South American Indians - In the Chuquibambilla region, up in the highlands (Altiplano), an Aymara shepherdess is giving her little lamb the bottle, after having breastfed her own child, who is now on her back. - 1980

Panpipes - Lucho is an Aymara Indian from the Peruvian Altiplano who plays the zampoña, a pan flute made of a double row of reed pipes. Easy to carry and essential to traditional Andean music, the zampoña has always accompanied the shepherds in the silence of their solitude. - 1969

This aymara girl, with the traditional hat, lives on the Bolivian Altiplano at 4000 m of altitude

A perplexed Aymara girl stands on the edge of the Titicaca lake. Is she thinking maybe about the hardships of life that await her?

A young Bolivian is doing his homework on the steps of the sanctuary of Tiahuanaco.- Bolivia

Dominga, an Aymara woman from the altiplano, cooking in the traditional fashion on a fire fuelled by dry lama dung, which she fans with a blowpipe. Her child accompanies her at all times (Chuquibambilla, Department of Puno, Peru).

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Sur l'altiplano, balayé par un vent glacial et violent, l'agriculture n'est pas possible. Les indigènes se consacrent à l'élevage. D'immenses troupeaux d'alpacas paissent dans ces étendues sans limite où l'eau gèle même au milieu de la journée. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
L'un des abris sous roche de Pizacoma (département de Puno) est orné de peintures qui représentent une scène de chasse à la vigogne et qui auraient une antiquité d'environ 10’000 ans.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Entre les scènes peintes des abris sous roche de Pizacoma figurent des signes géométriques dont la signification exacte nous échappe.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Les Indiens de la Cordillère vouent un culte permanent à la Pacha Mama, qui est à la fois déesse de la terre et de la fécondité. Ce respect se traduit par des prières qu'ils adressent à celle dont dépend leur existence. - Puno - Hacienda San Juan de Chuquibambilla - 04h00 - 22 ° C en dessous de zéro. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Le lama joue un grand rôle dans la vie économique des populations de la Cordillère des Andes. Sa laine est utilisée à la confection d'étoffes. Avec ses os et ses tendons les indigènes fabriquent toute une gamme d'instruments d'utilisation courante. Sa viande, séchée, est consommée avec des pommes de terre et du maïs. C'est le charki déjà à la mode durant l'époque précolombienne. - Près de Taraco, province de Huancané, Puno - Région du lac Titicaca. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Au centre du lac Titicaca se trouvent des îles flottantes artificielles sur lesquelles vivent des indigènes appelés Urus. Ce sont des métis qui parlent l'aymara et qui se consacrent surtout à la pêche. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Depuis l'arrivée des Occidentaux sur sol américain, les Indiens ont appris à élever les chèvres et les moutons qu'ils font paître sur les grands pâturages de l'altiplano. - Près du lac Titicaca entre Taraco et Huancané. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Le lac Titicaca est une véritable mer continentale. Les animaux domestiques n'hésitent pas à entrer dans l'eau pour se nourrir des plantes aquatiques qui sont très riches en protéines. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Les Indiens qui vivent sur les rives du lac Titicaca utilisent un bateau en jonc, la balsa, qu'ils confectionnent eux-mêmes et qui leur permet de circuler aisément sur les eaux. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Le marché aux bestiaux de Huancané, près du lac Titicaca, attire chaque dimanche des milliers de paysans de la montagne venus des quatre points cardinaux. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
La chaquitaclla ou bèche incaique est encore en usage de nos jours parmi les populations de l'altiplano. - Hacienda San Juan de Chuquibambilla, Puno. - 1969

An Aymara Indian plays the zampoña or panpipe, which is made up of a certain number of reed pieces of different lengths. - Hacienda San Juan de Chuquibambilla, Puno - 1969

The quena is still the favourite instrument of the shepherds on the Altiplano. - Hacienda San Juan de Chuquibambilla, Puno - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
A 100 kilomètres à vol d'oiseau du Pacifique et ici, à 5500 mètres d'altitude, au bord du rio Pasto Grande, l'altiplano - le haut plateau - est néanmoins la région la plus peuplée aussi bien d'Indiens Aymaras que de troupeaux de lamas et d'alpacas. L'immense steppe glacée aux couleurs de vieil or patiné s'étend jusqu'au pied des glaciers bleuis, qui atteignent ou dépassent 6000 mètres.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Peintures rupestres de Mazo Cruz, à 4500 mètres (département de Puno, Pérou). Quel Champollion déchiffrera les fresques pariétales des cavernes sacrées de Kelkatani, la «pierre écrite» entre 7000 et 10.000 ans? Ces danses cynégétiques de chorégraphes archaïques, auréolés de plumes, furent peintes à l'ocre rouge sur un kran granitique large de 26 mètres et haut de 6, par le chaman d'une mystérieuse civilisation d'altitude.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Le monolithe Ponce, l'un des dieux pétrifiés «géants» et «pleureurs» de la «Mecque» bolivienne, mesure 3 mètres de hauteur. Il est entièrement gravé de glyphes géométriques indéchiffrables. Trois larmes carrées ruissellent de ses yeux d'où tombe, sur le côté, une «aile» à tête stylisée de poisson. Des anneaux entourent ses chevilles.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Très fréquentes sur les cimes de l'altiplano du Collao qui cerne le lac Titicaca, de bizarres chulipas monolithiques logeaient les chefs de haut rang momifiés, d'une mystérieuse race «d'avant que le soleil apparaisse». Haute de 12 mètres, la tour funéraire tronquée de Cutimbo, près de Puno, s'élargit d'une corniche supérieure. Elle est sculptée de pumas en relief à la base.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Quoi de plus pittoresque qu'une balsa de totora flottant sur le Titicaca? Depuis des millénaires, les Aymaras de la «Méditerranée» andine et céleste naviguent et pêchent à bord de ces gracieuses gondoles en roseau du lac sacré, qu'ils façonnent entièrement «à la main» et ficellent avec des cordelettes en paille d'ichu.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Auprès des terres ingrates cultivées au sud du lac Titicaca, de calmes hameaux indiens interrompent la monotonie de l'immense altiplano, «toit» des Andes et «pays de chimère».

This India from San Juan de Chuquibambilla smiles from under her montera, the headdress with the pleated scarf. She only wears her beautiful traditional dress, whose embroidery she is proud of, on very special highland festivals.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Sur l'altiplano de Puno, les hommes labourent encore avec la takila, bêche inca en bois dur que l'on enfonce d'un coup de pied, tandis que la femme, qui porte le dernier-né sur son dos, retourne les mottes de terre.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
En ce jour de fête champêtre sur le haut plateau de Puno, des Ilameros exécutent la très ancienne «danse du Lama», le solennel et dédaigneux camélidé exclusif des Andes, devant la toute simple église de San Juan de Chuquibambilla.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Chaque année, à partir du 21 juin, qui marque, dans la sierra, le solstice d'hiver, les fêtes solennelles de I'Inti Raymi, «Pâques du Soleil» des Incas, sont reconstituées au Cuzco. Le soir venu, Indiens et Indiennes, en tenue de gala, se livrent entre eux aux danses populaires qui sont plus un rite qu'une distraction.

In the vast and infinite silence of the Altiplano, the Aymara have been playing their zampoña since time immemorial ... whose wistful and strange sounds are carried away by the mountain winds.

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
C'est par une musique aussi tonitruante que discordante que la banda, l'orchestre en ponchos bariolés, inaugure aux quatre vents le nouveau terrain de football!

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
La fort étrange «consultation» d'un moderne «prêtre des esprits», a lieu à 4 heures du matin, par un froid de 17°C sous zéro, sur le haut plateau péruvien. Des feuilles vertes de coca, fèves et graines, fleurs séchées, papiers de couleur... disposés sur un autel improvisé, sont offerts à la Pachamama, déesse de la Terre-Mère et de la fécondité avant d'être brûlés au-dehors.

What could be more picturesque than a reed raft floating on Titicaca? For millennia, the Aymara people of the paradisiacal "Mediterranean" of the Andes have been fishing in their elegant reed boats in the sacred lake. The boats are made “by hand” by bundling the reeds with ichu strings. - 1969

A woman of the "Uros" who lives on the floating islands on Lake Titicaca. She still grinds the wheat as it did hundreds of years ago. - 1969

The village of Juli on the southwest bank of Lake Titicaca was a religious center during the colonial period. This is reminiscent of a number of churches, the rich interior of which testifies to the past glory. Here the Santa Cruz church, on whose esplanade the students play a game of Fulbito. - 1969

The village of Juli on the southwest bank of Lake Titicaca was a religious center during the colonial period. This is reminiscent of a number of churches, the rich interior of which testifies to the past glory. Here is an imposing portal in front of the Santa Cruz Church, over whose esplanade two boys lead their pigs. - 1969

Entrance to the Church of l’Asunción in the village of Juli on the southwest bank of Lake Titicaca, which was a religious center during the colonial period. - 1969

The front side with the portal of the colonial church of San Pedro of Zepita on Lake Titicaca. - 1976

Very often, on the heights of the Collao Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, one finds those strange monolithic chullpas, mummy graves of high leaders and members of a mysterious race that existed "before the sun rose". In Sillustani, on the Umayo peninsula on the lake of the same name, there are twelve tomb towers, some of which have collapsed. - 1976

Very often, on the heights of the Collao Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, one finds those strange monolithic chullpas, mummy graves of high leaders and members of a mysterious race that existed "before the sun rose". In Sillustani, on the Umayo peninsula on the lake of the same name, there are twelve tomb towers, some of which have collapsed. - 1969

Very often, on the heights of the Collao Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, one finds those strange monolithic chullpas, mummy graves of high leaders and members of a mysterious race that existed "before the sun rose". In Sillustani, on the Umayo peninsula on the lake of the same name, there are twelve tomb towers, some of which have collapsed. This tower has the relief of a lizard. - 1969

Detail of the wall of a square Chullpa of Cotimbo near Puno on Lake Titicaca. - 1969

The square shape of a Chullpa is very rare - Cotimbo near Puno on Lake Titicaca - 1969

Very often, on the heights of the Collao Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, one finds those strange monolithic chullpas, mummy graves of high-ranking leaders and members of a mysterious race that existed "before the sun rose". The blunt, 12 m high burial tower of Cutimbo, near Puno, has a relief with pumas at its base.

This puma head is part of a well in Juli - Puno - 1976

Vicuñas grazing at 4,200 metres above sea level. Alongside the guanaco, the vicuña is the second and smaller wild species of the genus Lama. Its range is now restricted to the Andean highlands between 4,000 and 5,500 metres in altitude, where it grazes on barely visible low-growing vegetation. In adaptation to this diet, it is the only ungulate to have constantly regrowing lower incisors. Because of its wool, which is considered the finest and most precious in the world, it was almost wiped out during the colonial era. Bolívar had already enacted protective laws for this reason, similar to those that had existed under the Incas, who herded the animals into pens for shearing and then released them again. - Book: Picture 94 - Peru - 1976

Photo taken in the Peruvian Altiplano in winter. A herd of llamas near Pampamarca on the road from Abancay to Puquio. Ayacucho Department. - Book: Picture 92 - Peru - 1976

An indigenous man in the Altiplano of Peru plays the zampoña with a dreamy expression; its sounds (perhaps a ‘Yaraví’ or a ‘Triste’?) seem to capture all the melancholy of the vast expanse and solitude. - Book: Picture 6 - Peru - 1976

Nothing illustrates the economic and social diversity better than farming methods. Whilst tractors are used in some areas, the indigenous people on their small farms still work the fields in a way that has not changed since the time of the Incas. - This image shows the breaking up of the soil with the taclla, an agricultural tool originating in the Peruvian Andes. It is essentially a long-handled spade that the Incas have used since ancient times. Its shape allows it to be pushed with the foot into hard ground. - Book: Picture 90 - Peru - 1976

A woman and a child are riding on a horse across the vast, snow-covered plain near Chuquibambilla in the Peruvian department of Puno. The region is situated on the barren Andean plateau (the Altiplano) at an altitude of well over 3,900 metres. The photograph vividly illustrates the extreme weather conditions in the Peruvian highlands, where cold snaps and sudden snowfall in winter have a profound impact on the lives of the local herding communities. – 1976

The church of San Juan de Chuquibambilla near Ayaviri, in the department of Puno, at an altitude of approximately 3,900 metres. - Book: Picture 95 - Peru - 1976

In the Altiplano, near Chuquibambilla in the province of Melgar, close to Puno, at an altitude of almost 4,000 metres, winter nights can become bitterly cold when cold spells set in. Along the Río Santa Rosa, the Altiplano reveals its particular harshness and beauty. Amongst the ice-covered grasses, cows move slowly across the pasture, whilst the river winds its way through the cold landscape. In the morning, frost still lies on the ground. Only when the sun appears and climbs higher does the icy stillness gradually melt away. – 1976

Photo taken in the Peruvian Altiplano in winter. An indigenous woman with a child in the Department of Puno. She is collecting dried llama or cow dung to use as fuel. - Book: Picture 93 - Peru - 1976

An indigenous woman cooking with her child on her back. She uses dried llama or cow dung as fuel and stokes the embers with a blowpipe. Puno Department, Peru. - Book: Picture 117 - Peru - 1976

A view of Lake Titicaca, the highest commercially navigable lake on Earth, situated at an altitude of 3,812 metres. Behind a traditional dry-stone wall in the foreground, traditional Andean farming with small plots of land can be seen along the shore. In the background, the Cordillera Real can only be glimpsed behind the low-hanging clouds. – Puno – Peru – 1972

The photograph shows a rural dwelling and farmland on the shores of Lake Titicaca in the Peruvian Altiplano. Small, simple stone houses with thatched roofs and fenced-in courtyards characterise the barren landscape. – Juli region – Peru – 1969

An indigenous couple return with their llamas from the market in Sicuani in the department of Cuzco. - Book: Picture 103 - Peru - 1973

Lake Titicaca, situated at an altitude of 3,812 metres and straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia, is fifteen times the size of Lake Constance. It fills a tectonically formed highland depression, is divided into several sub-basins by peninsulas and dotted with islands (Amantani, Moon Island, Sun Island, etc.). Two species of rush thrive on its shores, from which the indigenous people build their boats as well as floating dwellings. - Book: Picture 3 - Peru - 1969

What could be more picturesque than a reed raft floating on Titicaca? For millennia, the Aymara people of the paradisiacal "Mediterranean" of the Andes have been fishing in their elegant reed boats in the sacred lake. The boats are made “by hand” by bundling the reeds with ichu strings. - 1969

On Lake Titicaca, near Puno, the Uros people live on artificial, floating islands made of dried totora reeds, which have to be renewed regularly. Both the huts and the traditional reed boats (balsas) are made entirely from the totora reeds that grow in the lake. – Peru – 1969

An indigenous woman in a reed boat on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. As the lake is only a few metres deep over large areas, the indigenous people use a long pole for poling as well as the reed sail. The striking resemblance of these reed boats to depictions of papyrus boats in ancient Egyptian tombs, together with certain parallels between Mesoamerican cultures (for example, the Maya pyramids) and the culture of the Nile Valley, has given rise to the most daring hypotheses. Thus, a few years ago, Thor Heyerdahl attempted to cross the Atlantic in a papyrus boat. However, this does not disprove the assumption that similar environmental conditions and the inherent properties of the available materials must lead to analogous solutions. - Book: Picture 145 - Peru - 1969

Traditional reed boats (made from totora reeds) of the indigenous Uros people on Lake Titicaca. The reeds, which grow in abundance on the lake’s shores, have served as their main building material for centuries, used to construct islands, houses and boats. – Puno – Peru – 1976

A woman of the "Uros" who lives on the floating islands on Lake Titicaca. She still grinds the wheat as it did hundreds of years ago. - 1969

A portal in the village of Juli on the south-western shore of Lake Titicaca, which was a religious centre during the colonial period. This is commemorated by a whole series of churches, whose rich interior decoration bears witness to their former splendour. - Book: Picture 132 - Peru - 1976

The photograph shows the richly carved stone gateway of the historically significant Casa de la Inquisición (also known as the Casa de Cuentas) on the Plaza de Armas in the town of Juli in the Puno region. The portal, in the colonial Andean style, is characterised by finely crafted reliefs, columns and an 18th-century coat of arms. Juli lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca and is renowned for its significant colonial-era religious and secular architecture. – Book: Image 132 – Peru – 1976

Very often, on the heights of the Collao Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, one finds those strange monolithic chullpas, mummy graves of high leaders and members of a mysterious race that existed "before the sun rose". In Sillustani, on the Umayo peninsula on the lake of the same name, there are twelve tomb towers, some of which have collapsed. - 1976

The Altiplano between the ruins of Tiahuanaco and La Paz, with the Cordillera Real and the 6,500-metre-high Huayana Potosí in the background. The indigenous woman in the foreground is tending sheep and pigs. - Book: Picture 0 - Bolivia - 1976

With an elevation ranging from 3,630 to 3,770 meters, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. It lies in a basin on the edge of the Altiplano, which shields the city from the high-altitude winds; the more affluent neighborhoods are therefore located as low as possible in the valley. Originally an Aymara settlement, the town was expanded by the Incas and conquered by the Spanish in 1535. With 800,000 residents, La Paz is home to about 14 percent of the country’s population, and 60 percent of Bolivia’s industrial production is concentrated in the greater La Paz area. - Book: Picture 149 - Bolivia - 1976

The Cañón de Palca, about 25 kilometres south-east of La Paz. The photograph shows the striking view of the huge, eroded clay and sandstone walls that open up at the end of the gorge towards the small mountain village of Palca. They are made up of mud, clay and gravel left behind by prehistoric glaciers and shaped by the wind. – Bolivia – 1976

In the Bolivian Altiplano, between the towns of Toledo and Corque in the department of Oruro, there are numerous shallow, salt-rich waterholes scattered across this barren high-altitude desert landscape. They lie at an altitude of around 3,700 metres on the western side of the Lake Poopó basin, where shallow salt lakes and lagoons form periodically during the rainy season. This is an ideal habitat for the endangered Andean flamingos (Phoenicoparrus andinus) and James’s flamingos (Phoenicoparrus jamesi). – Bolivia – 1976

On the way from La Paz to the Takesi Inca Trail, you pass this historic cemetery chapel with its distinctive, slightly leaning adobe bell tower and the small, chapel-like burial structures in front of it. – Bolivia – 1976

A gravel track leads to the Salar de Empexa, a lesser-known yet fascinating salt lake (salar) in the South American Altiplano, situated in south-western Bolivia (Potosí Department) near the border with Chile. It lies to the west of the world-famous Salar de Uyuni and is a prime example of the unspoilt, rugged high-altitude desert landscape of the Andes. – Bolivia – 1976

Workers engaged in traditional salt extraction on the bright salt crust of the Salar de Coipasa. They break off and stack blocks of salt from the crust using simple tools such as poles and shovels. Historically, these blocks were used as a durable building material for the famous salt hotels and other accommodation, as well as salt licks for livestock (llamas and alpacas). The people are wearing warm, protective clothing and hats, as the climate at these high altitudes is windy and cool. – Bolivia – 1976

The two large salt pans of the Bolivian Altiplano, the Salares of Coipasa (picture) and Uyuni, are the remnants of a vast Ice Age freshwater lake, Lago Minchin. Due to low rainfall, the absence of tributaries and the extreme dryness of the air, the former freshwater lakes have evaporated into shallow lagoons and salt pans, their shores lined with deposits of common salt. Cut into blocks, the snow-white salt – considered to be of exceptional purity – is transported by lorry to the areas where it is consumed. - Book: Picture 158 - Bolivia - 1976

Traditional salt mining in the Salar de Coipasa in the Bolivian Andean highlands. Workers use simple tools such as axes or poles to chisel solid blocks of salt from the crust. The scene is set against the glistening white salt crust, with a mountainous backdrop in the Altiplano at an altitude of around 3,600 to 3,800 metres. – Bolivia – 1976

The two large salt flats of the Bolivian Altiplano, the Salares of Coipasa (pictured) and Uyuni, are the remnants of a vast Ice Age freshwater lake, Lago Minchin. Due to low rainfall, the absence of tributaries and the extreme dryness of the air, the former freshwater lakes have evaporated into shallow lagoons and salt flats, their shores lined with deposits of common salt. Cut into blocks, the snow-white salt – considered to be of exceptional purity – is transported by lorry to the areas where it is used. - Book: Picture 159 - Chile - 1976

Laguna Lejía lies at an extreme altitude of around 4,350 metres in the Puna de Atacama. You can see flamingos foraging in the lake. In the background are several volcanoes, including the Chiliques (5,778 m). It is an important mountain sanctuary for the local population, featuring a series of prehistoric ritual and logistical sites, some of which are estimated to be over a thousand years old. At its summit lies a 15th-century Inca ritual site. – Chile – 1975

Photo Gallery