History of the World podcast · Chris Hasler

Vol 4 Ep 85 - The Tiwanaku, the Wari and the Chimor

·36 min·2 clips

Tiwanaku built the highest city of the ancient world and moved 65-ton stones without mortar.

1. History of the World podcast episode 85 covers the Tiwanaku, the Wari, and the Chimo in the Andes of South America. 2. Chris Haslam writes and presents the episode, and he uses the prior volume on the Mochi and Nazca as the setup for this one. 3. The episode asks how pre-Columbian societies between Peru, Bolivia, and northern Argentina developed before the Inca. 4. The narrative begins with Norte Chico, which the host places around 5,000 years ago for architecture and astronomy in modern Peru. 5. Chavin de Huantar appears as a second-millennium BCE religious center aligned with the sun and associated with pilgrimage. 6. The host says Chavin decline in the late first millennium BCE opened space for Nazca on the south coast and Moche in the north. 7. Nazca is placed at Chahuachi, while the Moche are linked to tombs, precious metal objects, and the Huacas del Sol and de la Luna. 8. The episode defines huacas as sacred places and describes Moche adobe structures used for ceremony, administration, and human sacrifice. 9. The Tiwanaku section starts near Lake Titicaca, where Chiripa developed into Pucara and the Yayamama religious tradition. 10. Tiwanaku then emerges beside Pucara and grows into the stronger power around Lake Titicaca by about 2,000 years ago. 11. The host says Tiwanaku built the highest city of the ancient world and protected it with artificial waterways, canals, aqueducts, and dikes. 12. He also describes the Akapana Pyramid, the Gate of the Sun, and the Kalasasaya Temple as evidence of precision stonework and astronomy. 13. Tiwanaku agriculture uses raised planting mounds, shallow canals, quinoa, potatoes, llamas, and caravan trade. 14. The episode links Tiwanaku art to Chavin imagery and says Tiwanaku influence reached from Peru to northern Argentina. 15. The Wari appear next from the Ayacucho Basin, with a capital near modern Ayacucho and expansion toward Ecuador. 16. The host compares Wari and Tiwanaku cities, noting possible diplomacy, shared staff-god iconography, and no evidence of major warfare. 17. Wari settlements, roads, terraces, and storage facilities are presented as tools for administration, communication, and imperial reach. 18. The Chimo section shifts to Pampa Grande, El Niño drought, Chan Chan, and the largest pre-Columbian city in South America. 19. The tone is explanatory and chronological, with repeated comparisons between architecture, agriculture, religion, and political control. 20. Listeners interested in Andean archaeology will get the most from it, while listeners wanting a short, modern news format may skip it.

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