The Uros people of Peru created a society on Lake Titicaca using dried totora reeds to make about 50 islands, complete with huts, furniture, and canoes. They lived on the islands for security and domesticated wild animals for food.
About 500 years ago, the indigenous Uros (Uru) people of southeastern Peru abandoned life on land and created a unique society on Lake Titicaca, using dried totora reeds to create some 50 islands, complete with huts, furniture, canoes , a watchtower, and even tourist shops, all made from the sturdy reeds. Back then, the Uros were under constant attack from Inca tribes and thought that living by the lake would provide more security.
A society built on reeds:
The islands are 4 to 8 feet (1.2 to 2.4 m) thick, but the top layer can become soft and spongy. As the reeds disintegrate from the bottom of the islands, the residents must add more reeds to the surface.
The large islands are home to about 10 families. Smaller islands, some only 100m wide, are home to just two or three families. They are anchored with ropes attached to sticks driven into the seabed.
The Uros domesticated wild animals to help them produce food. Cormorants are kept tethered so they can catch fish for humans, and ibises are used for eggs and slaughtered for meat.
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