36
T
he religion of the Andean
highlands can be said to
be, in essence, a cult of the
dead. This tradition of reverence
for the ancestors stretches back to
long before the short-lived empire
of the Incas—the culture for which
the region is best known—and
has lasted to the present day.
Just one of many Quechua-
speaking Andean peoples, the
Incas rose to dominate much of
modern-day Peru, Ecuador, and
Chile, and parts of Bolivia and
Argentina in the 13th century. As
they extended their empire, they
imposed a culture that in manyways resembled that of the Aztecs
of Mesoamerica (pp.40–45), who
were their contemporaries. It
revolved around worship of their
own supreme deity, the sun god.
However, beyond the Inca
capital of Cuzco, with its priests,
rituals, and golden artifacts, the
common people, whom the Incas
called the Hatun Runa, persisted
with a cult of ancestor worship
and earth worship that dated back
to prehistoric times. This survived
the mighty Inca Empire when, in
the 16th century, it was utterly
destroyed by Spanish conquistadors
led by Francisco Pizarro.IN CONTEXT
KEY BELIEVERS
Quechua IndiansWHEN AND WHERE
From prehistory, central
Andes, South AmericaAFTER
From 6000 BCE Ayl lu,
or extended communities,
develop in the Andes.3800 BCE Corpses are
mummified and revered
as sacred objects.c.1200 CE The Inca Empire
is established.1438 The Inca Empire expands
across the central Andes,
reaching its peak in 1532.1534 The Empire collapses
after the Spanish Conquest.21st century Catholicism
has been institutionalized
across this region since the
colonial era; however, most
present-day Quechua blend
elements of Christianity with
their traditional beliefs.We inherited the land
from our ancestors.The spirits of the
ancestors are enshrined
in the land.If we do this, the land
will feed us and the
ancestors will guide us.Both the ancestors and
the land must be fed
with blood and fat.OUR ANCESTORS
WILL GUIDE US
THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD LIVE ON