Transformations in ritual practice and

social interaction on the Tiwanaku

Research
periphery
Juan Albarracin-Jordan1 , Jose M. Capriles2,3 & Melanie J. Miller4

Ritual practices and their associated material

0 km 500
paraphernalia played a key role in extending
N the reach and ideological impact of early states.
The discovery of a leather bag containing
snuffing tablets and traces of psychoactive
Nuestra Seora substances at Cueva del Chileno in the
de La Paz southern Andes testifies to the adoption of
Tiwanaku practices by emergent local elites.
Tiwanaku control spread over the whole of
the south-central Andes during the Middle
Lpez Horizon (AD 5001100) but by the end of
Highlands
the period it had begun to fragment into a
series of smaller polities. The bag had been
buried by an emergent local elite who chose at
this time to relinquish the former Tiwanaku
ritual practices that its contents represent.
Keywords: Middle Horizon, Tiwanaku, Andean prehistory, snuffing tablets, state formation,
regional interaction

Introduction
During the Middle Horizon period (AD 5001100), the south-central Andes were the
setting for the formation of the Tiwanaku state. Although there is considerable debate about
the nature and extent of the states expansion and how effective was political control of its
periphery, shared ideology and inter-regional exchange have been proposed as two essential
factors (Browman 1997; Albarracin-Jordan 1999; Kolata 2003; Stanish 2003; Hastorf 2008).
The nature of Tiwanaku ritual practices and belief systems is little understood, and has been

1
Fundacion Bartolome de las Casas, 18844 Park Grove Lane, Dallas, TX 75287, USA (Email:
albarracinjordan@yahoo.com)
2
Instituto de Alta Investigacion, Universidad de Tarapaca, Antofagasta 1520, Casilla 6-D, Arica, Chile (Email:
jmcapriles@gmail.com)
3
Centro de Investigaciones del Hombre en el Desierto (CIHDE), Av. General Velasquez 1775, Arica, Chile
4
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 232 Kroeber Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
(Email: millermj@berkeley.edu)

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 Transformations in ritual practice and social interaction on the Tiwanaku periphery

mainly approached through archaeological correlates such as monumental architecture,

burial patterns and iconographic representations on various artefacts such as stone sculptures,
ceramic vessels and polychrome textiles (Janusek 2008). Arguably the most distinctive objects
associated with Tiwanaku ceremonial practices are drinking cups known as kerus and snuffing
tablets (Berenguer 2000). Ceramic kerus are abundant as burial goods at most Tiwanaku
sites as well as in Middle Horizon sites that were not necessarily settlements dependent
on Tiwanaku. These vessels were used for drinking chicha, a fermented brew often made
from maize. Snuffing tablets were usually of wood, but a few stone and bone examples
have been documented at sites distributed over the entire south-central Andes (Torres
1987; Llagostera 2006). These tablets were used for preparing and consuming psychoactive
substances in ritual settings, and unfortunately are less common in archaeological contexts
due to poor preservation. Interestingly, the use of kerus continued among Aymara chiefdoms
and the Inka long after the collapse of Tiwanaku. Shortly after the Middle Horizon period,
however, snuffing tablets fell out of use.
Both kerus and snuffing tablets had a central role in the ritual complex associated with
the Tiwanaku polity. In fact, Berenguer (1998) has convincingly argued that the Bennett
monolith at Tiwanaku, as well as other anthropomorphic monoliths, holds a keru with
the left hand and a snuffing tablet with the right. Unfortunately, since snuffing tablets are
rare archaeological finds, the interpretation of their role in ancient ritual practices has been
mostly based on museum collections that have little, if any, data on their archaeological
provenance.
Archaeological context has, however, been furnished by the recent finding of a ritual
bundle containing snuffing tablets and other ritual artefacts in a rockshelter located in the
highland desert of Lpez in south-west Bolivia. The objects in this bundle provide material
evidence of ceremonial practices that linked distant peoples and goods with the ideologies
and practices spread throughout the south-central Andes by the Tiwanaku state. We offer
a detailed description of the excavations and the contents of the bundle; and from our
interpretation of the archaeological context we discuss the implications of these findings for
a better understanding of the changes that took place in ritual practices, social interactions
and belief systems during the disintegration of the Tiwanaku state.

Background: archaeological research at Cueva del Chileno

Situated between the Salar de Uyuni salt flat and the Atacama Desert, the Lpez highlands are
characterised by volcanoes, rocky outcrops and sand dunes with sparse vegetation. Because
of the aridity and high elevation (>3700m asl), natural resources are highly localised in
spring-fed wetlands (bofedales) and lakes. This region is commonly depicted as a marginal
environment with very little biomass production and low population densities (Zonisig
2000). With a few exceptions, very little archaeological research has been carried out in Lpez
(Barfield 1961; Arellano Lopez 2000; Nielsen 2008; Nielsen & Barberian 2008; Martnez
2011). Most work has focused on the study of early hunter-gatherer foraging camps or
well-preserved villages, burials and fortresses, mostly dated to the Late Intermediate (AD
11001450) and Inka periods (AD 14501532).

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Figure 1. Cueva del Chileno, viewed from the west.

Between 2008 and 2010, we carried out survey and excavations along the course of the
Sora River (a narrow valley defined by two parallel outcrops of ignimbrite rocks) with the
goal of identifying locations with stratified deposits for reconstructing the regional sequence
of human occupation (Albarracin-Jordan & Capriles 2011; Capriles & Albarracin-Jordan
2013). Although several rockshelters contained evidence of ritual behaviour in the form of
rock art or burials, at one of these, Cueva del Chileno, we also documented a unique ritual
bundle. This dry rockshelter is located in the eastern range of the Sora River, at 3890m asl,
and its entrance is partially protected by a rock wall built to pen sheep and llamas (Figure 1).
Archaeological excavations at Cueva del Chileno followed a 1m2 grid (Figure 2). The
entire surface was topped by a thick (200450mm) layer of compacted dung accumulated
when the shelter was used as a corral. Outside the rockshelter, underneath the dung lay
a series of large ignimbrite boulders embedded within a silt layer containing fragments of
animal bone and ceramics. Inside the rockshelter, the stratigraphy documented was complex
and enhanced by remarkable preservation of organic remains. Beneath the dung lay a fill
containing remains of camelid bones and fragmented artefacts mixed with ash and embedded
in well-preserved unburnt straw, or ichu. This layer sits on top of a 50100mm-deep
sediment mostly composed of burnt soil, carbon and ash; it is not completely homogenous
but includes darker patches near the centre of the rockshelter. Underneath lay a fill composed
of burnt bone, ichu, branches of kenua (Polylepis tarapacana) and thola (Baccharis thola), and
large densities of rodent faeces as well as a few ceramic sherds, lithic flakes, textile fragments
and even salt blocks. Within this layer, we exposed the upper segments of a series of large

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Figure 2. Plan of the excavations at Cueva del Chileno with significant features marked.

boulders placed in a semicircle, outlining the drip line and enclosing the rockshelter. A
bedding of smaller rocks and rubble characterised the fill placed to the east of the boulders.
Towards the bottom of this stratum, the inclusions were larger and the soil was coarse and
very loose. In 2008, while excavating through this fill, at about 0.48m below the surface we
discovered a horizontally placed ritual bundle comprising the leather bag described below.
An AMS radiocarbon sample (AA84156, 1042+ 52 BP, C 22.7) from a fragment of
13

the bag dates to cal AD 9051175 (2 ). (All radiocarbon calibrations were produced using
Oxcal v 4.2.3 and the SHCal13 atmospheric curve (Bronk Ramsey & Lee 2013; Hogg et al.
2013)). In addition, near the north-east corner of the excavation and within the same fill,
we found a bundle of braided human hair.
The stratum containing the ritual finds overlaid a well-preserved surface consisting of a
compositionally homogenous and highly compacted plaster floor. On its western side, the
large boulders described above outline the extent of the plaster suggesting that the entrance
of the rockshelter was covered by a sizeable structure. On top of the plastered floor, which was
fragmented towards the east, we found a large spherical ground stone and smaller artefacts,
including beads and strings. A second, albeit less well-preserved, plastered floor was found
about 100mm underneath the first floor. The intervening stratum contained a mix of coarse
rocks, mortar and organic materials. In the south-east corner of the rockshelter and below

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the second surface, we documented a Late Archaic period occupation consisting of a small
hearth associated with an obsidian prismatic core and other lithic flakes. A charcoal sample
from this feature was AMS dated (AA91560, 3648+ 48 BP, C 22.2) to 21361778 cal
13

BC (2 ). Beneath the feature we uncovered a heterogeneous stratum composed of coarsely

Research
arranged boulders intermixed with rodent faeces and sand directly deposited on top of the
underlying bedrock.
Undoubtedly, the rockshelter has seen a long and complex history of activity. The Archaic
period occupation may have been associated with forager logistical mobility such as a
temporary hunting camp site. The upper portions of the sequence also suggest logistical
use of the rockshelter by camelid pastoralists and possibly as a llama caravan camp (Nielsen
2009). The terminal Middle Horizon features including the plaster-floor structure and its
associated ritual bundle prompt additional interpretation.

Results: the ritual bundle

The ritual bundle from Cueva del Chileno consists of a leather bag containing a suite
of ritual paraphernalia used for the consumption of psychotropic substances. The bag
(280165mm) was manufactured by stitching together three leather pieces, which left a
zigzag line in the centre of the anterior side (Figure 3a). The bag was sealed by a string
tightly wrapped around its opening. There is a large hole in one side of the bag (probably
made by a burrowing rodent) so the artefacts it contained were extracted for examination
using this aperture, leaving the tying knot intact.
Two unique carved wood snuffing tablets were recovered from the bag. The larger
tablet measures 14065mm and consists of a concave rectangular tray (where the snuffing
substance was presumably deposited) topped by two anthropomorphic figurines (Figure 3b).
The rim of the cavity is decorated with a series of 12 holes containing various kinds of
mollusc shells and copper-based polished stones, such as turquoise and chrysocolla. Some of
the inlay appears to be recycled beads. The upper portion of the tablet is composed of twin
anthropomorphic sculpted figurines perfectly inserted in sockets cut into the narrow edge
of the tablet and joined to the hollow cavity. The heads of the figurines are particularly large
and include tiny turquoise bead inclusions in their left eyes, leaving hollow cavities in their
right eyes. The figures are very similar to each other, differing in subtle details. Their heads
are circular and smooth, suggesting the representation of artificial cranial modification.
Whereas both figurines have long, broad noses, only the right-hand figure has an indication
of a mouth. Moreover, organic resin is observed between the head and chest of the larger
figurine, probably the result of a repair undertaken while the tablet was in use. Both figures
have geometrically decorated and vertically elongated ear-spools hanging from their ears
and over their shoulders. The figures seem to be either squatting with their hands resting
above their knees, or positioned with their lower arms pointing straight out. Alternatively,
the ear ornaments could be interpreted as the arms of the individuals covering their ears.
Measuring 12379mm, the second tablet is slightly smaller (Figure 3c) and also includes
a rectangular, hollow (albeit undecorated) tray crowned by two anthropomorphic figurines.
Both figurines seem to be seated on stools or simply squatting. Although neither figure has
recognisable facial attributes, their bodies are certainly not expressionless. The left-hand

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Figure 3. Ritual bundle recovered from Cueva del Chileno: a) leather bag or atado; b) large snuffing tablet; c) small snuffing
tablet; d) camelid-bone spatulas; and e) vegetable- and camelid-fibre fragments.

figure seems to represent a male individual as it has broader shoulders and a slightly larger
head, possibly decorated by a four-pointed hat and a double-moon-shaped diadem covering
the otherwise long hair on its back. The right-hand figure seems to represent a female with
her hair stretched down her back. The placement of the arms of both figurines is suggestive:
the right arm of the male figure and the left arm of the female are angled covering their
respective chests. The female figure has the right arm extended all the way to the right

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Figure 4. Other artefacts recovered from the ritual bundle: a) wooden snuffing tube; b) fox-snout leather container; and c)
polychrome textile headband.

shoulder of the male figure, whereas the male has its left hand gently placed over the
stomach of the female.
Two finely polished camelid-bone spatulas accompanied the two wooden snuffing tablets
(Figure 3d). They were found together, tightly pressed against the bottom of the leather
bag. The larger spatula is 150mm long, the smaller 130mm long, and both have straight,
12mm edges on one side and fine, pointed tips on the other. Two sets of small strings tied
togetherone made of camelid fibre and the other of vegetable fibrewere found attached
to two fragments of dried, partially scraped plant tissue (Figure 3e).
The leather bag also included a polychrome textile band (Figure 4c) tightly wrapped
around a leather pouch and a wooden snuffing tube. From its size, design and construction,
and the fact that it included two sets of strings attached to it, we believe the textile probably
corresponds to a headband, which may have been part of a headdress (Aguero 2007). The
textile has four colours: black, green, red and yellow. The basic motif is a spiral attached to
a triangle with a line running parallel to its outer diagonal side. In the upper panel of the
textile, this motif is transposed, vertically, three times in a combination of red, yellow, red
over a green background with a black margin; the motif is symmetrically repeated 15 times.
Following a band of the green background in the middle section, the complete pattern is

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mirrored in the lower half of the panel, using the exact same colour combination. Whereas
the red, yellow and green colours of the textile were clearly dyed and processed, the earthy
colours (black, brown and white) of the attached strings suggest they were probably made
of natural, undyed fibres.
The wooden snuffing tube is a masterpiece of artistry (Figure 4a). The cylinder is 175mm
long 17mm wide and is divided into three parts. The upper portion has a slight hyperboloid
shape, the middle part includes a decorative carved anthropomorphic figurine, and the
lower section is cylindrical. The figurine portion of the tube is about 53mm long and may
represent a male character standing with its arms and hands pointing down. The spaces
between the arms and the torso have been carefully carved out and left open. The figure
displays an elaborate headdress with four segments on each side, braided hair at the back,
and a headband with rhomboid designs on which a diadem is superimposed at the front.
The face of the figure is composed of a broad nose that also delineates the eyebrows, and a
small horizontal incision that serves as the mouth. The neck of the figurine is enclosed by
some type of collar, and a band with a geometric design decorates its waist. At the level of
the figures head, a string was tied holding two braids of real human hair.
The pouch is of most unusual appearance: it was made by tightly stitching together the
snouts of three Andean foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus) (Figure 4b). The noses form the enclosed
base and the skin pouch was kept shut by string tightly wrapped around it.
Near the leather bag were recovered a bundle of human hair braids attached to small
wooden sticks and strings of vegetable fibre that possibly constituted the remains of a hair net.
The wooden sticks are reminiscent of the laurake hair ornaments described ethnographically
by Alfred Metraux (1936) in Chipaya. These ornaments are also represented in the
iconography of the Tiwanaku monoliths (Posnansky 1945). Other artefacts found within
the same anthropogenic rubble deposited above the plastered floor included a spherical stone
mortar, a fragment of a wooden spoon, yarns of camelid fibre, a pendant, a few turquoise
beads and small cubic blocks of mineral salt.

Discussion: Cueva del Chileno in regional context

Our findings suggest that Lpez constitutes an important region for investigating Middle
Horizon (AD 5001100) ritual practice within processes of social interaction and systems of
religious belief. The ritual use of the Sora River rockshelters, including Cueva del Chileno,
might have extended into the Late Intermediate period (AD 11001450). During the
Middle Horizon, the rockshelter was modified by the construction of a sizable structure
that included an exceptionally well prepared plastered floor. This structure might have
been similar to some of the later beehive-shaped burial towers or chullpas found in Lpez
that are dated between AD 1200 and 1350 (Morales et al. 2013). The presence of two
successive floors suggests periodic maintenance of the building. Furthermore, the cultural
associations and stratigraphic sequence make it clear that the structure was destroyed during
pre-Hispanic times. The intentional destruction of this structure along with the absence
of human remains in Cueva del Chileno, as well as in other caves and rockshelters in the
vicinity, is significant and might be a consequence of ideological transformation and conflict
(Nielsen 2006, 2009).

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Disposal processes could explain the presence and properties of some items recovered from
the fill on top of the structures floor. For instance, the stone mortar may have been too heavy
for transport and small beads, pendants and textile fragments too small and unimportant to
warrant exhaustive collection and removal. Consequently, the presence of the human hair

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net, and more importantly, the ritual bundle containing snuffing paraphernalia, suggests
that their final deposition within that space was a result of intended human agency. In fact,
the central placement of the ritual bundle within the remains of the destroyed structure
suggests deliberate ceremonial disposal of ritually charged objects.
The radiocarbon date of the leather bag containing the tablets is suggestive because of
its chronological position near the end of the Middle Horizon, around AD 1100. The
iconography of the wooden tablets speaks of connections with north-west Argentina and
perhaps the Ro Loa regions (Torres & Repke 2006; Nielsen 2009). Moreover, according to
preliminary liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis, the fox-snout pouch
contained chemical traces of multiple psychoactive plants including vilca (Anadenanthera
colubrina), which may have been used as a snuff inhalant (Miller et al. 2013).
Whereas regional diversity was intrinsic to the segmentary structure of the Tiwanaku state,
its cohesion depended on a set of core ideological principles, linked to mythical ancestor
worship (Albarracin-Jordan 2007). Drawing upon comparative studies (Eliade 1964; Harner
1973), we can infer that shamans, as intermediaries between the world of ancestors and the
world of earthly creatures, must have played a fundamental role in the legitimisation of
ideology (Glowacki 2005). As such, they were also mediators between perceived evil forces
and friendly beings. As ethnographic studies show (Narby & Huxley 2001), the secret
knowledge of shamans employs diverse methods to access and manipulate the supernatural
world, among them the use of psychoactive and hallucinogenic substances.
Snuffing tablets like those recovered from Cueva del Chileno have been documented in
several funerary contexts in San Pedro de Atacama and Ro Loa in Chile, as well as at specific
locations in north-west Argentina (Angelo & Capriles 2004; Llagostera 2006; Nielsen 2006;
Torres & Repke 2006). By contrast, finds of snuffing tablets complete with their associated
paraphernalia are rare in archaeological contexts across Bolivia and southern Peru. Exceptions
include Nino Korin (Wassen 1972), Amaguaya (Capriles 2002), Acora (De la Vega et al.
2005) and Tiwanaku (Torres 1998). Loza (2007) has revisited the Amaguaya and Nino
Korin ritual bundles, calling them atados, based on comparisons to ethnographically and
ethnohistorically documented ritual packages prepared by Kallawaya and other itinerant
Andean ritual specialists.
Considering the importance that ritual exchange and social communication had in the
emergence and consolidation of socio-political complexity, the significance of ideology and
social interaction in sustaining new ideologies cannot be overlooked. The archaeology
of marginal areas such as Lpez suggests that it is here that we might be able to
identify and explore the intensity and directionality of inter-regional interaction (Jennings
2006). Moreover, since exchange and trade are multidirectional processes, socioeconomic
networking is facilitated through shared belief systems and authority.
Archaeological research in the south-central Andes has drawn attention to different
patterns of social interaction between neighbouring regions throughout the development of
social complexity (Nunez & Dillehay 1995; Browman 1997; Stanish 2003). Whereas during

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the Middle Horizon (AD 5001100) Tiwanaku expanded through most of this region,
it is assumed that intermediate or marginal regions, often not suitable for agricultural
intensification, acted as buffers between more productive and denser population loci.
For instance, San Pedro de Atacama grew to be one of the most important ceremonial
centres in the south-central Andes by incorporating Tiwanaku sacred ideology. Vessels
and goods from many different locations managed to survive the harshness of the voyage
and reach growing consumer elites (Berenguer 2000). Intermediate regions contained the
pathways and roads through which different groups circulated ideas and goods, making
interregional interaction possible (Nunez & Dillehay 1995; Berenguer 2004; Cruz 2009).
One of these regions was Lpez, which seems to have been part of an extensive trading route
that linked Tiwanaku with San Pedro de Atacama and other social, economic and ritual
nodes.
As Tiwanaku hegemony began to weaken towards the end of the Middle Horizon, the
magnanimous community disintegrated into smaller, regional polities. Gradually, ritual
protocols and symbolic ties to Tiwanaku began to fade, giving way to new manifestations
of political power. This process was probably enhanced by internal political crises as much
as external influences. Previous ritual ideology, strongly linked to Tiwanaku shamanic cults,
was no longer an integrating force. It is no surprise, therefore, that along with the progressive
decline of the state ideology and the displacement of the ritual specialists who were so
fundamental in developing and sustaining Tiwanaku hegemonic expansion, snuffing tablets
and other ritual paraphernalia fell rapidly out of use. Destruction and desecration of burials
were involved in the progressive process of replacing a regional state ideology. In fact, our
findings show that emergent local authority attempted, systematically, to dismantle all ties
to previous Tiwanaku hegemony. Long-distance exchange and interaction networks were
disrupted, limiting access not only to psychoactive tropical plants but also to itinerant
specialists, such as shamans. This prompted the ritual disposal not only of previous political
agents (such as the ancestors buried in chullpas) but also the ceremonial technologies
that were no longer effective nor sustainable. Although emerging elites appropriated some
forms of political and ritual ideology such as redefined forms of ancestor veneration and
redistributive feasting involving conspicuous consumption of alcoholic beverages, the
consumption of psychoactive plants in ritual tablets fell out of use. It was in this context
that the people of Lpez chose to break with the old order and bury the leather bag with its
ritual contents at Cueva del Chileno.

Acknowledgements
We thank the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism of Bolivia and Mancomunidad de Lpez, including the regional
authorities of San Agustn and Alota, for their endorsement of our research; and the men and women of the local
communities that assisted skilfully in the excavations. We offer our gratitude to Darwin Palomino, Jose Moller
and Carlos Revilla for their friendship and professional support; and also to Carlos Capriles, Alejandra Domic,
Maria Eugenia Saavedra, Blaine Maley, BrieAnna Langlie, Jennifer Smith, Maria Bruno, Eduardo Machicado,
Christine Moore, Umberto Lombardo, David Browman, Fiona Marshall, Katherine Moore, Linda Manzanilla,
Christine Hastorf, David Freidel and Calogero Santoro. Funds for the project were provided by the National
Geographic Society (Grant 8742-10), MONOPOL Ltda., FONDECYT Project N 3140008 and the Bartolome
de Las Casas Foundation.

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