 cists for which both measurements are available.

In addition to human bone, some of the cists also contained osteological remains belonging to other species. We en-countered fish bones and scales in a majority of the cases in which the soil contained in a burial chamber was sieved. However, as fish bones and scales were also quite common in the cultural layer surrounding and covering the burials, these remains could easily have been introduced into the burial chambers with the soil filtering through the holes in the cap and the walls. Consequently, it is hard to prove that the deceased would have been given fish dishes as of-ferings. However, as Tiraska is situated on the shore of Lake Titicaca, I find it quite logical that fish dishes would indeed have formed part of the food offerings probably buried with the deceased.

Animal bones and bone fragments were also common in the cultural layer surrounding and covering the cists, but as animal bone fragments tend to be notably larger than fish

bones and scales, their accidental deposition in intact burial chambers is less probable. Consequently, the encountered animal bones/bone fragments can more confidently be interpreted as evidence of food offerings. Camelid bone fragments formed part of the find inventories of three cists – burials 3, 12, and 23 (Clavijo 2003; Villamor 1999, 2002). In the case of burial 3 – which was excavated in a tremendous hurry – it is not exactly clear whether the camelid bone remains were found inside or outside of the cist. As burial 12 had lost its cap prior to investigation, the context of the camelid bone fragment found in this burial is also in doubt. However, the camelid remains found inside the intact burial 23, at least, can in my mind be interpreted as evidence of a camelid meat food offering.

Burial 25 contained bone fragments belonging to the Peruvian guemal (Hippocamelus antisensis) (Clavijo 2003), a game animal. Among the finds of burial 9 there are some bones belonging to a small rodent (Villamor 2002) – possibly a guinea pig. As is generally known, guinea pigs formed – and still form – an integral part of the diet of Native Andean populations, so the possible guinea pig bones could, again, be interpreted as evidence of a food offering.(35) Burials 5 and 14 contained some undetermined animal bone fragments (Villamor 1999; 2002). In addition to the above-mentioned rodent bones, burial 9 contained bone fragments belonging to a small carnivorous mammal – probably a dog. If a dog (or some parts of a dog) was indeed placed in burial 9, this was probably not a food offering, but an offering of another kind.(36) However, as burial 9 had lost its cap prior to investigation, the animal remains could also have been introduced into the burial chamber accidentally.

The chamber tombs

The four chamber tombs – burials 6, 17, 22, and 30 – dif-fered architectonically quite markedly from the cists. The chamber tombs were more spacious than the cists, were more or less spherical in form, and were built almost ex-clusively of small stones (whereas the cists almost always incorporated at least some larger stone slabs). Average burial chamber diameter was 81.5 cm (n = 4), and average chamber depth 85.0 cm (n = 3). Each of the four investi-gated chamber tombs housed an individual burial. All the four deceased were adults, the youngest of them having died at the age of c. 25–30 years. Of the four deceased, three were male and one female. Only the burial position of the female deceased of burial 22 is known; she had been buried in a seated, flexed position facing E/ESE. Burial 17 was possibly of a secondary nature, as only fragments of the cranium and the long bones of the legs were recov-ered. However, the poor state of preservation of the human remains found in the chamber tombs makes it difficult to interpret the primary or secondary nature of these burials with any certainty.

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Each burial contained at least one ceramic vessel: three tombs contained one vessel each, one burial two vessels. The 5-vessel-collection consists of 3 vasijas, 1 cuenco, and 1 “cup”. The hallmarks of the Tiwanaku culture, tazones and keros, which together make up 63 percent of the 27-vessel-collection found in the cists, are missing. All the five vessels from the chamber tombs are fairly crude, and four of them are worn and/or broken. Only one of the vessels – the vasija of burial 17 – features painted decora-tion. Consequently, the chamber tomb ceramic collection – as well as the architecture of the chamber tombs – differs marked from the cist collection. All in all, the chamber tomb ceramics seem quite post-Tiwanaku in nature.

Due to the many apparent differences between the cist and chamber tomb burial samples, I originally hypothesised that the cists would date to the Late Tiwanaku period and the chamber tombs to the early post-Tiwanaku period. The Tiraska chamber tombs resemble the subterranean burial constructions of Qiwaya (Korpisaari 2000: 33-36; Plaza 1999; Sagárnaga 1999) and some other Late Intermediate Period chullpa burial tower sites (e.g. Kesseli et al. 2003: 99). However, Tiraska’s four chamber tombs were all in-dividual burials, whereas most of Qiwaya’s subterranean chamber tombs housed various deceased. Qiwaya’s sub-terranean tombs were also usually devoid of any ceramic offerings, while all of Tiraska’s chamber tombs contained at least one vessel. In other words, Tiraska’s chamber tombs seem to combine elements of both Late Tiwanaku and post-Tiwanaku period burial practices. However, the only 14C-dated chamber tomb – burial 17 – dates to the 10th to 12th centuries (AD 987–1046, 1088–1103, 1124–1126), i.e. to the same Late Tiwanaku period as most of Tiraska’s cists. As only one of the chamber tombs is dated, one could of course claim that there is something wrong with either the 14C sample or the date. However, since the only dated simple pit burial – burial 16 – also most probably dates to the 11th or 12th century (AD 1052–1061, 1072–1077, 1151–1208), I now find it quite likely that all the three burial categories are actually more or less contempora-neous. This brings us to an interesting question: what do the differences in burial architecture, ceramics, and the presence/absence of grave goods between the three burial categories signify? Below, I shall return to this topic.

Only one of the chamber tombs – burial 6 – contained animal bones: in the case of burial 6, probable guinea pig bones were present (Sagárnaga 1999: 47), possibly pointing to a food offering (or divination).

The simple pit burials

The simple pit burial sample includes only three burials – burials 16, 18, and 19 – all of which were individual burials.(37) All these were investigated in 2003 and were located within some three meters of each other, quite close

to the present ground surface. None of the three burials forming this group contained ceramic vessels; the group’s only possible grave good was the possible llama bone wichuña found in burial 16. The deceased buried in these three burials included an adult male, an adult female, and a child. At least two – and probably all three – of the de-ceased had been placed on their stomachs, face down, and arms flexed along the sides. The legs of all the deceased had been flexed. In two cases the legs lay in a horizon-tal position, but in the case of burial 19 the tibias pointed obliquely upwards. The orientation of all three deceased was more or less similar, with the crania pointing to the W, WSW, and SSW, respectively.

Proper tomb architecture was absent in all three cases, but some irregular stones were always associated with the human remains. The cranium of the deceased of burials 16 and 18 rested between a pair of stones, and rather large stones lay near to and on top of the deceased of burial 19. Some stones also lay on top of the deceased of burial 16. As the association between human remains and stones is evident in all three cases, it has to be considered an inten-tional and meaningful part of the mortuary practices. The fact that in the case of burials 16 and 19 some stones had been placed on top of the deceased might indicate that there was some fear of the return of the dead to haunt the living. This – along with the close spatial association between the simple pit burials, and the curious burial position of the deceased of burial 19 – suggests that the simple pit burials might be deviant burials. If this interpretation is correct, the people resting in these burials were for one reason or another shunned by society. Perhaps they were considered “criminals” or “magicians”, or had died under “dangerous” circumstances. Tschopik’s (1946: 552, 566) ethnographic information according to which women who die in child-birth, witches, and suicides are buried face down seems to support such an interpretation. Alternatively, it is possible that burial 16 – situated immediately on top of the cap of burial 17 – was a sacrificial burial meant to honour and accompany the deceased buried in the chamber tomb.(38) In the same vein, burial 18 was situated very close to burial 22 and might also be interpreted as a sacrificial burial. Of course, it is also possible that the deceased buried without proper tomb architecture simply belonged to a relatively “poor” social stratum. Below, I shall return to this topic.

No animal bones – excluding the possible llama bone wichuña of burial 16 – were found clearly associated with any of the three simple pit burials.

7.6.2. Non-burial-related finds

The over 10,000 ceramic shards found in the 2003 inves-tigations of Tiraska are dominated by Tiwanaku V style material. “Classic” Tiwanaku IV style shards are few in number. However – as was discussed above in subchap-

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ter 7.5 – the absolute dating of the Tiwanaku IV and V styles is currently being debated. Consequently, at the moment it can only be stated that the ceramic material re-covered from the two cemetery terraces of Tiraska dates to the Tiwanaku IV/V era. Most of the discovered post-Tiwanaku and Inca shards came from lower down, closer to the shore of Lake Titicaca.

At least eight of the ceramic shards found in the 2003 ex-cavations have been used in one way or another as tools, as their edges are worn and/or rounded. In addition, one rounded shard may have functioned as a game piece, as its surface features a shallow pit. Yet another rounded ceramic shard features a hole. This shard may also have functioned as a game piece, or it may have been used as a spindle whorl.

Only four metal artefacts – all made of copper and/or bronze – were found during the investigations of Tiraska (Fig. 7.30). Two of these artefacts – both of which are tumis – are superficial finds and probably date to the post-Tiwanaku and/or Inca eras. The two excavation finds – a small pointed tool from layer 2 of unit 9 and a possible tumi stem from layer 3 of unit A2 – are from Tiwanaku cultural layers from secure archaeological contexts.(39) The compo-sition of Tiraska’s metal artefacts has not been studied, but they prove that copper and/or bronze tools were used to some extent at least in Tiwanaku IV/V era Tiraska.

The c. 10 kg sample of animal bone found in the 2003 ex-cavations has not been studied osteologically. In addition to thousands of unmodified bones and bone fragments and hundreds of fish bones and scales, the animal bone finds include some tools and tool fragments. The observed tool forms closely resemble finds published by other scholars (e.g. Bermann 1990a: Figs. 56, 108; 1994: Figs. 12.10, 13.4; 1997: Fig. 5; 2003: Figs. 13.8, 13.11; Janusek 1994: Figs. 7.7, 8.4, 10.15; 2003b: Fig. 10.13; C. Rivera 2003: Fig. 11.23; Webster & Janusek 2003: Fig. 14.15). The pos-sible wichuña of burial 16 has already been mentioned. In addition to this piece, at least two other possible wichuña fragments are included in the Tiraska collection. There is also a quite well preserved camelid mandible tool from layer 2 of unit 1, as well as two fragments of such tools. The decorated bone fragment from layer 2 of unit A1 is the only one of its kind in the Tiraska collection. Even though not a modified bone artefact, the fragmentary predator (puma?) mandible of unit A1 (layer 4) is also worth men-tioning here.

A number of stone artefacts were also discovered at Tiraska. The most numerous group of stone finds is that of the so-called “stone cones” (e.g. Bermann 1990a: Fig. 55; 1994: Fig. 4.2; 2003: Fig. 13.7; Janusek 1994: Fig. 7.7; 2003b: Fig. 10.13; Mathews 2003: Fig. 5.6). The Tiraska collection includes 22 of these small stone artefacts which may have functioned as weights and measures (Janusek

& Kolata 2003: 166) or served as bolas weights or sling stones. Only 18 obsidian flakes were recovered in the 2003 excavations.(40) This small number of finds may be at least partly due to the fact that the excavated soil was sieved only under special circumstances. The Tiraska stone ar-tefacts also include three perforated stone fragments, one partly drilled stone, and three grooved stones which may have functioned as bolas weights and/or maze heads.

7.6.3. Discussion

The cemetery of Tiraska dates to the 10th–13th centuries, i.e. to the last two centuries or so of the Tiwanaku era and to the first century of the post-Tiwanaku period. It is tempting to think of it as related to a Late Tiwanaku settlement which may have been abandoned in the early post-Tiwanaku period – at a time when social unrest forced groups of people all around the altiplano to move to pucara type hill fort settlements (e.g. Hyslop 1977; Pärssinen 2005a: 103-120; Stanish 2003: 204-235).(41) Maybe a century or so later, Tiraska was occupied again. This time, however, occupation was concentrated more closely to the shore of Lake Titicaca, and the old cemetery (and habitation) ter-races were no longer made much use of.

I used to think that the relatively “rich” cultural layers encountered at both terraces of the cemetery indicated that the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku inhabitants of Tiraska would have buried their dead close to their dwellings. However, the two reliable cultural layer 14C dates at our disposal date to the 6th–8th centuries AD, i.e. are 300–500 years older than the investigated burials (see subchapter 7.5). It still seems to me that the deep and rich Tiwanaku cultural layers of the burial terraces cannot be explained in any other way than as resulting from settle-ment. However, the question now is whether these cultural layers wholly date to a period preceding the terraces’ use as burial grounds, or whether the cemetery terraces still continued to be occupied when the burials were made. As the two reliable cultural layer dates come from rather deep down – the Tiraska 11 date from the depth of 45 cm below the present ground surface and the Tiraska 12 date from the depth of c. 90 cm – it is currently quite hard to answer this question. In any case, on both cemetery terraces the burials were undoubtedly intrusive to earlier cultural layers. Likewise, cultural soil covered most of the investi-gated tombs. In the future, detailed analysis of the ceram-ics recovered in the 2003 excavations may help clarify the relationship between the occupation and burial use of the Tiraska cemetery terraces.

As was mentioned above, the Tiraska 10 14C date – which I hoped would date the stone pavement – is quite prob-lematic. Consequently, the dating of the pavement, and its relation to the burials, is unknown. The same holds true concerning the small stone-lined features 2 and 3. The

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pavement and the stone-lined features were quite super-ficial, but so were the simple pit burials and some of the cists, so not much can be made of this fact. The pavement seems to more or less divide the burials of the lower cem-etery terrace into a northern and southern group, but as we left the pavement intact, it may in fact be covering some burials. What we can say for sure is that none of the burials had disturbed the pavement. Perhaps the pavement formed part of some kind of (shrine-like?) construction or other-wise figured in activities related to ancestor worship taking place on the lower cemetery terrace. The small stone-lined features may also have been related to ancestor worship: it is not unconceivable that food, drink, etc. offered to the deceased would have been placed in and poured into them. Alternatively, features 2 and 3 could be interpreted as the burials of two (or more) deceased whose bodies were unavailable for burial. As I pointed out in subchapter 3.9, Bartolomé Álvarez ([1588] 1998: 114-116) informs us of the 16th century habit in the southern altiplano to perform several kinds of bodiless “burials of remembrance”.

In the 1980s, Janusek and Earnest (1990: 140-142; Janusek 2004b: 112-114) investigated a stone pavement in the K’atupata area of Lukurmata. This feature was many orders of magnitude more extensive than the Tiraska pavement: c. 105 m2 of the K’atupata pavement were exposed, and it is estimated to cover at least 700 m2 in total. The feature “consisted of densely packed cobbles set into a compact matrix of clay and white lime precipitate, together forming a surface with plasterlike durability” (Janusek 2004b: 113). The K’atupata pavement appears to have been kept clean and to have been ritually interred in the Early Tiwanaku IV period. Interestingly, “K’atupata later served as a mortuary sector, further alluding to the likelihood that the area originally had great ritual signifi-cance” (Janusek 2004b: 114). Consequently, even if the Tiraska pavement appears to have been quite limited in size (only c. 3–4 m2 of it were exposed in 2003), it might at some conceptual level be related to the Lukurmata pavement, as at both sites the pavement is closely associ-ated with burials.

There are some indications that age may have affected the choice of the terrace on which a deceased was buried: The age category of 28 deceased buried on the two cemetery terraces of Tiraska has been osteologically defined. Of the 10 deceased buried on the upper terrace, 1 was an adoles-cent, 1 was an adolescent/adult, and 8 were adults.(42) Of the 18 deceased buried on the lower terrace, 6 were chil-dren, 3 were adolescents, and 9 were adults. Consequently, the age structure of the lower terrace burial population appears quite “normal”, but there exists a strong possibil-ity that burial on the upper terrace was reserved only for adults and people close to achieving adulthood. Of course, factors other than age at death also probably influenced the choice of burial location. In addition to the burials placed on the two principal cemetery terraces, we know of two

Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cists – burials 31 and 32 – situated much lower down, closer to the shore of Lake Titicaca. Consequently, it is clear that in Tiraska there were at least three more or less contemporaneous burial grounds. Each of these may have been used by a particular family, lineage, or other social group.

Altogether, the age category of 29 of the deceased buried in Tiraska has been osteologically defined. 7 children, 4 adolescents, 1 adolescent/adult, and 17 adults make up this burial sample. As some of the smaller cists for which we do not possess information concerning the age (or sex) of the deceased probably housed small children, the age distribution seems quite balanced and “normal” for a pre-Columbian sample. Consequently, it does not appear that any age group would be severely underrepresented in the Tiraska sample. Of the osteologically identified deceased, the two youngest were less than a year old at death, the oldest c. 45 years old.

Tiraska’s investigated burials fall into three categories: cists (n = 24), chamber tombs (n = 4), and simple pit burials (n = 3). Of these three burial types, the cists are by far the most numerous. 14C analyses have shown all three categories to be roughly contemporaneous. Different burial types are found in the same cemetery areas: all three types are present among the 22 investigated burials of the lower cemetery terrace, and both cists and chamber tombs are present on the upper terrace. The four deceased buried in the chamber tombs were all adults, while all age cat-egories and sexes are represented in the cist and simple pit burial samples. All chamber tombs and 18 of the 24 cists contained one or two ceramic vessels, while none of the three simple pit burials contained ceramic grave goods. The vessels found in the cists are Tiwanaku affiliated. The vessels found in the chamber tombs differ from this first-mentioned group both in morphology and in style. On the basis of these observations, what can be made of the rela-tion between the three burial categories?

The cists make up 77 percent of the burial sample under study, so they are the base population to which the other two burial categories have to be compared. Above, I sug-gested that the simple pit burials might be interpreted as deviant burials, as the burials of Tiraska’s “poor”, or even as the burials of sacrificial victims. The relation between the cists and the chamber tombs is more complicated. As opposed to the simple pit burials, the chamber tombs did not form a cluster – even if burials 17 and 22 were situ-ated quite close to each other. All four chamber tombs housed an adult deceased – a fact which could be taken to indicate an age-discriminate burial type.(43) The most interesting difference between the cist and chamber tomb groups is that of the quite dissimilar ceramic assemblages. Perhaps the vessels deposited in the chamber tombs repre-sent Tiraska’s (or some nearby hamlet’s) own production, as opposed to the imported “imperial” Tiwanaku ceramics

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mostly found in the cists. The use of local ceramic vessels as grave goods could be interpreted as a strong statement of local identity. Alternatively, imported Tiwanaku vessels may simply not have been available to the group burying its deceased in the chamber tombs. In any case, the close correlation between the type of ceramics and the type of burial facility is very interesting.

If we first consider only the cists, the only notable dif-ferences between them are in their size (which seems to roughly correspond to the physical size of the cadaver) and in the presence or absence of ceramic grave goods. When considering the possible significance of the differences in the number of ceramic grave goods, it has to be kept in mind that now decayed wooden or wickerwork vessels – which may once have been held in as much (or even higher) esteem as ceramic ones – may have accompanied the deceased buried without ceramics. Consequently, I do not find it meaningful to interpret the few deceased buried with two ceramic vessels – the maximum for Tiraska – as the settlements’ “rich”. Metal artefacts were not present in any of the cists. Neither were the remains of textiles, which almost undoubtedly once shrouded the deceased. In the ancient Andes, considerable wealth differences could be manifested in textiles. However, I do not think that this was the case in Tiraska. The small hamlet was situated close to important Tiwanaku sites such as Pajchiri and Pariti. The real political power and “wealth” in the region was probably centred at these two sites, with the

inhabitants of Tiraska situated lower down in socio-politi-cal hierarchy.

Of course, Tiraska probably had its own local leaders and/or administrators, but if they were buried in a manner differ-ent from that of the commoners, their tombs are yet to be located. The chamber tombs are sufficiently few in number to be interpreted as high-status burials, but I do not feel this to be the case. Of course, if it were possible to show that the simple pit burials 16 and 18 were indeed sacrificial burials related to the chamber tombs 17 and 22, this would boost the chamber tombs’ relative “status” enormously. Presently, however, I find it safer to treat the chamber tombs and the simple pit burials as two unrelated burial types. This would make the cists and the chamber tombs approximately equal in status. As (on average) larger burial facilities, the con-struction of the chamber tombs required a little more work. On the other hand, the imported ceramics of the cists have to be considered more “valuable” than the presumably local ceramics deposited in the chamber tombs. Consequently, the cists and the chamber tombs could be interpreted as having belonged to two distinct groups – perhaps to the village’s two “halves” or to other groups divided by lineage and/or ethnic boundaries – of a relatively similar social status. However, the group burying its deceased in cists seems to have been quite a bit larger than the group utilising chamber tombs. Alternatively, the cemetery areas investigated in Tiraska may have mainly belonged to the “cist group”, with the “chamber tomb group” burying most of its deceased elsewhere.

Endnotes

1. Many people and institutions contributed to the research done at Tiraska. The 1998–99 “Chullpa Pacha” project was funded by the Academy of Finland. Prof. Ari Siiriäinen of the University of Helsinki headed the project, while Risto Kesseli and Jédu Sagárnaga led the fieldwork. The finance for Tiraska’s 2002 studies came from the “The Amazonian Interests of the Incas” project, funded by the University of Helsinki and again headed by Prof. Siiriäinen. The 2003 fieldwork was funded by the University of Helsinki as part of the “Formations and Transformations of Ethnic Identities in the South Central Andes, AD 700–1825” project headed by Prof. Martti Pärssinen. The DINAR granted authorisation for the studies. I directed the 2002–03 field investigations at

Tiraska together with Jédu Sagárnaga. Over the course of time, in addition to the people already mentioned, the fol-lowing archaeologists and students of archaeology have also worked at Tiraska: Helena Anttila, Jonny Bustamante, Javier Méncias, Claudia Sejas, Marco Antonio Taborga, Danilo Villamor, and Riikka Väisänen. The human bone material recovered in 1998 and 2002 was analysed by Villamor, the material recovered in 2003 by Héctor Clavijo. Funding for the 12 14C dates reported in this chapter came from the Amici Instituti Iberoamericani Universitatis Helsingiensis, the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, and the Nordenskiöld Foundation. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all the people and institutions mentioned.

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2. This deceased has a modified skull of the annular type (Villamor 1999).

3. Sagárnaga (1999: 44) thinks that the tazon may originally have been covered by a lid made of some organic material, on top of which the vasija would have rested.

4. This person had been c. 153 cm tall. He has a modified skull of the fronto-occipital type, and his teeth show signs of caries and extensive wear. (Villamor 1999.)

5. As the process of decomposition had proceeded, the de-ceased had come to rest on his left side.

6. The data presented in this paragraph is mostly based on Risto Kesseli’s unpublished excavation notes and personal communications with Kesseli in January-February 2004.

7. This individual’s teeth show signs of caries and extensive wear (Villamor 1999).

8. Because of the large size of the burial chamber, Sagárnaga (1999: 47) thinks that it may originally have been intended to house more than one deceased. However, as all four of Tiraska’s investigated chamber tombs contained the remains of only one deceased, I believe that regardless of its rather exceptional size, burial 6 was also meant as an individual burial.

9. The deceased has a modified skull of the “tabular erect” type (Villamor 1999).

10. Unfortunately, precise measurements are lacking.11. Osteological data on these human remains is not available.12. Villamor (2002) calculates that this deceased was c. 153 cm

tall. He also calls attention to the fact that the person had lost almost all of her molars ante-mortem, and that her surviving teeth show extensive signs of wear. The skull may feature evidence of fronto-occipital modification.

13. This man had been c. 160 cm tall (Clavijo 2003). 14. This person had been c. 160–165 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).15. In life, this woman had been c. 163 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).

Her skull is un-modified.16. This child had been c. 120 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).17. In the two Tiwanaku ceramic offerings my colleagues and I

excavated on the island of Pariti in 2004–05, the challador is one of the commonest vessel forms. However, the great ma-jority of the bases of the Pariti challadores feature a circular hole, which the base of the Tiraska challador lacks.

18. This woman had been c. 152 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).19. This woman’s skull is un-modified.20. In life, this woman had been c. 155 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).21. This man had been c. 160 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).22. This extension was excavated only down to a depth of 10–20

cm.23. This child had been c. 90–100 cm tall (Clavijo 2003).24. However, as fish caught in Lake Titicaca probably formed

part of the diet of the sampled individuals, the Tiraska 14C human bone dates may be somewhat compromised: in their study “Reservoir Effects and Apparent 14C-Ages”, J. N. Lanting and J. van der Plicht (1998: 154; see also Cook et al. 2001) state that “the consumption of freshwater fish can result in the radiocarbon age of the consumer being considerably too old.” Fortunately, however, it would seem that the Tiraska 1–9 dates do not suffer from any great res-

ervoir effects, as the δ15N values of the Tiraska 3–8 dates are not anomalously high (Table 7.1; see Mays 1998: 182-190). Furthermore, if anything, in the light of the general Tiwanaku 14C chronology the Tiraska 1–9 dates seem rather late.

25. Another explanation for the presence of the early cultural material on the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cem-etery terraces might be that this older material would have been introduced into the fill when the terraces were con-structed. However, due to stratigraphic reasons I consider this explanation quite improbable.

26. Bermann’s (1990a; 1994) investigations at Lukurmata have shown that during some periods burial was a household ac-tivity there, while in other periods burials apparently were not placed close to dwellings (see subchapter 6.3.12). In any case, in our investigations on the cemetery terraces of Tiraska, we did not find any unambiguous proof of Tiwanaku dwellings (the dating of the rather superficial, probable wall foundations of units A1 and A3 is not clear).

27. The great majority of Tiraska’s cists housed primary burials. However, one cist (burial 23) may have housed a secondary burial (see subchapter 7.4.2).

28. The specific orientations were: S (burial 1), S/SE (burial 3), SSE (burial 13), and SSE (burial 20).

29. The specific orientations were: W/NW (burial 24), W (burial 29), and W (burial 31).

30. Kesseli and Pärssinen (in press) have documented the orien-tations of the doorways of 20 chullpa burial towers at the site of Qiwaya, situated approximately 1 km to the southwest of Tiraska. Very frequently, these doorways open towards the west and the south. Pärssinen suggested that I should test whether any correspondence could be noted between the burial positions documented at Tiraska and the orientations of the Qiwaya chullpas (which post-date the majority of the Tiraska tombs by some 200–300 years). Concerning the Tiraska cists, four of the nine deceased whose original burial position could be determined faced southern directions, three western directions. Additionally, the three extended simple pit burials excavated at Tiraska pointed towards WSW, W, and SSW, respectively. In the case of chamber tombs, the orientation of only one deceased is known. Even though this deceased faced E/ESE, 10 out of the 13 Tiraska deceased whose burial position is known were oriented towards southern or western directions. Consequently, some cor-respondence can indeed be noted between the orientations documented at Tiraska and Qiwaya. Kesseli and Pärssinen interpret the “non-normative” orientations and/or structural details of the chullpas at Qiwaya, Taramaya, Taquiri, and Charazani as reflecting a strong ethnic identity, possibly cor-responding to Pukina speakers. If this was indeed the case, Tiraska’s inhabitants also may well have belonged to this ethnic group.

31. For the purposes of this study, these categories were defined as follows: a child is someone younger than 10 years of age, an adolescent is 10–15 years of age, and an adult is someone older than 15.

32. It would be very interesting to make comparisons of a simi-lar kind between men and women’s burials, but the results would not be significant, as of the occupants of the 24 cists, only 8 are sexed with any reasonable certainty. Of the sexed individuals, 5 are female and 3 male (Clavijo 2003; Villamor

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1999; 2002). Consequently, both sexes seem to be more or less equally represented in the Tiraska sample.

33. The vessels have here been categorised following Janusek (2003a).

34. One could also hypothesise that the vessels were broken in-tentionally during the burial ceremony. However, I do not find this a likely explanation for the presence of broken/worn vessels in the burials. If it had been the mourners’ intention to break and in this way to “kill” the vessels, they probably would have suffered a lot more damage than that which is evidenced by the vessels making up the Tiraska collection.

35. As was discussed in chapter 4, guinea pigs were/are also used in divination.

36. See chapter 4 for ethnographic discussion concerning the possibility of sacrificing a deceased’s dog following his/her death, the dogs’ connection with the land of the death, and the help dogs can offer to souls journeying to the land of the dead.

37. Feature 1 – the simple pit burial of a baby (see subchapter 7.4.2) – could also be included in this group, but I have de-cided to omit it as so little is know concerning its context.

Interestingly, however, feature 1 was situated in unit 1, quite close to the simple pit burials 16 and 19.

38. Burials 16 and 17 were both 14C dated, and the dates overlap within the one-sigma-range. Consequently, it is at least pos-sible that these two burials would be “connected”.

39. The 14C date Hela-819 (AD 565–567, 581–587, 597–659) is from the same unit and layer as the small pointed metal tool.

40. In addition to these flakes, no obsidian tools or tool frag-ments were found.

41. According to Václav Šolc (1965), there is a ruined pucara on top of Mount Tiraska. In 2003, I was planning to try to locate this site, mapped and published by Šolc, but was forced to abandon the plan when social unrest in September and October shortened our fieldwork period by several weeks.

42. These numbers include the three deceased of burial 4, as even if it probably represents the re-buried contents of some destroyed tombs, these destroyed tombs were in all prob-ability situated on the upper cemetery terrace.

43. However, one has to keep in mind the small size (n = 4) of the chamber tomb burial sample.

Death in the Bolivian High Plateau: Burials and Tiwanaku Society

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