Peru Finds Pre-Inca Ruins Beneath Lake Titicaca
LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Peruvian divers have found pre-Inca stairways, ramps and walls beneath the waters of Lake Titicaca, but experts say
the discoveries are not the remains of a legendary lost city.
"The remains were found at a depth of between 6.5 and 26 feet (2 and 8 meters) on the eastern side of the lake. ... They are built with
interlocking stones," oceanic engineer and expedition member Gustavo Villavicencio told Reuters on Wednesday.
Lake Titicaca, a sweeping expanse of brilliant blue water high in the Andes at an altitude of 12,540 feet (3,823 metres), is shared by Peru
and Bolivia. The world's highest navigable lake, it attracts flocks of visitors a year to see its floating reed islands, Aymara-speaking Indians
and Inca ruins.
According to tradition, the Inca sun god, Manco Capac and his sister, Mama Ocllo, sprang from Lake Titicaca to found the city of Cusco and
the Inca dynasty that held sway over a swathe of Latin America from Colombia to Chile for more than three centuries until the Spanish
conquest in the 16th century.
But Villavicencio said the discoveries -- made in the past two weeks by a team of navy divers and oceanographic experts -- were not the
vestiges of a lost underwater world.
"There are studies that show that the lake used to be ... around 66 to 98 feet (20 to 30 metres) lower, and that was where ancient Peruvians
built," he said.
As well as the algae-covered pre-Inca ruins, the divers also found a stone platform on which fragments of ceramics and bits of llama bones
were recovered.
"Everything suggests it was a place where offerings were made, a sacred site," Villavicencio said.
Archaeologists consulted by the expedition said they could be remains of the Tiahuanaco culture, which flourished in the ninth and tenth
centuries, and was known for its stone work.
Poking 10 feet (3 metres) out of the middle of the lake, the team also found what they dubbed the "mystery rock" that measures 66 feet (20
metres) across.
A stone statue in the shape of a llama was found on the rock, which divers nicknamed after seeing how lightning always struck it during
storms, Villavicencio said.
• Story originally published by:
Swiss Radio International | Monica Vargas - Oct 30.02
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