This is what is written about Tiahuanaco in Bolivia: Now almost entirely in ruins, Tiahuanaco is to South America what the Great Pyramid is to Egypt and Avebury stone ring is to England. Twelve miles from the coast of sacred Lake Titicaca, Tiahuanaco was the source of the creation myths, the social order, and the extraordinary preoccupation with astronomy that underwrote thousands of years of Andean culture. Yet, for all its importance, Tiahuanaco remains an enigma. This is not because the ruins have not been excavated or studied. Rather, the reason for the enduring mystery of Tiahuanaco derives from some of its structures - and the astronomical alignments of those structures - that indicate a probable construction period far more ancient than any other monumental archaeological site in all of South America.
It is also said that the site was once an ancient seaport when the land must have been at sea level, though today the land is 13,300 feet above sea level. The temples of this site, now in ruins, have been covered for eons in mud and silt, likely from a long past flood event.
There are many interesting finds here including two monolithic stones that have holes carved near the top of the stone in the shape of the human inner ear. These carved holes serve to amplify sound either spoken into the hole or heard through the hole by placing one's ear to it. Our guide stood about 30 feet from this acoustic instrument and spoke to us in a normal voice and we could hear her perfectly with our ear to the stone. When she spoke through the hole at normal volume, the sound was amplified as if connected to a PA system. Modern civilization is just beginning to understand the value of sound wave technology - but it seems these ancient beings not only understood the technology but made use of it for some unknown reason. To facilitate healing or possibly for levitation of the 150 ton stones? -Karen
