Arthur Posnansky

Arthur Posnansky (1873–1946), often called "Arturo", was an Austrian engineer, explorer, ship’s navigator, entrepreneur, La Paz city council member, and amateur archaeologist.

He is well known for his books, including Tihuanacu, the Cradle of American Man, Campana de Acre, La Lancha "Iris", Die Osterinsel und ihre praehistorischen Monumente, and Razas y Monumentos Prehistóricos del Altiplano Andino.

After his father's death, Posnansky studied at the Imperial and Royal Academy of Pola (now Pula) for the position of Naval Military Engineer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

He used his expertise to become the director of a river navigation company, which was called La Empresa de Navegacao dos rios Purus e Acre.

After finding that any substantial reward was unattainable because of the bankrupt state of the Bolivian treasury, he devoted his talents towards building private businesses involved in mining and international trade.

[1] After settling in Bolivia, Posnansky repeatedly traveled the Bolivian and Peruvian highlands in efforts to locate, describe, and study Inca and pre-Inca archaeological sites.

[1] During the 1940s, Posnansky studied the site of Tiwanaku (Spanish: Tiahuanaco or Tiahuanacu), suggesting that the city was built during the ice age, before the great flood.

Posnansky's ideas about Tiwanaku having been a full-fledged city with a large permanent population, rather than only a seasonally occupied ceremonial center, and its abandonment having been the result of prehistoric climatic change are widely accepted in principle.

This book and his personal efforts also contributed significantly to the eventual preservation of the site at a time when it was being very badly damaged by neglect, stone-quarrying, and looting.