Lunch Club Series | Beneath Tiahuanacu’s Streets: Ceramic iconography and Ancient Heritage in an Aymara town

Lunch Club provides affiliates of the Stanford Archaeology Center with a community-oriented forum for engagement with current issues in archaeology. On Nov 11, 2026, we will host Dr.Paul Goldstein from University of California, San Diego.

Abstract:

Research on Tiwanaku ceramic iconography, including eclipse imagery and a little-known system of post-firing engravings, brought me to Tiahuanacu in 2026. Though long rumored to overlie an extension of the Tiwanaku UNESCO World Heritage site, the town was never systematically investigated until a 2024-25 salvage project for a new municipal sewer system. Directed by Tiahuanacu archaeologists, the project yielded significant finds that substantially add to and complement the Tiwanaku site museum’s collections. With funding from U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), our project “Shared Heritage at Tiwanaku”, directed by Deborah Blom, Luis Callisaya and Hugo Avalos,  will work with Tiahuanacu archaeologists, excavation “maestros”, educators, tour guides, and local authorities to study the new finds and build inclusive educational materials and a new Municipal Gallery exhibit.