The Bennett Monolith

The Bennett Monolith is of 7.3 mts of height and has an approximate weight of 20 tons. This is the biggest of these Andine statues known until now. It represents someone with a head band, mask, tunic, belt and skirt. The person hold a cup and a tablet used frequently by the Tiwanaku culture for hallucinogenous drugs. The iconography on the monolith represents esoteric knowledge making reference to the knowledge of the relation between llama herding and agriculture. Two of the main economic pillars of the Tiwanku empire. The statue is considered to be an ideal representation of the leaders. In the 1930s it was moved from Tiwanaku to the city of La Paz, to be placed in an open museum in the Tejada Serrano Square, where it stayed for some time before being finally moved to the new museum of stone objects.