Puma Punku, Bolivia

This week’s ruins report is for all the alien-lovers out there.  It’s a mysterious site called Puma Punku (The Door of the Puma) located in Bolivia and, due to the unknown nature of how some of the structures were put together, has gained a following that claims it “could have only been built by aliens!”  The two sites are more than 12,000 feet above sea level, in the TiticacaBasin on the Bolivian-Peruvian border.  If you’re looking to explore some pre-historic South American ruins, this may be one for the list.

First estimates of the site put its building at around 15,000 BC, which may be the cause of some of the wild theories that surround it.  Later, more accurate dating techniques were used and it was discovered to be closer to 1500 years old, erected sometime between 500 and 600 AD.  Habitation of the region dates back to about 400 BC, though the actual Tiwanaku culture didn't come into being until 500 AD.  Though Puma Punku dates to a similar time as the rise of Tiwanaku, the style of the site is much different.

Puma Punku is, essentially, the remains of a temple complex.  What is at the site consists mostly of stones, the largest of which weighs just over 130 tons although the vast majority of them are much smaller.  They are carved so expertly as to give rise to a question of their origins.  The builders used extreme right angles and amazing detail in the carvings, demonstrating a skill that some don’t believe possible without the aid of advanced technology.  Thus, the belief that aliens must have somehow been involved in the construction of the site.

Experts, however, point out that there are many places in the world that are much older and display a similar amount of expertise, albeit with different results.  And though there may have been no aliens involved in the building of Puma Punku, it’s still an amazing site to see and close enough to Tiwanaku to make it a convenient place to stop off and see if you happen to be touring around Bolivia.  For more photos of both sites, check out this photo gallery.

Puma Punku walls photo courtesy of Janikorpi via Wikicommons