known to us as the Pleiades a “storehouse” (collca), “pile” (qotu), or a sign of
“sickness” (onqoy). This star group was observed closely for making agricultural
prognostications. The V-shaped group of stars we call the Hyades was also
referred to as “storehouse.” Both the Southern Cross and the Belt of Orion were
identified as bridges, or upright stakes (chacana). As bridges, these two star
groupings were considered to span the Milky Way, which was known as mayu
(river).
In addition to the star constellations noted above, the Incas also recognized
what have been referred to as yana phuyu (dark clouds). These are dark spots
and streaks composed of clouds of interstellar dust that cut through the bright
line of the Milky Way, or Galaxy—that is, the “river” in Inca astronomy. As for
the dark cloud constellations, one zigzag, or wavy streak was known as
mach’acuay (snake); close by was a small dark spot called hanp’atu (toad); and
near that was another dark spot, at the foot of the Southern Cross, called yuthu
(partridge, or tinamou). A large series of dark streaks west of the yuthu was
identified as a llama with its suckling baby stretched out beneath it. The mother
llama has a long neck with its eyes in its neck (there is no head). The eyes—
Alpha and Beta Centauri—were known as llamacñawin (eyes of the llama).
These stars and constellations were observed by astronomers, described in
myths recorded during the Colonial era, and were passed down through
subsequent generations where many are still recognized by people throughout
the Andes today.
Further Reading
Bauer, B. S., and D. S. P. Dearborn. Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes: The Cultural Origins of
Inca Sky Watching. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.
Salomon, F., and J. Urioste. The Huarochirí Manuscript: A Testament of Ancient and Colonial Andean
Religion. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.
Urton, G. At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky: An Andean Cosmology. Latin American Monographs,
no. 55. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.
———. “Astronomy and Calendrics on the Coast of Peru.” In Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in
the American Tropics, edited by A. F. Aveni and G. Urton, vol. 385, 231–48. New York: Annals of the
New York Academy of Sciences, 1982.
Zuidema, R. T. “Catachillay: The Role of the Pleiades and of the Southern Cross and α and β Centauri in
the Calendar of the Incas.” In Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the American Tropics, edited by
A. F. Aveni and G. Urton, vol. 385. New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1982.
———. “The Sidereal Lunar Calendar of the Incas.” In Archaeoastronomy in the New World, edited by A.
F. Aveni. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Zuidema, R. T., and G. Urton. “La constelación de la llama en los Andes peruanos.” Allpanchis Phuturinqa
9: 59–120, 1976.
■GARY URTON