Puma Punku

Pumapunku, also called “Puma Pumku” or “Puma Puncu”, is part of a large temple complex or monument group that is part of the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanaku, Bolivia. In Aymara, its name means, “The Door of the Cougar”. The processes and technologies involved in the creation of these temples are still not fully understood by modern scholars. Our current ideas of the Tiwanaku culture hold that they had no writing system and also that the invention of the wheel was most likely unknown to them. The architectural achievements seen at Pumapunku are striking in light of the presumed level of technological capability available during its construction. Due to the monumental proportions of the stones, the method by which they were transported to Pumapunku has been a topic of interest since the temple's discovery.

Of course there is no certainty that this was the reason as the ancient builders left no written records. All the legends have been handed down through the generations.

Found Here: http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_6.htm

They are arguably the oldest, and most baffling ruins on the face of the Earth. It is hard to imagine how they did not come to be known as one of the wonders of the world like the Great Pyramid. Spectacular in its own right, the Great Pyramid is, yet it pales in comparison to the ruins of Puma Punku in Tiahuanaco, in South America.

The ruins of Puma Punku are one of four structures in the ancient city of Tiahuanaco. The others three structures are; The Akapana Pyramid, the Kalasasaya Platform, and the Subterranean Temple.

Even with modern day technology and information, these structures defy logic, and confound those who seek to solve the mysteries that lie within them. The ruins of Puma Punku are said to be the most fascinating, and most confusing of all.

Who built these structures?

How were these structures built?

Why were these structures built?

These are all questions on the minds of those researching these ancient structures, and they are not easily answerable, if they can even be answered at all.

Puma Punku

If pyramids were more than difficult to create several thousand years ago, then how much more difficult would it have been to build Puma Punku?

Puma Punku is believed to have once contained a great wharf, and a massive four part structure. Yet all that remains today are megalithic ruins from some cataclysmic event in history. A great earthquake? A comet that came too close to the Earth? A worldwide flood? These are all possible causes to the destruction of the once great structure that is now the ruins of Puma Punku.

Not only is there evidence to support the claim of a cataclysmic flood, but there is even evidence to support the theory that people once lived there before such a flood even occurred. The suspected flood could have happened somewhere around 12,000 years ago, and there is scientific evidence of tools, bones, and other material within flood alluvia, which suggests that a civilized people were there prior to any flood. Other evidence, that being carvings of bearded people that are not Andean, have been recorded throughout the area.

Could the ruins of Puma Punku be evidence of a long lost civilization?

What Makes The Ruins Unique?

It is highly unlikely that any of the stones in Puma Punku were cut using ancient stone cutting techniques, at least not those that we are aware of.

The stones in Puma Punku are made up of granite, and diorite, and the only stone that is harder that those two, is the diamond. If the people who built this place cut these stones using stone cutting techniques, then they would had to have used diamond tools.

If they didn't use diamonds to cut these stones, then what did they use?

Not only were these stones really hard to cut, but they are also extremely heavy. One of these stone ruins weighs in at about 800 tons! These are big stones, and they are really heavy. The nearest quarry is at least 10 miles away from the site of the ruins. How in the world did these people move these blocks that weighed many tons, and how were they able to form a structure with them?

With the technology that we currently have today, it would be extremely difficult to recreate the site of these ruins, if possible at all. If we can't do it, then how did these ancient people accomplish this task? This could have taken place anywhere from 500 b.c. all the way back to the Ice Age.

These ancient people had to have been very sophisticated, knowing astronomy, geomancy, and mathematics. However, there are no records of this work. To build a place like Puma Punku, there must have been significant planning, and writing involved, but there is no record of any of this.

Interlocking Stones

There is one more significant thing to mention regarding the ruins of Puma Punku. Not only were these stones cut somehow, but they were finely cut. The cuts on these stones are perfectly straight. The holes cored into these stones are perfect, and all of equal depth.

How is it that these ancient people were able to cut stones like this?

It is as if only master builders were allowed to come in and construct Puma Punku. All of the blocks are cut so that they interlock, and fit together like a puzzle. There is no mortar. There are only great stones that once fit together creating a structure some four levels high.

If these people could have moved these large stones to this precise location, then obviously they also had a way to place them one on top of another, but how in the world was this accomplished?

There are no trees in the area, the nearest quarry is at least 10 miles away, and we have no records as to how any of this could have been done. As far as most are concerned, there is no way that the Andean people could have done this 2500 years ago. If they couldn't have done it, how is it possible that an even older group of people accomplished it?

Who Did All This???

The simple answer; we have absolutely no idea who did all this, or even how they could have done it.

There have been a few suggestions, but as you could imagine, they are widely criticized for the most part.

One suggestion has been made that there had to have been some kind of ancient aliens who interceded on humanity's behalf, and our ancestors learned how to do all of this from them.

There are actual records of mythical origin, regarding gods and the part that they took in the creation of these places. Not sure how we have certain mythical records, yet no records of plans or writing that contributed to the creation of these places?

Another suggestion, is that a cataclysmic event such as a flood, wiped out these ancient peoples along with any records they may have kept. There is some evidence to support this suggestion. Perhaps these ancient people were technologically advanced at some point, and all but a few were wiped out by a major flood. The remnant would have had to start civilization all over again, and of course the ancient records would be lost.

These may be stretches of the imagination, but places like Puma Punku were constructed somehow, and if it would be very difficult for us today to build a place like Puma Punku, then how did these ancient people accomplish it?

Did they have advanced technology similar to ours, and then die off?

Maps have been found that would seem to support this theory. Maps such as the Piri Reis (1513), and the Oronteus Finaeus (1531), have been found that pre-date European discoveries. Not only are these maps precise, but they seem to claim that they are copies from even older maps.

These maps show the coastline of South America, rivers, and even part of Antarctica which was not thought to have been mapped until 1818. These maps contain landmarks, as well as depictions of the areas which appear to be very accurate. Some people don't believe that these maps could have been made without flying over these areas in the sky.

Just how much did these ancient people know, and what were they able to do?

The Bible records a worldwide flood that killed off everyone except for Noah, and his family. Some legends claim that there have been a total of 4 cataclysmic events that have wiped out the majority of the worlds population thus far.

Is this what happened to these ancient people who built Puma Punku?

To this day, it remains an ancient mystery.

Found Here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Ancient-Mysteries-Puma-Punku-in-Tiahuanaco

THE PORT OF PUMA PUNKU Strangely, Tiahuanacu appears to be a seaport (Posnansky, 1945), although the nearest body of water is Lake Titicaca, some 12-15 miles away (the distance depends on the level of the lake). There are several theories about how this happens to be. We will consider only one here. On the rock cliffs near the piers and warfs of the port area are yellow-white calcareous deposits forming long, straight lines indicating pre-historic water levels. These ancient shorelines are strangely tilted, although they must have once been level. The surrounding area is covered with millions of fossilized sea-shells. It appears, from the tilting of the ancient shoreline striations and the abundant presence of fossilized oceanic flora and fauna, that a tremendous uplift of land has taken place sometime in the ancient past. Geologists estimate that this happened roughly around 100 million years ago; but the data gathered from archeological and astronomical investigations indicate a different story.
Oceanic creatures live to this day in abundance in the salty waters of the lake, indicating that it was once a part of the ocean, although it is now over 2 miles above sea-level. What appears to be the original seashore is strangely tilted, as if a tremendous geological upheaval has taken place.
The port of Tiahuanacu, called Puma Punku or "Door of the Puma," is an area filled with enormous stone blocks scattered hither and yon like matchsticks, and weighing between 100 and 150 tons! One block still in place weighs an estimated 440 tons! One wonders, how were these blocks quarried, how were they transported from the quarries to the building site, and how did the builders manage to place these huge blocks so skillfully to form this massive complex of megalithic buildings? And above all, what tremendous forces of nature tumbled these gigantic stones over one another as if they were light as driftwood? Archeologists have not answered these questions.
The blocks, many of them weighing upwards of 200 tons, are in some cases held together by large metalic, I-shaped couplers, rather than enterlocking shapes as at Sacsahuaman or at Cuzco. Others were held together by silver rivets. The system used here is reminiscent of that used in the Egyptian ruins on Elephantine Island on the Nile. Most researchers believe that the metal was actually poured into I-shaped slots carved into the rock.
Some of the docks and piers in this area are so large that hundreds of ships could dock comfortably; yet there is nothing "oceanic" near these docks except a prehistoric coastline indicated by chalky deposits of ancient salt water fossils. Lake Titicaca, languishing miles away, is nearly 100 feet lower than the ruined docks. What tremendous geological upheaval has occurred in the last thousand years that could have tumbled these huge stones while heaving the entire altiplano region 2 miles into the sky? None at that recent date. But could a sudden, violent tilt of the axis of the earth occuring some 12,000 years ago have been responsible? Geologist will not admit to such an occurance in spite of the evidence (see my Geology and/or Paleontology page).

THE CEREMONIAL CENTER A quarter of a mile or so northeast of the port area are the temples, pyramids and palaces of the main city of Tiahuanacu. (Recent excavation is turning up evidence of a population of 30,000 to 40,000 people, although this may represent a much later influx of settlers.) The main part of the city consists of several buildings. The placement and proximity of several of them--the Acapana Pyramid, the Kalasasaya, the semi-Subterranean Temple, and a so-called "Palace"--indicate that they are components of a ceremonial center.

Tiahuanacu is in the Bolivian Andes lying 12,500 feet (over 2 miles) above sea-level. It is located several miles from the shores of Lake Titicaca. Archeology in general dates the city at c. 200 A.D., but it was not always so. Its first investigator, Prof. Arthur Posnansky, a Polish engineer who dedicated fifty years to its study, dated its origins to 15,000 B.C. As we shall see, this date is based on the convergence of several varieties of physical and astronomical data. THE PORT OF PUMA PUNKU Strangely, Tiahuanacu appears to be a seaport (Posnansky, 1945), although the nearest body of water is Lake Titicaca, some 12-15 miles away (the distance depends on the level of the lake). There are several theories about how this happens to be. We will consider only one here. On the rock cliffs near the piers and warfs of the port area are yellow-white calcareous deposits forming long, straight lines indicating pre-historic water levels. These ancient shorelines are strangely tilted, although they must have once been level. The surrounding area is covered with millions of fossilized sea-shells. It appears, from the tilting of the ancient shoreline striations and the abundant presence of fossilized oceanic flora and fauna, that a tremendous uplift of land has taken place sometime in the ancient past. Geologists estimate that this happened roughly around 100 million years ago; but the data gathered from archeological and astronomical investigations indicate a different story. Photo courtesy of South American Pictures/Tony Morrison Oceanic creatures live to this day in abundance in the salty waters of the lake, indicating that it was once a part of the ocean, although it is now over 2 miles above sea-level. What appears to be the original seashore is strangely tilted, as if a tremendous geological upheaval has taken place. The port of Tiahuanacu, called Puma Punku or "Door of the Puma," is an area filled with enormous stone blocks scattered hither and yon like matchsticks, and weighing between 100 and 150 tons! One block still in place weighs an estimated 440 tons! One wonders, how were these blocks quarried, how were they transported from the quarries to the building site, and how did the builders manage to place these huge blocks so skillfully to form this massive complex of megalithic buildings? And above all, what tremendous forces of nature tumbled these gigantic stones over one another as if they were light as driftwood? Archeologists have not answered these questions. One of several large meticulously carved Andesite blocks at Puma Punku. (Photo by Holly Ahlberg, used by permission.) The blocks, many of them weighing upwards of 200 tons, are in some cases held together by large metalic, I-shaped couplers, rather than enterlocking shapes as at Sacsahuaman or at Cuzco. Others were held together by silver rivets. The system used here is reminiscent of that used in the Egyptian ruins on Elephantine Island on the Nile. Most researchers believe that the metal was actually poured into I-shaped slots carved into the rock. Some of the docks and piers in this area are so large that hundreds of ships could dock comfortably; yet there is nothing "oceanic" near these docks except a prehistoric coastline indicated by chalky deposits of ancient salt water fossils. Lake Titicaca, languishing miles away, is nearly 100 feet lower than the ruined docks. What tremendous geological upheaval has occurred in the last thousand years that could have tumbled these huge stones while heaving the entire altiplano region 2 miles into the sky? None at that recent date. But could a sudden, violent tilt of the axis of the earth occuring some 12,000 years ago have been responsible? Geologist will not admit to such an occurance in spite of the evidence (see my Geology and/or Paleontology page). THE CEREMONIAL CENTER A quarter of a mile or so northeast of the port area are the temples, pyramids and palaces of the main city of Tiahuanacu. (Recent excavation is turning up evidence of a population of 30,000 to 40,000 people, although this may represent a much later influx of settlers.) The main part of the city consists of several buildings. The placement and proximity of several of them--the Acapana Pyramid, the Kalasasaya, the semi-Subterranean Temple, and a so-called "Palace"--indicate that they are components of a ceremonial center. Map of the ceremonial center of Tiahuanacu. (Map redrawn from site report by Wendell C. Bennett.) The Acapana Pyramid is a step pyramid (found in Egypt as well as Mesoamerica), and is aligned perfectly with the cardinal directions. It originally had a covering of smooth Andesite stone, but 90% of that has disappeared. The ruinous state of the pyramid is due to its being used as a stone quarry for later buildings at La Paz. Its interior is honeycombed with shafts in a complicated grid pattern, which incorporates a system of weirs used to direct water from a tank on top, going through a series of levels, and finally ending up in a stone canal surrounding the pyramid. The function of this hydraulic system is baffling to archeologists, who have drummed up a number of theoretical explanations. Found Here: http://www.atlantisquest.com/prehistcity.html