Bolivia's Puerta del Sol, nestled in the ruins of the ancient city of Tiahuanaco, is also known as the Tehuanaku. Little is known about the people who live there, only that they have a unique culture and have established their own civilization near Lake Titicaca. The area flourished between 14,000 BC and 900 AD, although archaeologists cannot determine its exact age and size.
Some archaeologists speculate that the Tiwanaku calendar printed on the gate apparently shortened the time of one year, to only 290 days. The Solar Gate calendar consists of 12 cycles or months, each of which is broken down into 24 days. And the Puerta del Sol is a huge stone with a lot of detail carved on it, 13 feet long, 9.8 feet long, and weighing about 10 tons.
According to some ancient astronautic theorists, the "Sun Gate" stems from the belief that aliens from another planet have visited Earth at different points in time. They probably visited Tiwanaku and participated in the construction of the Puerta del Sol monument.
Archaeologists are able to identify certain states in the past by studying stripes and other markers in soil and rock. They used these methods to identify Tiwanaku, now located 800 feet above sea level, once a port city surrounded by Lake Titicaca. The lake is now 12 miles away from the site, but used to be much larger. And puerta del Sol is part of this ancient port city, although no one has yet discovered its true use.
At the top of the gate, there is a square face carved into the stone. Under the face is a strong body and arms. The figure holds two vertical pieces of wood, stone, or bone in his hand. Archaeologists aren't quite sure who this is. It could be the face of Vila Kocha, an Inca creator god. According to legend, Vila Kocha was the highest of the Inca gods because he created all the other gods worshipped by the Incas. Judging by the stripes carved into the rocks around his face, the figure may also have been some sort of sun god. However, some people believe that these may be sunlight. Of course, ancient astronaut theorists believed that it wasn't the rays of the sun, but rather a depiction of God entering another planet through some sort of cross-dimensional passage. This figure is also known as the "Weeping God" because the marks on his face look like tears.
The extraordinary thing about the Puerta del Sol is that it is made of a single stone. Archaeologists were unable to find any seams, suggesting it was made up of multiple stones spliced together. It does have a crack, though, but it's likely caused by time.
Unlike other ancient works, such as the pyramids of Egypt, which were made up of many different pieces of stone, the Sun Gate is a single entity. And archaeologists found that the 20,000-pound stone was made of andesan rock. Because this stone is made of volcanic rocks found in the Andes Mountains, it got its name.
Around the figures at the top of the door, there are many repeating patterns, each with its own small square. They are like another figure, printed on the surface. Some historians believe that these patterned figures—290 in all—formed a calendar. After research, they determined that the calendar should be divided into 12 groups, 24 days, representing the time calculated by the ancients of Tiahuanaco. It could also be a calendar from other planets in the universe that reflects how the aliens living on it recorded their years.
According to some sources, the Puerta del Sol has a history of more than 16,000 years. This suggests that it was created around 14,000 BC, about the same era as the ruins around Bolivia. Others believe that the door is only 1500 years old. Although carbon dating is often used to age objects on archaeological sites, this process requires residual organic matter. Since the stones were not organic materials, archaeologists had to date the site by looking at rock formations and other things, but this was not very accurate.
The Puerta del Sol has not been touched since at least the 19th century. It was then that European explorers discovered the remains of Tiahuanaco and the Puerta del Sol. However, when the door was first built, it may have been elsewhere, eventually moving to its current location. The door weighs 20,000 pounds, so it's hard to move, so there must be some important reason why the people of Tiwanaco moved this huge door. However, no one knows exactly why it was moved, or even where it was moved from.
More than one archaeologist believes that the buildings associated with the Puerta del Sol and the whole of Tiwanaco, which may exist under Lake Titicaca, in 2000, a large temple in the lake provided evidence for this theory.
Some scientists have pointed out that the lake was once several separate lakes. This led them to speculate that civilization first appeared there, followed by some form of flood that caused the lakes to merge into one. If this is true, then the lake may have obscured some important discoveries, such as the original location of the gate.
The entire center of Tiahuanaco is surrounded by a stone wall with several pillars. These pillars are consistent with the direction in which the sun rises at the summer equinox and winter equinox (also known as the longest and shortest day of the year in terms of daylight). Outside the structure there is also a separate column, located in the center, aligned with the vernal equinox sunrise. If the Sun Gate does represent the sun god, then it may have played a role in it.
Most of what remains in Tiahuanaco is stone and its architecture. There are some symbols here, like those on the doors, and some large statues carved in stone. Using these things, archaeologists can piece together some information about the people who lived there, but since the Tiwanaku people have not left any written records, many of the "facts" about the city are just speculations. Maybe in the future, they'll stumble upon something that explains the real purpose of the gates, even the whole town.
Punku, the cougar, adds another piece of the puzzle to the Puerta del Sol. This collapsed building, made entirely of stone blocks, is then put together like a puzzle. It sits next to the ruins of Tiahuanaco and was built with the same type of stone as the gate. The stone carving technique at the Punku site of the cougar is the same as the stone carving technique used to create the Puerta del Sol, which has led archaeologists (as well as ancient astronaut theorists) to believe that the two are related. If they are, then a better understanding of one of them may help archaeologists to study the other.