Human bodies as objects of dedication at Inca mountain shrines (northwestern Argentina)

CERUTI, MARIA CONSTANZA

World Archaeology

Routledge

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2004 vol. 36 p. 103 - 122

The Incas climbed many of the highest peaks of the Andes to deposit sumptuary offerings on their summits, establishing places of worship above 6000 meters that would only be reached again five centuries later. The offerings were dedicated to state deities and local mountain gods at the high altitude shrines and involved a broad range of objects, ranging from gold and silver figurines, shell necklaces and high quality textiles to pottery and food items.  Human sacrifices were also performed on some of the more important peaks. Although Spanish chroniclers wrote about these offerings and the capacocha ceremonies during which they were consecrated, their accounts were based on second-hand sources, and the only direct evidence of them comes from archaeological excavations. The most thoroughly documented of these cult assemblages were recovered on high mountain summits in Peru and Argentina, where the material evidence was exceptionally well preserved.  In this study we will refer to the offering assemblages from mountaintop sites in northwest and central Argentina. By comparing the archaeological evidence with the chroniclers' accounts, interpretations will be presented regarding the social use, political purpose, and symbolic meaning attributed to the objects of dedication that moved the Incas to defy the Andean mountains in search of power and eternity.