Kaillachuro

Early monumental architecture of the Titicaca Basin, 5300-3000 BP

Bibliographic Data

ID3205155
AuthorsLuis Flores-Blanco (0000-0003-2344-6542, Arizona State University, corresponding author), M Aldenderfer (0000-0002-7033-4319, University of California, Merced)
Year2025
Volume99
Issue405
Pages689-707
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
PublisherAntiquity Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.15184/aqy.2025.40
OpenAlexW4411574453
LanguageEN
Citations received4

Monumental constructions are often associated with developed power structures, exploiting unequal access to resources to control large labour forces. Yet archaeological research worldwide increasingly shows that this model is not only an oversimplification, but often is also wrong. Here, the authors explore the burial mounds at Kaillachuro in the Peruvian Andes, and present new radiocarbon dates that position these mounds as the earliest evidence of monumental architecture in the Titicaca Basin. Built over 2000 years through recurring acts of communal memorialisation, this novel architectural tradition forces us to reflect on the role of ritual in socioeconomic transformations of highland Andes communities

Archaeology · Geography · Structural basin · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Architecture · Geology · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Paleontology

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Open DOIOpen Access