Huge stone temple built 1,000 years ago uncovered in mountains – and reveals secrets of ancient civilisation
The historic structure, known as Palaspata, was discovered in a remote part of South America and is thought to have been built by the Tiwanaku civilisation.
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Sitting on top of a ridge near Lake Titicaca, in western Bolivia, the temple is an impressive feat of craftsmanship.
But due to its remote location, researchers only spotted the area when they spotted unusual shapes in satellite photos.
Drone 3D imaging confirmed the ancient site with researchers believing it provides key insight into the Tiwanaku civilisation.
The ancient society was a powerful Andean civilisation that existed around 400 to 1000 CE.
Researchers say Tiwanaku individuals formed part of a "highly organised societal structure", which left behind remnants of impressive monuments including pyramids, temples and monoliths.
Most of these are located in sites around Lake Titicaca.
Though little remains of it now, researchers believe the temple once housed an advanced irrigation system, and fine art and pottery before disappearing around 1000 AD.
The site measures around 410 feet long by 476 wide and features 15 rooms which encircle a central courtyard.
Archaeologists suggest over 20,000 people may have inhabited the area, believing it to have been a "strategic hub" or "entry point" for trade.
It is believed the temple enabled access to a number of goods and foods.
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Lead researcher José Capriles told the Mail Online: "This was not just a temple, it was a strategic hub, an entry point between the highlands and lowland trade routes.
"This was a place where people, goods, and gods all crossed paths."
The discovery comes just weeks after an ancient Mayan city was discovered by archaeologists in northern Guatemala.
The nearly 3,000-year-old remains include remarkable pyramids and monuments that appear to be "sculpted with unique iconography".
This ancient city, named Los Abuelos - the Spanish for "The Grandparents" - once stood around 21km from the significant archaeological site of Uaxactún, Guatemala's culture ministry said on Thursday.
Los Abuelos gets its name from two human-like sculptures of an "ancestral couple" found there.
These figures "could be linked to ancient ritual practices of ancestor worship", the ministry added.
The city is likely to have been "one of the most ancient and important ceremonial centres" of Mayan civilisation.
Monuments unearthed at the site have been dated to the Middle Preclassic period of 800-500 BC, while the city itself "presents remarkable architectural planning".
The city covers an area of around six square miles and is found in Guatemala's northern Petén department.
Researchers also found a 108 foot high pyramid nearby that had Preclassic murals and "a unique canal system".
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