A young Bolivian is doing his homework on the steps of the sanctuary of Tiahuanaco.- Bolivia

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
"Sphynx" solaire du haut-plateau bolivien, le légendaire dieu créateur Kon Tiki Viracocha, au masque de Puma auréolé, garde les secrets d'un monde disparu du haut de la fameuse Porte du Soleil de Tiahuanaco. Haute de près de 3 mètres et large de 4 mètres, elle est découpée dans un seul bloc d'andésite, qui pèse plus de 10 tonnes!

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Vu du templete semi-souterrain de Tiahuanaco, l'escalier monumental aux six marches lithiques et la grande portada d'entrée du Kalasasaya restaurée. On aperçoit au centre la stèle «Ponce» du sanctuaire du Soleil.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Le monolithe Ponce, l'un des dieux pétrifiés «géants» et «pleureurs» de la «Mecque» bolivienne, mesure 3 mètres de hauteur. Il est entièrement gravé de glyphes géométriques indéchiffrables. Trois larmes carrées ruissellent de ses yeux d'où tombe, sur le côté, une «aile» à tête stylisée de poisson. Des anneaux entourent ses chevilles.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Puma Puncu, l'un des plus vastes ensembles archéologiques de Tiahuanaco, n'est plus que ruines disloquées et chaotiques. Quel culte ésotérique réunissait des milliers de pèlerins dans l'immense enceinte quadrangulaire? Des clés de bronze fondu dans des mortaises assemblaient les énormes dalles qui gisent pêle-mêle, longues de 8 mètres, larges de 5 mètres, épaisses de 2 mètres.

On the Bolivian plateau, the legendary creator god Kon Tiki Viracocha guards the secrets of a sunken world like a "sphinx". In the mask of a radiation-framed puma, he adorns the famous sun gate of Tiahuanaco, which consists of a single block of andesite, almost 3 m high and 4 m wide, weighing almost 10 tons. - 1976

The central figure of the Sun Gate at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia. As with the figure on the Raimondi Stele (Chavín culture), the head is almost as large as the body. In both hands, the Sun God holds sceptres that end in condor heads; his hair ends in snakes and jaguar heads. Tears, symbolising fertility and rain, stream down his face. He is surrounded by 148 winged figures facing him, which have been interpreted as symbols of movement and time. The Tiahuanaco culture had the most direct influence on the Inca civilisation. - Book: Picture 124 - Bolivia - 1976

View from the semi underground temple of Tiahuanaco to the monumental staircase with the six stone steps and the large restored entrance gate to the Kalasasaya. In the centre the "Ponce" stele of the Shrine of the Sun. - 1976

The Ponce Monolith is a well-preserved stele, carved from a single block of andesite, situated in the inner courtyard of the Kalasasaya Temple at the pre-Inca archaeological site of Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) in Bolivia. The statue features delicate, complex geometric and zoomorphic reliefs (such as sun, fish and condor motifs) as well as a mask-like facial form. The monolith is named after the Bolivian archaeologist Carlos Ponce Sanginés, who uncovered it in 1957. – Bolivia – 1976

The Patio Hundido ("sunken courtyard") of Tiahuanaco is an almost square complex with a side length of about 28 m and is surrounded by an enclosure wall about 2 m high and with stone heads. - 1976

Bolivian street scene: A boy in the small village of Tiahuanaco, not far from the massive pre-Inca ruin complex of the same name, does his homework on the stone steps in front of his house. - Book: Picture 148 - Bolivia - 1976

The Altiplano between the ruins of Tiahuanaco and La Paz, with the Cordillera Real and the 6,500-metre-high Huayana Potosí in the background. The indigenous woman in the foreground is tending sheep and pigs. - Book: Picture 0 - Bolivia - 1976

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