# Vranich 2018: Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the potential and promise of 3D printing

> Alexei Vranich, 2018. 9 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Cited for the state of the ruin, the block count and the reconstruction.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D69Y8RC0P1P/reconstructing-ancient-architecture-at-tiwanaku-bolivia-the  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Puma Punku and Tiwanaku](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku)Vranich 2018

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# Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the potential and promise of 3D printing

Alexei Vranich, 2018. _Heritage Science_.

Uses a century and a half of measured drawings of the roughly 150 shattered blocks of Pumapunku's standing architecture, none in its original place, to print the pieces and refit them into a reconstruction of the building, which the sixteenth-century Spanish described as unfinished.

**Puma Punku and Tiwanaku** ArticleCopy of **[The 3D-printed reconstruction of the Puma Punku gateway building](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/artifacts/ART0D69YT3254S4/the-3d-printed-reconstruction-of-the-puma-punku-gateway)** doi: **[10.1186/s40494-018-0231-0](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0231-0)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

Cited for the state of the ruin, the block count and the reconstruction.

## Cited by on this site 9 records

[A complex of gateways, walls and lintels on the platform's east side, assembled from modular blocks, that…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/answers/ANS0D69YMFC04QX/a-complex-of-gateways-walls-and-lintels-on-the-platforms)

Answer

ANS

[The 3D-printed reconstruction of the Puma Punku gateway building](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/artifacts/ART0D69YT3254S4/the-3d-printed-reconstruction-of-the-puma-punku-gateway)

ART

[The 3D-printed reconstruction of the Puma Punku gateway building: photo](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/copies/CPY0D69YTAW0JAE/the-3d-printed-reconstruction-of-the-puma-punku-gateway)

CPY

[Measured drawings and 3D models of the Puma Punku andesite blocks](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0D69YRM66CT1/measured-drawings-and-3d-models-of-the-puma-punku-andesite)

Dataset

DAT

[3D-printed copies of the measured blocks refit into a coherent gateway building.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/evidence/EVD0D69YMQ623YQ/3d-printed-copies-of-the-measured-blocks-refit-into-a)

Evidence

EVD

[Spanish accounts describe an unfinished building; unfinished blocks remain on site.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/evidence/EVD0D69YNEM5K7P/spanish-accounts-describe-an-unfinished-building-unfinished)

Evidence

EVD

[Vranich publishes the 3D-printed reconstruction of Puma Punku](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/events/EVT0D69YFTY4TTX/vranich-publishes-the-3d-printed-reconstruction-of-puma)

EVT

[Puma Punku and Tiwanaku](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku)

The mystery article

MYS

[What did the andesite buildings on Puma Punku look like, and why were they left unfinished?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku/questions/QST0D69YGT66JKG/what-did-the-andesite-buildings-on-puma-punku-look-like-and)

Question

QST

## Cite it

```
Vranich, A. (2018). Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the potential and promise of 3D printing. Heritage Science. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0231-0
```

[Read it free at doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0231-0)

Key

**SRC** 0D69Y8RC0P1P

Kind

Journal article

Rights

CC-BY-4.0

Kept

27 Oct 2026

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D69Y8RC0P1P/reconstructing-ancient-architecture-at-tiwanaku-bolivia-the/csl.json)