Bolivian Food History

Historical period

Andean domestication of potato, quinoa and camelids; TIWANAKU on the Lake Titicaca basin from roughly AD 500 to 1000, with raised-field suka kollus agriculture that produced large surpluses on frost-prone ground; Inca incorporation as Qullasuyu; Spanish conquest and the Potosí silver economy with its mita labour draft; the colonial introduction of wheat, cattle, sheep and vines; independence in 1825; the loss of the Pacific coast to Chile in 1879-83, which made Bolivia landlocked and is still a live grievance affecting trade; the Chaco War with Paraguay; twentieth-century agrarian reform; and the recognition of 36 Indigenous nations in the 2009 constitution.