The earliest known sedentary culture of the Bolivian altiplano, Wankarani people were camelid herders who built mound villages in the Oruro region and contemporary with the Chiripa culture to the south.
The Wankarani culture of the Bolivian altiplano was absorbed into the expanding Tiwanaku polity around 600 CE, with population in Wankarani regions declining by over 50% as the Tiwanaku state incorporated or displaced the earlier pastoralist communities.
Covers the Bolivian altiplano Formative period including the Wankarani culture as part of the wider context for the emergence of Tiwanaku; best available English-language synthesis for this region.
Broad synthesis of Andean archaeological cultures providing regional context for the Wankarani within the Bolivian altiplano Formative sequence.