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The Tiahuanaco culture appeared in about the fourth century AD, on the Bolivian plateau, just a few kilometres from the shores of Lake Titicaca. From there, it spread south, where it merged with the Huari, heirs to a different tradition –the Paracas-Nasca culture.
Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, and one of the highest in the world.
The Tiahuanaco culture went through a number of different phases: the early phase; the classical age; and the post-Tiahuanaco culture. It was a society profoundly marked by its religious beliefs. The inhabitants of the Island of the Sun to this day retain reminders of this religion in the liturgy of their rituals. Before undertaking any action, they call upon their gods, especially Pachamama, the Earth Goddess.
On the islands of the Sun and Moon, we find numerous ruins of Tiahuanaco origin, and which were later occupied by the Incas.
These are sacred places for the peoples of the Andes.

The monumental city of Tiahuanaco was built during the classical age. The famous Barbado or Kontiki monolith presides over the semi-subterranean temple.

Moche, or Mochica society was also very hierarchical and there was clearly specialisation of labour. They appear to have instituted a system of tribute at work, called ‘mita’. Some writers define it as a theocratic society, while others speak of a secular society. We know that they worshipped the moon, and the deity Ai-Apaec, a fierce god, the supreme power, and creator of the world, who demanded human sacrifice. Apparently, the victims were thrown from the summit of the White Mountain, which rises up behind the tomb. There, 42 bodies of sacrificed warriors have been found
Many more mummies have been found in Peru than in any other country in the world. Its ancient civilisations had very large populations. People were buried with all their possessions, because they believed that life continued after death.

Many cultures, both before and after the Paracas, even the Incas, carried out brain surgery, using rudimentary surgical instruments made of obsidian.
The only anaesthetic used during these trepanning operations were the hallucinatory effects of chicha. Normally, they operated on fractures and blows to the skull received in battle, and, to a lesser extent, migraines and other pathologies. The percentage of patients who recovered following the operation was very small.

We are leaving the coast and heading east, to discover the Chachapoya culture. These ‘White Indians’, as they are also known, lived in chaotic places. We can see the ancient walls of their settlements along the cliffs and crags, totally inaccessible. Without a doubt, Kuelap is the most astonishing of all the Chachapoya cities. Standing at a height of 3,000 metres, it was an impregnable fortress, the citadel in the clouds!
The city walls are 600 metres long, and between 10 and 20 metres high.
The archaeological excavations that are being carried out have so far not unravelled the mystery of this strange mountain civilisation. But work continues. The study of the bodies, and the pottery, will be vital in understanding the Chachapoyas.

And finally, the Incas arrived! Their Empire, the Tahuantinsuyo, extended from what is now Ecuador, to Argentina and Chile, absorbing all previous cultures.
They became the masters of the Andes. They built astonishing cities, like the sacred Machupichu, abandoned since the arrival of the Spanish. It is not known with certainty who lived there, but according to legend, it was inhabited by holy virgins and supreme priests who were sorcerers from the other world, and who, at Intiguatana, their astronomical observatory, were capable of tying down the great Inti, the supreme Sun God.

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