ABSTRACT
The Aymara nation, with two million people, is today the third-largest Indian nation in the Americas. The people live on the high plateau which stretches between two Andean mountain ranges from southern Peru, through Bolivia and into northern Chile. They are an ancient civilization but little is known of their history. At 4,000 metres above sea-level, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the ruins of Tiwanaku stand in evidence to an era when the Aymara civilization thrived. The artefacts include colourful textiles, ceramics and metalwork dating back 3,000 years. However the history has been lost beneath two conquests. First, in the twelfth century the Quechuan speaking Incas, from across Lake Titicaca, expanded into what is now Bolivia. Second, in the sixteenth century the Spanish conquistadors arrived, having already destroyed the centre of the Inca Empire in Cuzco. Both waves of colonization encountered strong resistance.
The Aymara … have demonstrated a collective resistance to disintegration on a level superior to that of other Andean groups.
Xavier Albó 1