Encyclopedia of the Incas

mainly for ayllu chiefs (curacas) and Inca royalty; common folk simply
considered themselves members of an extended kin group originating with a
distant founder. In any case, whether reckoned by affiliation or literal descent,
ancestors played an active role in the life of the ayllus.
Founding ancestors were said to have emerged from underground or, less
frequently, to have fallen from the sky. Origin narratives collected by early
Spanish chroniclers tell us that the first human beings journeyed north from Lake
Titicaca via underground waterways. Some emerged into daylight from springs,
while others came forth from lakes, caves, hilltops, and even the roots of trees.
Wherever they emerged, they founded ayllus. The places of emergence were
venerated as pacarinas (dawning places); ayllu mummies were often interred
there as well, thus returning in death to their kindred’s place of origin (see
Myths, Origin).
Ayllu origin narratives typically end with founding ancestors turning to stone.
According to the chronicler Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, the ancestors of the
Inca kings, five brothers and five sisters, emerged from a cave in Pacariqtambo
and set out in search of a place to settle. Eventually they crossed a hill called
Huanacauri overlooking the Cuzco valley, site of their future city. On that hilltop
one of the brothers, Ayar Uchu, turned to stone and became a very powerful and
sacred huaca (shrine). On reaching the site itself, another brother, Ayar Auca,
turned into a huanca (large boulder indicating possession of an agricultural
locale). The senior brother, Ayar Manco, became the first paramount ruler
(Manco Capac); after death his body became a rock and was venerated as the
oldest of the royal mummies.
Rural ayllus also had their ancestral huacas and huancas. The Huarochirí
Manuscript (see Avila, Francisco de) tells how primordial lovers, Anchi Cara
from Allauca and Huallama from Surco, turned to stone while making love in a
mountain spring that gave rise to their respective irrigation systems. They were
worshipped during canal-cleaning festivals with panpipe music and offerings of
coca leaves. In the central highlands many ayllus were composed of two groups
consisting of original inhabitants called huari and newcomers called llacuaz.
The agriculturally oriented huaris directed their veneration mainly at immovable
huancas, while the pastoral llacuazes were more focused on portable ancestral
stones that accompanied them when they entered the territory.
Far from being inert chunks of matter, ancestral stones powerfully condensed
the life force of ayllu founders and ensured their permanence. To generalize,
Andeans did not think in terms of Western body/soul dualism; all matter had the