The Tiwanaku Empire From their capitol city in the highlands near Lake Titicaca, the Tiwanaku controlled parts of what are now Bolivia, southern Peru, and northern Chile. Some Tiwanaku settlements featured vast religious complexes that contained enormous palaces and temples shaped like stepped pyramids. This trademark architectural style not only demonstrates the superb skills of Tiwanaku stonemasons, but also reflects the religious core of this trader-merchant state. Over time, the enterprising Tiwanaku transformed their windswept homeland altiplano, or high plain, into a network of groundwater-fed canals and raised fields. Here, high-altitude crops such as potatoes and quinoa flourished alongside herds of llama and alpaca, which provided wool and meat. However, to grow corn and coca—important staples to Tiwanaku religious life—the Empire needed access to a more temperate climate. Perhaps as early as A.D. 600, the Tiwanaku sent settlers from their heartland capitol in Bolivia to colonize the rich Moquegua Valley situated on the southern slopes of the Peruvian Andes Mountains. continue >>