features (including special stones, hills, lakes, etc.), heavenly
bodies, atmospheric phenomena, mummies, amulets, idols,
and even the Inca (i.e., the ruler) himself in his capacity as
a living god.
The popular form of communication with huaca (i.e.
the entire supernatural world) was effected through the
muchay (“worship, reverence”). Muchay was performed by
removing one’s sandals, gesticulating, throwing kisses, mur-
muring supplications, bowing one’s shoulders in humility,
puffing out one’s cheeks to blow in the direction of the ob-
ject worshiped, and so on. Other forms of contact with su-
pernatural beings were made through oracles, whose tradi-
tions go back to early forms of Andean cultures, such as the
Chavín. Oracles were represented in the form of idols located
in sanctuaries such as the famous one of Pachacámac, near
Lima; these oracles rendered predictions about important fu-
ture events to shamans and priests.
To make an offering was an act of paying tribute. Offer-
ings were made voluntarily, but they were also collected in
the form of compulsory tribute, the administration of which
was centralized in temples. A widespread, popular offering
was mullo, a powder made of ground seashells, which by as-
sociation was linked to fertility through water; another was
coca (Erythroxylon coca) in the form of a masticated wad.
Stone cairns in the high passes were places of worship; wads
of coca would be thrown in a ritual act called Togana. The
mummified dead were offered special jars containing grains,
fruits, and liquids. Guinea pigs and llamas served as impor-
tant sacrificial offerings.
Among sacrifices, that of young boys and girls was the
most important; sometimes human sacrifice was performed
by walling up a living female person. It appears that among
the Inca the sacrifice of boys and girls was received as a form
of tribute, called the capaccocha, from the provinces. The per-
son who was to serve as the capaccocha was delivered to the
capital city of Cuzco in great pomp; after his death, his re-
mains were returned to his homeland and mummified; the
mummy acquired votive rank and was the object of supplica-
tions for health and agricultural welfare. Necropompa
(Span., “death rite”) was a special type of human sacrifice
that consisted of immolations (voluntary or not) that were
performed on the occasion of the death of an illustrious per-
son (Araníbar, 1961). Decapitation of human sacrificial vic-
tims had been performed since ancient times: The Sechín
stone sculpture of northern Peru depicting this practice is
over three thousand years old. Head shrinking was rare and
there is no evidence of cannibalism in the Andean region.
(Though in the myths there are a number of supernatural be-
ings, such as Carhuincho, Carhuallo, and Achké, who are an-
thropophagous.) Human sacrifice, performed to achieve
greater agricultural fertility, drew its rationale from the prin-
ciple that the Andeans believed governed nature: Death en-
genders life.
The dead, mummified and revered, were expected to
implore the supernatural powers for sustenance, soil fertility,
abundant water, and the multiplication of domestic animals.
Often bodies were buried in the cultivated fields in order to
enrich them. As has recently been reported from Ayacucho,
Peru, this practice survives in secret, isolated cases even to
the present day: A mentally ill person is selected, intoxicated
with liquor, thrown into a pit, and buried alive. Such
“strengthening” rites were, according to sixteenth-century
chroniclers, also practiced in laying the foundations of hous-
es and bridges, and traces of these rites also have been recent-
ly reported from the central Andes.
Funeral rites included expressions of grief such as loud
sobbing intermingled with chants in praise of the deceased;
a practice that also survives in isolated areas of the Andes.
The dead were mummified and taken to their tombs on
stretchers. Peoples of the arid coast practiced earth burial,
but in the highlands mummies were placed—singly or in
groups—in pucullos, or chullupas (mausoleums that were
built on almost inaccessible outcrops of rock). Individual or
collective tombs were also hollowed out of extremely steep
mountainsides. With few exceptions (e.g., among the
Moche), bodies were buried in seated positions. Frequently
the hands held the head, perhaps to simulate the fetal posi-
tion. These “living” corpses were surrounded with food and
drink, weapons, and other belongings meant to serve as pro-
visions in the hereafter; some were buried with their mouths
open, both to express the terror of sacrifice and to voice sup-
plications to the gods for success in agriculture.
Religious festivals were celebrated continuously in the
great plazas of Cuzco and at temples such as the Coricancha,
the temple of the sun. Festivals dedicated to specific themes,
especially in the context of food production, were held
monthly with great pomp; the sovereign Inca presided, and
guests were invited at his expense. Great quantities of chicha
(maize beer) were consumed, drunk from ceremonial wood-
en vessels (queros).
Andeans have made pilgrimages since the remote times
of Chavín, and one of the favorite huacas, or shrines, was the
sanctuary of Pachacámac. “Natural” shrines such as those on
the peaks of high mountains were also popular with pilgrims.
The Collur Riti festival, a celebration that coincides with the
Feast of Corpus Christi, follows ancient rites in which to this
day people climb to heights of almost five thousand meters.
Some of the pilgrims dress as “bear men,” imitating the ges-
tures of animals and speaking in animal-like voices; they act
as intermediaries between other pilgrims and supernatural
beings. Originally, the Collur Riti was dedicated to water,
and even today pilgrims return to their homes with pieces
of ice carved from the mountain glaciers, symbolizing the fer-
tility imparted by water. In the past, pilgrims fasted for vari-
able periods of time, abstaining from maize beer, ají (Capsi-
cum anuum), and sexual intercourse.
MEDICINE AND MAGIC. Shamans use maracas in their heal-
ing rites, a practice carried on into the present by Andean
curanderos (Span., “healers”). The curanderos also use halluci-
nogenic substances to cause them to enter the trance state.SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS: INDIANS OF THE ANDES IN THE PRE-INCA PERIOD 8603