AIC's 47th Annual Meeting

After the Tiwanaku Empire collapsed at 1170 A.D., the Aymaras occupied the Altiplano, territories of what are now western Bolivia, southern Peru, northern Chile and parts of northwest Argentina. The Aymaras started a long lasting construction tradition for their dead family members, a tradition that lasted until the colonial period. We know these funerary structures as chullpa or chullpar. Across the altiplano we find a great variety in materials and constructive technique: clay with paja ichu (Peruvian feathergrass), adobe, carved stones, natural stones and various combinations of these. A particularly interesting material and technique is textile-like weaving of chullpawawas (long loaves of clay mixed with whole paja ichu) 'warps' and 'woofs' lining a chamber inside the funeral tower. Against all odds, some of these structures have survived for more than 800 years, despite the harsh climatic conditions of the Altiplano and human predations. The dried material is extremely hard and resists the growth of vegetation on and around the structure. Preliminary FTIR studies suggest that this not only clay and paja ichu: a protein or urea additive that could be giving the resistance. Given the observed biogrowth resistance, an ancient or natural pesticide may be present, as well. Until very recently, the chullpares' ancient construction techniques especially chullpawawas weaving, have not been fully understood, for instance most historians and archaeologists have considered chullpawawas as adobe, and its physical substance has never before been studied archaeometrically. Until now, applied conservation of the chullpares has proceeded in various rather unorthodox manners. During the last three years our team has been documenting three sites and their constructive techniques, conducting archaeometric studies using multispectral, microscopical, spectroscopic and chromographic methods, experimenting with replication of constructive techniques, and developing more sustainable conservation techniques. We are sustainably using natural and local raw materials, and also introducing modern products for instance geotextile in protecting roofs from rainwater. Currently our work continues and we expect to learn much more about chullpar ancient constructive techniques. We invite colleagues' interest for an international multidisciplinary team to work on a regional level with this unique heritage, and we are seeking UNESCO World Heritage designation, and diverse project support Resumen