Tiwanaku culture at its height by Lake Titicaca

Tiwanaku was founded around 110, and from about 600 its population grew rapidly. At its heart stood the terraced platform of Akapana, the walled precinct of Kalasasaya, the complex of Pumapunku and the monolithic Gateway of the Sun. Early estimates gave the city some 6.5 km² and 15,000–30,000 inhabitants; more recent surveys suggest 3.8–4.2 km² and 10,000–20,000.

Around the lake, farmers worked raised fields (suka qullu) that covered up to 130 km²; in modern experiments such fields lost only a tenth of their harvest after the frost of 1988. Llama caravans carried goods, including prestige objects, between the altiplano and colonies in warmer valleys, such as Moquegua in southern Peru and Azapa in northern Chile. In the Moquegua valley, where the Wari centre was Cerro Baúl, Tiwanaku and Wari settlers lived side by side without conflict; the two cultures shared much of their religious imagery — the split eye, trophy heads and staff-bearing figures.

The dates come from archaeology and vary between accounts: the height of Tiwanaku is usually put at about 600–1000, while other schemes speak of an ‘imperial’ phase in 700–1180 with a peak in 700–900. Recent research suggests that calling Tiwanaku an empire, or even a state, may be misleading. Around 1000 Tiwanaku pottery ceased to be made and the centre declined; the old view that a long drought brought about the collapse has been challenged by evidence that the drought began only afterwards.