When and how do Bolivians celebrate New Year? Why is our calendar out of whack with the sun? Did Andean people know about the wheel, one of man’s greatest inventions?
If these questions intrigue you, then this chapter will fascinate you.
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I love to travel because it’s always a great learning experience. One can read about places and history, but reading is no substitute for being there. Travelling in Bolivia was not any less rewarding than others; and, in many ways, it was very gratifying. I am always amazed how much can be learned from a simple visit to a museum. Without fail, I always find something that makes me stop and think. Sometimes, it’s like finding a missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle: I look at an object and hear a click. Suddenly, I become aware of a connection to something else, and that object takes on enormous importance. The Tihuanacu archaeological site was no exception.
One of the most important symbols of Tihuanacu civilization is the famous Puerta del Sol (Sun Gate), found in the site’s Kalasasaya Temple. It’s the most recognizable symbol in all travel brochures and the one that attracts tourists to the site. Carved from a single stone, it weighs about ten tonnes. The mystery about this stone is that the quarry from where it was cut is tens of kilometres away. How did they do it? The guide didn’t have the answer, though it didn’t stop him from speculating. But, the really amazing thing about it is that it was probably erected about a thousand years before the Incas came along! People marvel at Inca stonemasonry achievements because they were a Bronze Age civilization: they lacked steel tools for cutting stone. Yet, on this site we saw stonework feats by a much more ancient civilization that matched, or even exceeded, those of the Incas.
One of the fascinating finds on this site was a stone wheel with a hole in its centre displayed right outside the lithic museum. When I saw it, the proverbial light went on in my head. They clearly had the wheel, and they could have used it to transport ten-tonne stones over long distances. However, conventional wisdom is that Andean civilization had not invented the wheel. Another myth was shattered by hard facts.
Interestingly, the guide knew about the stone wheel because he took us to see it, but when he was speculating about the transport of heavy stones, he didn’t mention the wheel as one of the possible means. Although he visits the site on a daily basis and shows it to tourists every day, he didn’t make the simple connection to the possibility that wheels like it could have been used for transporting heavy stones. He was blinded by conventional wisdom.
He was more obsessed with the astronomical significance of the bas-relief on the Sun Gate’s frieze, and went on about it at length. His body became more erect and his voice beamed with pride when he said, “The centrepiece above the doorway is the image of the God Viracocha, also known as the Staff God and the Creator God. The row of symbols below him represents the Andean calendar.” He went on and on about each symbol and which month it represented.
“But, there are only eleven symbols,” I pointed out, to which he replied, “Viracocha, sitting right above the central symbol, is the twelfth. The two of them, one above the other, represent the two equinoxes (March and September).” It all sounded good, but after returning home, I did some research and discovered that the ancient Tihuanacu calendar had thirteen months: the two didn’t agree. Thirteen lunar months of 28 days each gave them a calendar of 364 days. The 365th was dedicated to the sun. It was a special, non-calendar day of celebration, between the old and the new year, and every four years the festivity lasted two days. The new year started on the day of the winter solstice (June 21), seen as an auspicious time because the days get longer, bringing more sunshine and, presumably, more exposure to the Sun God.
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Backpacking In Bolivia
Non-FictionBy South American standards, Bolivia is not large, but it's bigger than most European countries, and about three times the size of Germany. It's a country of contrasting landscapes and people. Its western part is dominated by the vast highlands, at...
