TheMollo culture existed inBolivia'saltiplano area after the collapse of theTiwanaku culture during the period of AD 1000 to 1500; it predated theInca civilization.[1] While the Mollo showed a continuity with Late Tiwanaku culture in both domestic and villagearchitecture, they left nopyramids.[2] Molloworshiped the jaguar.[citation needed]
One of the best representations of the Mollo are the ruins northeast ofLake Titicaca atIskanwaya, on theCordillera Real, 250 metres (820 ft) above theRio Llica (15°21′S68°32′W / 15.350°S 68.533°W /-15.350; -68.533 (Iskanwaya)). Iskanwaya, inMuñecas Province, is 325 kilometres (202 mi) fromLa Paz, Bolivia.[3] Dated from 1145 to 1425, the city was built on platforms and was notable for its running water. More than one hundred buildings, streets and plazas still survive.[4] Mollo streets ran in east-west direction. Their houses were rectangular and grouped around patios.[1]Agriculture patterns included terracing andirrigation.[5]
Other Mollo sites, such asPiniqo andKhargi, exhibit the same settlement characteristics as Iskanwaya,[5]Wamán is an old agricultural establishment with the same terracing pattern.[6] The present-day village ofCharazani includes Mollo archaeological sites as the ruins ofMallku Janalaya.[7]
Kallawaya people, an itinerant group of healers, were of the Mollo culture.
The Mollo were defined by their ceramics. Shoe pots, grave pots, vases, and dipping vessels have been found and these are either plain or painted black and white on redclay. They created a unique drinking cup with a built-in straw.[citation needed] Some of these ceramics can be found today as far away as theNáprstek Museum inPrague.[8]
Burials were of single adults placed inchullpa funerary towers of stone or adobe, while infant skeletons are found in tombs beneath house floors.
mollo culture.
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