Ponce Monolith

The Ponce Monolith, also known as the Ponce Stela, is a monumental stone sculpture from the pre-Columbian Tiwanaku civilization. It is located in the Kalasasaya area of the ruins of Tiwanaku in Bolivia. The statue holds a qiru in their left hand and a snuff tray in their right.^[1]

Ponce Monolith
Material	Andesite
Discovered	1957
Discovered by	Carlos Ponce Sanginés
Culture	Tiwanaku

The monolith was discovered by Spaniards, who carved a cross on the shoulder of the monument and left it buried. It was named after Bolivian archaeologist Carlos Ponce Sanginés, who headed the archaeology team that exhumed it in 1957.^[2] It is the second largest monolith discovered in that area, after the Bennett Monolith.

In 2019, a series of new banknotes was introduced into circulation in Bolivia. On the reverse of the 200 boliviano note is the site of Kalasasaya with a view of the Ponce Monolith. The stela also appeared on a 1960 postage stamp.

New banknote of Plurinational State of Bolivia in 2019