FROM PUKARA TO TIWANAKU, THE LORDS OF THE LAKE More than just a myth, archaeology confirms the existence of highly developed pre-inca societies on the shores of Lake Titicaca, such as Pukara and Tiwanaku. The commonest story about the origin of the Incas tells us that the first man and his wife emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca, thus reminding us of the importance of the highest lake in the Americas. It is very likely that the plants and animals of the High Andean Plateau were first millennium AD created the economic basis for the growth of lakeside cultures. The myth of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo says that Titicaca was the "pacarina" or place of origin of the Incas. From this sacred spot the royal couple left for Cusco to civilize the rest of the mortals. Although the story doesn't say so, we can conclude that the shore of the lake was home to societies that had already achieved an advanced state of development, such as Pukara and Tiwanaku. Myths apart, archaeology confirms the existence of highly advanced pre-Inca societies. 400 BC saw the rise of the Pukara culture, which survived for almost five hundred years. This society may have had a theocratic system of government by a caste of priests and successfully managed trade and barter through a network of llama caravans that reached as far as Cusco and the north of Chile. The archaeological site of Pukara is today named Pucara (12,960 feet above sea level) an is the capital of the eponymous district in the province of Lampa, department of Puno, to the north west of the lake. The remains cover an area of nearly 1,500 acres, showing that it must have been the largest human settlement of its time on the Andean Plateau. In addition to the residential area such as, it is easy to see how the ruling caste created an urban environment over an area of more than one and a half square miles. The iconography of the culture is striking and its polychromatic ceramics and stone work are impressive. Among the remains are cult and polished blocks bearing images of cats, lake and highland birds and human figures carrying severed heads as trophies. The remains and buildings still visible on the surface suggest that the site was densely populated in the past. One can still make out seven focal points in the form of pyramids. Some of the most notable buildings to be found on the Andean plateau are the "Chulpas" funeral monuments often taking the form of inverted cones that stand out in the bare countryside. Towards the end of the first century AD the growth of the Tiwanaku culture eclipsed other contemporary cultures and the men of Pukara abandoned their cities and faded from history. Tiwanaku is the most important archaeological monument in the Titicaca basin. This magnificent ceremonial center was started between 100 AD and 400 AD and its influence extended (especially after 600 AD) as far as the coast of southern Peru and the northern valleys of Chile. The heart of the ancient metropolis is located in a valley nearly 12,500 feet above sea level. It is separated from Titicaca to the north by a range of hills. More hills, rich in minerals and especially copper, block access to the south. The original name of Tiwanaku (in aymara) was Taypicala, meaning "the stone in the middle", and alluding to the belief that Tiwanaku was the center of the world. Popular tradition has it that the present day name (in Quechua) derives from phrase "tiay wanaku" meaning "sit down guanaco!" Tiwanaku had a mythical importance until the arrival of the Europeans despite having been abandoned since the year 100 AD. Spanish chroniclers recorded that the place was chosen by the god Con Ticcsi Viracocha in which to create the sun, the moon and the stars to illuminate the darkness in which mankind was living. Another creation myth says that all the nations of the world were drawn on a great stone, would emerge from the center of the earth, and that this is why happened after a race of giants had been exterminated. The most characteristic monument of this culture is the "gate of the sun" whose stones are decorated with the figure of the "God of the staffs" its most important deity. It is difficult to calculate how many people lived at Tiwanaku, mainly because the type of political organization is not known for certain. If it was, in fact, a ceremonial center and, therefore, a place of pilgrimage, the presence of visitors would have been temporary. If, however, it was a city and the center of a state with a form of government that we would today call "civil", the bureaucratic structure would have required officials and others to be in residence permanently, as well as a flow of people from the surrounding area in and out of the capital. Of all the buildings, the most important is the sacred sanctuary of Akapana, consisting of seven terraces rising to a height today of 56 feet on what appeared until recently to be a natural formation. The decline of Tiwanaku can be dated to the year 950, coinciding with a prolonged period of drought that caused the level of Lake Titicaca to fall. In the century that followed its mighty ruins would impress the new lords of the lake - the Collas and Lupaqas and years later the Incas would have sufficient respect for its memory to choose the lake as their place of origin.