Huge, Cylindrical Pre-Incan Chullpas Of Sillustani, Peru Were Used As Graves For Colla Nobles

A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – Many archeologists agree that cylindrical towers known as ‘chullpas’ (chulpas),  which can be viewed at Sillustani, Cutimbo, and other places, are the work of pre-Inca culture.

Chullpa, funerary urn,  Sillustani, Peru. The upper one from the Inca period, the lower one from the Tiahuanaco period. Image credit: Diego Delso – CC BY SA 4.0

Sillustani is a pre-Incan burial ground (of the Colla people) on the shores of Lake Umayo, approximately 35 miles from Puno in Peru. It is a prehistoric place where the most important people of the society of the time were buried, dressed in fine garments, ornaments and perfectly mummified.

Chullpas were perfectly circular-shaped funeral towers that reached heights up to twelve meters. The building material was a volcanic stone carved by the skilled architects of the  Collas.

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