Ten corpses inside a chullpa (South American mausoleum), circa 1860. A chullpa is an ancient Aymara funerary tower originally constructed for a noble person or noble family. Chullpas are found across the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia. In virtually all cases, the only opening to the tomb faces the rising sun in the east. The construction of the chullpa varied with ethnic group: in general, those of the north Altiplano are circular and constructed with stone, while those of the south are rectangular and constructed with adobe. The Aymara or Aimara people are an indigenous nation in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America. Their ancestors lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca in the late 15th or early 16th century, and later of the Spanish.