A Brief History of Research

Rydén's conclusions about Pukara were accurate and his interest in it, even though it was not a Tiwanaku site, was precocious.

He collected ceramic sherds and excavated two circular structures located on the same terrace on the south face of the site. His excavations yielded numerous ceramic shards and lithic artifacts.

Based on his work, he interpreted the structures as "houses." He interpreted a high incidence of large storage jar fragments in one structure as jars for transporting and storing water.

As he pointed out (1947:291), springs and streams are located well below most of the inhabited areas of the site, and so transporting and storing water near domestic spaces would have been important daily activities.

Drawing on rigorous ceramic analyses, he suggested that the site housed a population different from that of other post-Tiwanaku settlements, and thus must have housed a distinct "ethnic group," most likely that of the local population that had preceded Inca and Spanish occupation of the region.