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Dinesh

Dinesh club

Posted: 28 Mar 2022

Taken: 28 Mar 2022

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Alan L. Kolata •
Tiwanaku •

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Akapana

Akapana
Idealized reconstruction of Akapana pyramid, as it would have been viewed from the north-east. (Drawing courtesy of Javier Escalante, INAR, La Paz, Bolivia)


interactive.archaeology.org/tiwanaku/project/akapana1.html

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 Dinesh
Dinesh club
The upper six terraces of the Akapana riding on the foundation differ substantially in architectural detail. These upper terraces, for instance, lack the distinctive beveled edges of the stones employed in the basal terrace, and make less frequent use of vertical pillars to mark façade intervals. Instead, these terraces incorporate large, highly visible stone panels into their facades. Based on similar architectural elements in the Kheri Kala, Kalasasaya and Kantatayita complexes, we can assume that these panels were covered with iconographically rich metal plaques and textiles, or may themselves have been carved and painted. The upper terraces constituted a kind of public, sumbolic text, the specific content of which is now irrevocably lost to us. Given the ritual meaning to Akapana below, the public texts of the upper terrace panels most likely made reference to the role of this structure in Tiwanaku’s cosmogonic myths. Excavation along these upper terraces also recovered tenon-head sculptures of pumas and humans that were at one time inserted into the facades, punctuating the flat, vertical surfaces of the terrace walls with gargoyle-like projections. ~ Page 108
2 years ago.
 Dinesh
Dinesh club
a Section of the first terrace on the east side of Akapana, exposed during the 1976 excavations directed by Gregorio Cardero Miranda (INAR) - Photograph by Wolfgang Schuller

2 years ago. Edited 2 years ago.

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