1st intact evidence of Incas' underwater ritual offerings found in a lake in the Andes

[Judi Lynn]

3. From 2000: Pre-Inca ruins found in lake Titicaca

Alex Bellos, South America correspondent
@alexbellos
Published onWed 23 Aug 2000 20.38 EDT

An international team of scientists announced the finding this week after making more than 200 dives in Titicaca, which, at 3,800m above sea level, is the world's highest navigable lake.

"We've found what appears to have been a 200-metre-long, 50-metre-wide holy temple, a terrace for crops, a pre-Incan road and an 800-metre-long containing wall," said Lorenzo Epis, the Italian leading the Atahuallpa 2000 expedition. Ceramic artefacts were also found on the lake's floor.

Titicaca has long been the subject of legends about a lost underwater city, but there has been little research because of the logistical difficulties of diving at altitude.

While a submerged city has not been found, Mr Epis said the ruins appeared to be 1,000 to 1,500 years old. It thus predates the Incas and could point to the Tihuanaco people, who lived on Titicaca's shores before becoming part of the Incan empire.

"This means our civilisations have left more footprints than we had thought," said Antonio Eguino, Bolivia's vice-minister of culture. The ruins were found in an area of the lake between the town of Copacabana and the popular tourist destinations of the Island of the Sun and Island of the Moon. The divers followed a submerged road until they arrived at the discoveries, at a depth of about 20 metres.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/aug/24/bolivia