Though as large and as densely populated as major European cities at the time, Tiwanaku belongs to a Precolumbian urban tradition that is still poorly understood. Brief descriptions of Inka cities at the time of European contact and previous scientific investigations at Tiwanaku have left many questions that recent projects have tried to answer.

This season we will continue work within the core of Tiwanaku in two separate areas: on and around the towering Akapana pyramid, the centerpiece of the monumental core, and about one kilometer southwest on the equally impressive Pumapunku temple. Another part of the project is to re-create the technology that the ancient builders of Tiwanaku used to transport stone to the site.