[citation needed] Many of the chullpas at Sillustani show pre-Inca characteristics that were later redressed with Inca stone blocks.

Similar chullpas are found throughout the entire south Central Andes with the above ground burial styles going back at least to the mature Tiwanaku period (c.

[3] The insides of the tombs were built to hold entire groups of people, most likely extended families of the Aymara elite.

Corpses were not intentionally mummified, but in the dry environment created by the closed tomb, they survived for centuries.

The only openings to the buildings face east, where it was believed the Sun was reborn by Mother Earth each day.