Pumapunku is part of the Tiwanaku complex on Bolivia’s Altiplano, near Lake Titicaca at roughly 3,800 metres (12,500 feet). Its exposed gray-andesite H-blocks have carefully shaped holes, channels and recesses, while much of the site remains unexcavated. The principal construction is pre-Inca, commonly placed around AD 500–700. Andesite is about 6–7 on the nonlinear Mohs scale; hardness alone cannot identify the tools used. The video argues that the blocks “defy Iron Age tools,” but that claim is not established.
The video’s claim that Puma Punku’s H-blocks defy Iron Age tools is unsupported
BoliviaGeneral
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Pumapunku is part of the Tiwanaku archaeological complex on Bolivia’s Altiplano near Lake Titicaca, at roughly 3,800 metres (12,500 feet), not a separate sister site.
- The famous H-shaped blocks are gray andesite with carefully shaped holes, channels and recesses; much of Pumapunku remains unexcavated, and some proposed connector or clamp functions are debated.
- The principal construction is pre-Inca, generally within Tiwanaku’s AD 500–1000 period and often placed around AD 600–700, centuries before the Inca.
- Andesite is commonly about 6–7 on the nonlinear Mohs scale; copper is about 2.5–3 and bronze varies, often around 3–4. These values do not identify the tools used, so “roughly double” and “defying tools” overstate what hardness shows.
- The supplied results mention blocks weighing about 40 tonnes and do not substantiate the specific 500-ton estimate.
- The supplied results do not verify an andesite comparison with the Lake Van region; if Göbekli Tepe is intended, its monoliths are chiefly limestone, not andesite.
Sources
thestageoftime.com
Linked in video description
Tiwanaku & Puma Punku - The Ancient Civilizationexpedia.com
Pumapunku is part of a large temple complex or monument group that is part of the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanaku, in western Bolivia. It is believed to date to ...
Puma Punku, Tiwanaku and Lake Titicaca in One Dayroadunraveled.com
A day trip from La Paz took us to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Tiwanaku and Puma Punku and along the shores of Lake Titicaca.
Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivianature.com
by A Vranich · 2018 · Cited by 36 — One building in particular, known as the Pumapunku, was described by Spanish conquistadors and travelers of the sixteenth and seventeenth ...
Tiahuanaco Monuments (Tiwanaku / Pumapunku), Bolivia ...geopolymer.org
Tiahuanaco Monuments (Tiwanaku / Pumapunku), Bolivia are made of geopolymer artificial stones created 1400 years ago.
Pumapunkuen.wikipedia.org
Pumapunku or Puma Punku ・ is a 6th-century T-shaped and strategically aligned man-made terraced platform mound ・ near Tiwanaku, La Paz, Bolivia.
examples of andesitic structures "H" in Pumapunku.researchgate.net
To make geopolymer andesite stone, around AD 600 to AD 700, the builders could have transported an andesite stony material having the consistence of sand from ...
Puma Punku & Its Advanced Technologytheancientconnection.com
One notable block has been measured at 36 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 6 feet thick. Andesite monoliths at Puma Punku. Evidence of advanced Technology on ...
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