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HPL Lecture Series

Stonehenge of the Americas? The Rise and Fall of Tiwanaku

Drawing on 25 years of research, Dr. Andrew Roddick reveals how Tiwanaku rose to become the Andes' first great highland city — and why it ultimately declined.

High in the Bolivian Andes, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, lies Tiwanaku — often called the Stonehenge of the Americas. Around the end of the fourth century AD, this remarkable settlement underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming the first city in the highlands of Andean South America. What triggered this sudden explosion of political power, economic innovation and artistic creativity?
Drawing on 25 years of archaeological research, this talk explores discoveries that are reshaping our understanding of Tiwanaku's origins, the environmental and social forces behind its rise and the factors that ultimately led to its decline.

Dr. Andrew Roddick is an anthropological archaeologist whose research currently includes the Late Formative (200 BC-600 AD) and Middle Horizon (600-1000 AD) in the South-Central Andes of South America and the Late Woodland period (ca. 900-1650 CE.) and Neutral/Attawandaron (17th Century) in the Great Lakes region of Ontario.

Presented in partnership with McMaster University Department of Anthropology as part of the Anthropologists in the City lecture series.