Human Bodies as Objects of Dedication at Inca Mountain Shrines (North-Western Argentina)Author(s): Constanza CerutiSource: World Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 1, The Object of Dedication (Mar., 2004), pp. 103-122Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4128305Accessed: 15/11/2010 22:28

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Human bodies as objects of dedication

at Inca mountain shrines (north-western

Argentina)

Constanza Ceruti

Abstract

The Incas climbed many of the highest peaks of the Andes to deposit offerings on their summits. They established places of worship above 6000 metres that would be reached again only four centuries later. The offerings at the high-altitude shrines were dedicated to state deities and local mountain gods 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 shall discuss the offering assemblages from mountaintop sites in Argentina. By comparing the archaeological evidence with the chroniclers' accounts, interpretations will be presented regarding the social use, political purpose and symbolic meanings attributed to the objects of dedication, which moved the Incas to ascend the highest Andean mountains in search of power and eternity.

Keywords

Inca; human sacrifice; shrines; mountain tops; Argentina; Spanish chronicles; offerings.

Introduction

The Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) spread from its heartland in the Peruvian highlands, expanding its frontiers from northern Ecuador to central Chile. In less than 100 years it achieved the highest level of organization in the history of Andean civilization. Among the most unusual phenomena of the Inca culture was the construction of shrines on the summits of snow-capped peaks, which had never been climbed before and would never be climbed again until modern days. From the time of Inca expansion from the Cuzco region

R1 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

World Archaeology Vol. 36(1): 103-122 The Object of Dedication

? 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd ISSN 0043-8243 print/1470-1375 online DOI: 10.1080/0043824042000192632

104 Constanza Ceruti

around AD 1438 and the Spanish conquest in AD 1532, over 100 ceremonial centres and shrines were built on the summits of the highest mountains within the territories under Inca control.

The most important mountains in these territories were selected to be scenes for the ritual performance of human sacrifices and their burials, together with textile and ceramic

offerings in distinctive Inca style. The extraordinary preservation of the bodies and

organic materials in the cold, dry environment of the high-altitude shrines provides excellent bio-anthropological and artefactual evidence for the study of Inca offering assemblages. In addition, they are among the few pieces of material evidence of the Inca

religion that have survived the greed of the Spanish conquerors and destruction by the Catholic extirpators of idolatries.

In this paper we shall focus on the assemblages recovered from Volcano Llullaillaco

(6739m), Mount Quehuar (6130m), Mount El Toro (6160m) and Mount Piramide of the

Aconcagua massif, which represent the pool of bio-archaeological and artefactual evidence from Inca mountaintop shrines that has become available due to scientifically controlled excavations in Argentina (Fig. 1). An interpretation of the offering assem-

blages will be proposed in the light of the Spanish chroniclers' accounts about human sacrifice and Inca ceremonies. By comparing the archaeological evidence with the ethno- historical sources, we hope to contribute to the knowledge of the sacrificial and dedicatory practices of the Inca civilization.

Description of Inca mountaintop assemblages in Argentina

One of the earliest pieces of evidence about Inca human sacrifice on mountaintop shrines came from an episode of looting that took place as early as 1905, when the naturally mummified body of a child was extracted from the summit of Chafii, a 5896m peak located in northern Argentina. Associated items included two tunics, two belts, one comb, one bag covered in feathers and a pair of sandals (Millin de Palavecino 1966; Ceruti 2001a). Two

archaeological campaigns were conducted by the author on the Chafii massif during 1996 and 1997 (Ceruti 1997), and excavations were directed by Johan Reinhard and Constanza Ceruti that resulted in the location of the burial place of the Chafti infant and the recovery of fragmentary evidence of its funerary assemblage (Ceruti 2002).

In 1922, treasure hunters removed the desiccated body of a young female with a tunic, a

bag, one belt, three combs and a feather adornment on her head (Schobinger 1995). The

mummy was extracted from one of the summits of Mount Chuscha, over 5000m, in north-western Argentina. The burial site was successfully located during high-altitude surveys conducted by the author (Ceruti 2000). Interdisciplinary research on the Chuscha

mummy is presently being co-ordinated by Dr Juan Schobinger (personal communication).

Mount El Toro

In 1964 the frozen body of an adult male was found accidentally by mountain climbers inside a circle of stones adjacent to a rectangular structure above 6000m on Mount El Toro in western Argentina. Archaeologist Juan Schobinger rescued the mummy and

Human bodies as objects of dedication 105

AaChu

Cha

CHILE

*,I Noro

ARGENTINA

0 100 200 Um-

Figure 1 Map showing the distribution of the Inca sites on mountain summits in Argentina.

conducted studies, which revealed that the man had apparently been killed by strangula- tion. Wearing only a breechcloth (Plate 1), the victim had been buried with a set of objects including a mantle, two tunics, two caps, two pair of sandals, a sling, feathers and a rodent

(Schobinger 1966). A recent survey of the southern slopes and summit of El Toro did not reveal further traces of the prehispanic use of ritual space on the mountain (Ceruti 2003b).

Aconcagua (Mount Piramide)

In 1985 the frozen body of a 7-year-old boy was found by accident by mountain climbers inside a protecting stone structure at about 5300m on the slopes of Mount Piramide, a

subsidiary summit of the Aconcagua range, in western Argentina (Plate 2). The mummy and its associated offerings were rescued and studied by a team of scholars led by Juan

106 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 1 The mummy of Mount El Toro.

Schobinger, revealing that the child had been presumably killed by a blow to his head, although he also had ribs broken by compression during the process of bundling. He was dressed in two tunics, wearing sandals and a necklace of stones. The bundle contained several textile mantles, one mantle covered in feathers and a feathered headdress and woven belts, as well as five tunics, three breechcloths, a pair of sandals and two bags. Inside the burial, three male figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus shell were found

together with two llama figurines made of Spondylus shell and a silver figurine repre- senting a camelid (Schobinger 2001). Red pigment was identified on the skin, and in the vomit and faeces of the individual (Baircena 1989).

Human bodies as objects of dedication 107

Plate 2 The summit called Piramide on Mount Aconcagua.

Mount Quehuar

Mount Quehuar, a 6130m extinct volcano in the highlands of north-western Argentina, holds one of the most impressive Inca mountaintop shrines in the Andes. The summit

complex included an artificial, raised platform (ushnu), more than 6m long and 1.7m high, with a frontal ramp (Plate 3), as well as a circular structure with walls, more than 2.2m

high and 1.2m thick (Beorchia 1985; Ceruti 1998, 1999a). A small group of ruins was

surveyed at 5000m on the southern base of Quehuar, which could have possibly been used as a way station (tambo). Johan Reinhard, the author of this paper and the Peruvian

archaeologist Jos6 Antonio Chaivez undertook an excavation of the Inca shrine on the summit of Quehuar in February 1999.

A human sacrificial victim had been originally buried inside the circular structure, but looters had damaged both buildings, and the frozen remains of the individual were partly destroyed by the use of dynamite. Scattered pieces of the offerings included textiles, fragmented pottery, corn seeds, meat and bones from a sacrificed camelid. A female

figurine made of Spondylus shell was recovered from the ushnu platform (Ceruti 2001b). Apparently a tunic had also been recovered from the same structure (Beorchia 1985:

188-200). DNA analysis revealed that the individual buried on top of Quehuar was a female (Castafieda 2000).

A bundle of offerings, wrapped in a light brown, woollen textile, was found near the frozen remains of the victim. It was unwrapped in the laboratory and the offerings were found to include two pairs of sandals, two small textile bags, a one-foot pot, one small jar,

108 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 3 The artificial, raised platform (ushnu) on Mount Quehuar.

a pair of ceramic plates, one wooden plate, a spoon, a comb, food items (corn and chili) and charcoal.

Mount Llullaillaco

In 1999 Johan Reinhard and the author of this paper investigated a relatively undisturbed site on the summit of Llullaillaco (6739m), which contained Inca offerings and sacrificial victims. At an altitude of 6715m, the burial complex is the world's highest archaeological site (Plate 4). Excavations at the main ceremonial structure, a rectangular platform, revealed three separate burials and several offering assemblages. One young woman, one

girl and one boy were found together with more than 100 offerings made of metal, shell, pottery, feathers and textiles in an excellent state of preservation (Reinhard and Ceruti

2000). Because of the cold the mummies were the best preserved yet found. The Inca ceremonial complex on Llullaillaco comprises numerous archaeological sites

that are connected by a trail that ascends towards the summit along the north-eastern

ridge of the mountain (Reinhard 1993). The base-camp that lodged the pilgrims, priests and victims who would participate in the ceremonies upon the mountain was constructed at an altitude of 5200m. Intermediate stations were erected at 5600m and at 6300m in

places where the slopes of the mountain became steeper. Based on an analysis of the architectural evidence, we estimate that ten to fifteen persons probably comprised the

group of priests, assistants and sacrificial victims that climbed to the summit of the volcano

(Ceruti 2003a).

Human bodies as objects of dedication 109

Plate 4 Ceremonial structure on the summit of Llullaillaco.

A trail marked with stones leads to the platform built on the most visible promontory of the summit ridge. The structure is 10m long and 6m wide. Three burials containing the frozen bodies of the sacrificial victims, and several pits containing offerings, were exca- vated inside the funerary platform. The burials had been constructed by enlarging natural niches in the bedrock, and the mummies and objects were buried between 1.2m and 2.2m

deep. They were then covered with the artificial fill that had also been used in building the

platform (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 46-54).The Llullaillaco boy, who was 7 years old, wore a red tunic, leather moccasins, fur anklets and a silver bracelet. He had a sling wrapped around his head and his forehead was adorned with white feathers. He was

sitting on a folded tunic with his legs bound by a rope against his chest (Plate 5). The boy

110 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 5 The mummy of the boy in his burial on the summit of Llullaillaco.

also had some extra items of clothing, including two pairs of leather sandals and two

slings. He was carrying a textile bag covered with feathers containing coca leaves and a small skin bag containing hair. Two figurines, one representing a man and the other a llama, were placed on the ground close to the body. A ceramic aryballo, a distinctive container that had contained chicha or Andean beer, was found in the fill of the burial, as well as a Spondylus seashell (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 57-8).

The burial of a female infant, about 6 years old, was located on the eastern sector of the

platform. It was only 0.8m wide and 1.75m deep, built in a narrow niche of the bedrock. The body was placed in a flexed position and facing west. The girl had been hit by lightning after she was buried. The skin of her neck and left shoulder was damaged, and

Human bodies as objects of dedication 111

she had a cavity in her chest caused by the lightning strike. The girl was wearing a sleeveless dress and a shawl (both kept in place with metal pins), moccasins on her feet and a metal plaque on her forehead (Plate 6). Textile and ceramic items were placed around her body on the bottom of the burial: several pots of typical Inca style such as one

aryballo, three pairs of plates, a pedestal pot, two bowls, a jar, a pair of wooden vessels, four woollen bags containing food, one bag covered in feathers, an extra pair of leather

moccasins, a pair of sandals and a small bag containing hair. Four female figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus shell were found in a single line at the left side of her body (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 60-1).

Plate 6 The mummy of the younger girl (partly damaged by lightning) on the summit of Llullail- laco.

112 Constanza Ceruti

The Llullaillaco maiden was about 15 years old at the time of her sacrifice (Arias et al. 2002: 7). Her body was placed in the burial facing north east and covered with two brown outer mantles. A feathered headdress was placed on her head and a tunic on her shoulder outside the funerary bundle. She was wearing a sleeveless brown dress and a shawl - both

kept in place with pins of gold alloy - and leather moccasins on her feet. She had bone and metal adornments attached to a textile on her right shoulder, and she had red pigment on her face. Her hair was combed in numerous intricately woven braids (Plate 7).

Several textile and ceramic items were placed around her body on the bottom of the burial: pots of typical Inca style such as one aryballo, two pairs of duck-headed plates, a miniature jar and a one-foot pot, as well as two wooden vessels (keros), a wooden spoon and a comb. Six woven bags containing food were also placed in the burial, as well as a minuscule textile band, a set of woollen belts and a small bag containing hair. Three female figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus shell were found along the left side of her body (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 59-60).

In addition to the items included in the burials, the excavations brought to light several sets of offerings containing metal and shell figurines. Some of the assemblages included two male figurines at the head of a row of statues representing llamas (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 56-7).

Plate 7 The mummy of the Llullaillaco maiden.

Human bodies as objects of dedication 113

Discussion

From comparing the various assemblages it appears that the most important Inca offering comprises a human body, finely dressed with a feathered headdress and a necklace or a bracelet, associated with figurines in gold, silver and Spondylus shell. If anthropomorphic, the figurines may themselves be dressed in miniature clothes. Other finds may include ceramics (often in pairs and in miniature), objects of metal (such as pins or tupus), bone artefacts (such as tubes or adornments), wooden items (e.g. vases and spoons), vegetable food items (such as corn or peanuts) and sometimes the bones of sacrificed animals, usually camelids (cf. Farrington 1999: 4). An assemblage recovered from an intact high-altitude shrine is likely to reflect the broad spectrum of Inca imperial offerings, due to the extraordinary preservation of the organic and inorganic materials. In addition, the religious purpose and dedicatory character of such an array of objects is not difficult to infer from the remote and almost inaccessible mountaintop context.

The summits of mountains are specifically mentioned in the ethnohistorical accounts to be the places for capacocha ceremonies, in which human victims were sacrificed and buried with offerings of typical Inca style (cf. Hernandez Principe 1986 [1621]). According to these accounts, sacrifices were made for different reasons, such as the important events in the life of the Inca emperor, including his illness and death and the succession of a new emperor to the throne (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 111-12). In regional contexts, they were noted as often having been made to stop natural calamities, such as droughts, epidemics and volcanic eruptions (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 150-3; Murlia 1946 [1590]: 281). But capacochas may also have taken place at periodic intervals, as a ritual procedure to appease preventively the mountain deities in control of weather and fertility (cf. Reinhard 1985). A capacocha ceremony is reported to have involved mainly a centripetal movement of transportation of sacrificial victims and material offerings from local communities in the provinces to the capital city of Cuzco (Duviols 1976). After being ritually and materially transformed into Inca-style offerings, they were redistributed to sacred places all over the empire, where they would be finally offered and buried, as a vivid representation of the state cult of the sun god Inti, as well as an imperial homage to the local sacred places, objects and deified forces known as huacas. The fact that the mountains were already sacred in the eyes of the local people allowed the Incas to frame the ceremonies performed on the summits within a broader context of political strategies to legitimate the power of the empire.

The delivery of the offerings from Cuzco was part of a distributive strategy, in which aspects such as the help received from the local rulers or the hierarchy of the sacred places of destination seem to have been taken into consideration (Duviols 1976: 23). The flow of persons and exotic items from the heart of the Inca world towards the provinces was framed into a state-controlled pilgrimage that contributed to the integration of the terri- tory, the perception of the sacred landscape and the intensification of the economical, political and religious links between the centre and the periphery of the territory (Rein- hard and Ceruti forthcoming).

114 Constanza Ceruti

Human victims as objects of dedication

According to the written records, human offerings were dedicated by the Incas to the Sun god Inti, to the Weather (Thunder) deity Illapa and to the Creator Viracocha, as well as to local deities (huacas). In the words of Father Bernab6 Cobo:

They made sacrifices to the Sun so that he would make the plants grow, to the Thunder, so that he would make it rain and not hail or freeze, and to the rest of the special gods and second causes. First they would speak with Viracocha and afterwards they would speak with the special gods. And in their sacrifices to all the universal huacas they would plead for the health of the Inca.

(Cobo 1990 [1653]: 111)

It was generally believed that the young women and children who had been selected to be sacrificed would become messengers or representatives of their communities in the presence of their gods (Guti6rrez 1963 [c. 1603]: 233; Hernaindez Principe 1986 [1621]). Selection was based on their beauty, unblemished physical appearance and virginal condi- tion (Ramos Gavilin 1976 [1621]: 56-62; Hernindez Principe 1986 [1621]: 472). Since it was considered an honour for the families of the sacrificial victims, some parents were known to have offered their sons and daughters willingly (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 112; Ramos Gavilin 1976 [1621]: 81). The chronicler Cobo (1996 [1652]: 235) reports that children

younger than 10 years old were annually given as tribute by the local communities to the Inca authorities. Sometimes, the sons and daughters of the local chiefs were given to the

emperor to be sacrificed in order to help establish an alliance (Hernandez Principe 1986

[1621]: 473). The Inca Empire also institutionalized a system of selection and redistribu- tion of chosen women or acllas, who were taken from their homes at a young age and kept in seclusion at special institutions called acllahuasis. Under the surveillance of priestesses, the girls were taught to weave and to prepare ritual beverages (Murtia 1946 [1590]: 333). At around the age of 14, the chosen women would meet their destiny, being either given by the Inca as wives to local nobles or consecrated as priestesses. Some of them, however, would be sacrificed during state capacocha ceremonies (Acosta 1962 [1590]: 241). The Llullaillaco maiden, being 15 years old, was most likely a 'chosen woman', as was probably the case with the female individual from Quehuar and the young woman sacrificed on Chuscha. The two infants from Llullaillaco, the Aconcagua boy and the infant from Chafii, could either have been presented to the Inca by their noble parents or offered as tribute

by their home communities. The case of the young man from mount El Toro is more difficult to interpret, since the

individual does not fit into the usual age profile of male capacocha victims. The fact that he was almost completely undressed, and that his funerary assemblage did not contain

figurines, suggests that this might have been the sacrifice of a prisoner of war (cf. Reinhard in Beorchia 1985: 236) or that his sacrifice might have been executed as a punishment for some sort of ritual misbehaviour (Ian Farrington personal communication, 2002).

According to the chroniclers, the children chosen for sacrifice were often the sons and

daughters of nobles and local rulers (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 78; Hernindez Principe 1986

[1621]: 472). The excellent state of nutrition of the Llullaillaco individuals, as seen in the thick layer of fatty tissue noticed in the CT scans (Plate 8) and in the absence of Harris

Human bodies as objects of dedication 115

lines in the X-rays (Previgliano et al. 2003), can be interpreted as being in accord with the Incas desiring healthy unblemished children of a high social status for sacrifices. The boy from Aconcagua was also found to have good nutrition (Schobinger 2001). Elite items which appear in the burials - such as specific tunics that used to be given by the emperor to local rulers as a token of good will - could also reinforce the idea of the high-class status of the chosen children, particularly if we can assume that the items had been given to the infants by their own parents (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 78).

Chroniclers reported that, during capacocha ceremonies, children were killed by strangu- lation, by a blow to the head (Cobo 1996 [1652]: 235), by asphyxia (Murtia 1946 [1590]: 263; Ramos Gavilin 1976 [1621]: 26) or by being buried alive (Cobo 1996 [1652]: 235). As mentioned above, strangulation has been suggested in the case of the victim from El Toro

(Schobinger 1966), whereas evidences of cranial trauma have been documented in the

Aconcagua mummy (Schobinger 2001). CT scans of the skulls of the three mummies from Llullaillaco showed no evidence of blows to the head as possible causes of death nor was there forensic evidence of strangulation (Previgliano et al. 2003).The victims had presumably been buried alive and their deaths aided perhaps by exposure (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000:

74). Induced inebriation prior to the burial, which is frequently reported by the chroniclers

(cf. Ramos Gavilin 1976 [1621]: 81; Molina 1959 [1575]: 93), could also have played a part (Ceruti 2003a). The Aconcagua boy had been apparently forced to drink a beverage of achiote (bixa orellano), which was found in his vomit, his faeces and in the content of his stomach (Bircena 1989; Schobinger 2001). It is interesting to note that the reason for the

Plate 8 CT scan of the boy found on Llullaillaco, showing a thick layer of fatty tissue.

116 Constanza Ceruti

choice of non-bloody sacrificial techniques, as presented in the written sources, was said to be the belief that nothing 'incomplete' should be offered to the sun (Murtia 1946 [1590]: 263-64).

Funerary bundles

The standard practice of burial on mountaintop shrines has to date been found to be a flexed, seated, clothed corpse associated with an array of grave goods including textiles, food items and often metal and pottery objects. The body could be buried in a funerary pit - as at the site on El Toro - or it could be placed inside retaining walls, which were filled in to form a platform, as in the case of Aconcagua. The three burials on Llullaillaco combined attributes of both. Single individuals were apparently buried on the funerary structures on Chafii, Quehuar and Aconcagua. While chroniclers such as Betanzos referred to the sacrifice and burial of one boy and one girl as representing a symbolic marriage (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 77), the pattern could not be clearly established in the archaeological record.

The sacrificial victims were buried with the clothing that they were wearing at the moment of death, plus outer textile mantles used to wrap them as bundles. This has been

clearly documented in the individuals from Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Aconcagua. An

exception would be the young man from El Toro, who was buried almost naked, wearing only a breechcloth (huara).

The chronicler Fray Martin de Murtia refers to the custom of including bags, spare sandals and extra tunics inside the bundles

(Murtia 1946 [1590]: 319). The Aconcagua boy

had several pieces of spare clothing, such as tunics, breechcloths, sandals, bags and mantles inside his funerary bundle (Schobinger 2001). In the case of the Llullaillaco boy, one extra tunic was included, in addition to two pairs of sandals and two slings placed close to his body. The young girl from Llullaillaco had spare moccasins and sandals

(Reinhard and Ceruti 2000). The Quehuar mummy had her associated offerings of food, pottery and sandals wrapped in a textile, forming a bundle. Chroniclers also describe pieces of coca leaves that were placed in the mouths of sacrificial victims prior to their deaths (Ramos Gavilan 1976 [1621]: 26). Archaeological evidence supports this, since the Llullaillaco maiden was found to have had small fragments of coca leaves around her mouth and on her lips and in her hands.

Offering assemblages

Capacocha sacrificial victims were buried with offering assemblages in accordance with their sex and age. Clear correspondence can be pointed at between gender-specific offer-

ings such as male and female figurines, which are generally associated with sacrificial victims of the same sex as represented in the statues (Plate 9). Often one figurine made of each precious metal (gold and silver) and valuable Spondylus shell was placed close to the

body. Statues were often aligned forming a row and are usually placed on the opposite side of the body from where the pottery and textile bags were located. Three female

figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus were aligned on the left side of the

Human bodies as objects of dedication 117

Plate 9 A selection of Inca offerings from Mount Llullaillaco showing pottery, a female (left) and male (right) figurine, and two pairs of sandals.

Llullaillaco maiden's body. Another set of three female figurines was found near her burial. Four female figurines were placed in a row inside the burial of the young girl of Llullaillaco (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000). Llama figurines were present only in the burials of boys, as found in the shrines on Aconcagua and Llullaillaco (Plate 10).

The chroniclers provide a few explanations for the meanings of the metal and seashell

figurines that were placed as grave goods or that formed separate offering assemblages. They may have been substitute offerings for the living things they represented (An6nimo 1968 [1590]: 156); the male and female statues may have represented deities (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 110; Cobo 1990 [1653]: 46; Murtia 1946 [1590]: 257) or members of the Inca

royal elite (Albornoz 1984 [1583]: 194; Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 48; Polo de Ondegardo 1916

[1571]: 194). The camelid figurines could have been intended to increase the fertility of herds (Arriaga 1968 [1621]: 29).

An interesting pattern of association between male and llama figurines was identified in the offering assemblages distributed around the burial of the boy on the summit of Llullaillaco (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 76-7). Formed by two male figurines and two or three zoomorphic statues representing camelids, they had been placed in a row, the male

figurines ahead and the llama figurines following them (Plate 10). Male and llama figu- rines were also associated in the burial of the boy from Aconcagua (Schobinger 1985, 2001). The repetition of this pattern in mountaintop offerings, as well as the importance of

figurines representing camelids in ritual ethnographic contexts (Manzo and Ravifia 1996:

9; Reinhard 1985), suggest that these assemblages of figurines on Llullaillaco and

118 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 10 Three llamas and two male statues in a row, apparently representing a caravan, from Mount Llullaillaco.

Piramide of Aconcagua could have been meant to intercede for the fertility of the flocks or the prosperity of the caravans. Chroniclers have referred to arrays of statues repre- senting 'sheep' (llamas) and their 'herders' that were displayed in the gardens of

Coricancha, the Sun temple, at the capital city of Cuzco (Cieza 1959 [1553]: 147). Pottery offerings are more widely represented in female burials, although certain types

such as aryballos and plates can also be found in male burials. Sets of pottery items were recorded inside the burials of the two females from Llullaillaco, as well as in the bundle of

offerings buried close to the Quehuar maiden. Although some variation can be docu- mented in the style of decoration of the pieces, almost every pottery assemblage from female high-altitude burials includes at least one aryballo, one jar and one pedestal pot, along with a pair of plates (and sometimes bowls). According to the written accounts, miniature pots in the burials of female sacrificial victims symbolically represented the houseware of married women (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 77).

Certain objects, such as plates, bowls and wooden vases (keros), have usually been found in pairs (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000). It is likely that the pairing of the plates and vessels was related to the Andean etiquette of ritually sharing food and drink (Randall 1992). This is especially the case with ritual drinking, as described in the chroniclers

(Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 67) and also represented in Guaman Poma's drawings of AD 1613

(Guaman Poma 1987 [1615]: 143, 285). Food items contained in textile bags and placed in the burials of Llullaillaco included corn, peanuts, dried potatoes and dried meat (charqui). Corn is also present in the bundle of offerings found on Quehuar. Food might have been meant to feed the children in the afterlife or it could have been meant to be offered to the

spirits of the mountains and ancestors (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 115). While there are many correlations between the historical descriptions and the artefacts

Human bodies as objects of dedication 119

found in situ, there are also items that were not reported, such as the offering of male tunics with female sacrifices. Especially surprising is the finding that the Chuscha girl was dressed in a tunic (Juan Schobinger personal communication 2003), since this is a type of clothing associated with males in Inca society. Unlike some of the chroniclers' descrip- tions, only vases and certain types of pottery were found frequently in pairs in Inca capacocha burials. In addition, some elements appeared that were noted rarely (if at all) by chroniclers, such as the coastal (non-Inca) textiles found with the boy on Aconcagua and the headdresses worn by both males and females. Personal items of the children were often included, in addition to the special clothing and artefacts that were part of the state offerings. The quality of the textiles also varied considerably, sometimes even within the same ceremonial complex. This suggests that either some of the burials were considered of secondary importance or there were limitations on the availability of state-supplied offerings (Johan Reinhard personal communication 2003).

The distances travelled over previously untracked terrain; the establishment of well-built structures at various levels on mountains; the physical difficulties overcome to ascend to heights above 6000m for the first time in the prehispanic period; the systematic placement of the items at sacred places considered among those of the most powerful deities of the local inhabitants; the high status, rarity and exceptional quality of the offerings; the inclusive, representative nature of the items - all of these correlate with the early Spanish writers' accounts to establish that the assemblages at the mountaintop sites not only served as offerings, but also constituted symbols of the control of the Incas over the economic, political and religious spheres of the peoples they conquered as they expanded their empire until it became the largest ever to arise in the Americas.

In conclusion, the archaeological findings on the summits of high Andean peaks in Argentina show remarkable agreement with the historical descriptions of the Inca cere- monies regarding the sex and age profile of the victims chosen, the sacrificial techniques, the scenery selected for the rituals and the kinds of objects used in the offering assem- blages. The sacrifices of the young victims on Llullaillaco, Quehuar, Aconcagua, Chaiii and Chuscha were probably performed as part of capacocha ceremonies, oriented to appease the deities and ensure the well-being of the Inca emperor and the local commu- nities. The human bodies and offering assemblages buried at the summit shrines were an important part of the worship of the Inca state deities, including the Sun, and of the regional sacred mountains. In the religious sphere, the items embodied the essence of Andean beliefs, while, in the political context, they were active icons of the imperial power of the Incas.

Acknowledgements

I should like to express my sincere gratitude to Johan Reinhard, director of the archaeo- logical expeditions to Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Chafii, for his generous support in the research relating to this paper and for his very valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript considerably. I should like to acknowledge Juan Schobinger, my academic supervisor, for his constant advice and support, and Clara Abal and Luis Mazza for their textile expertise and co-operation during the unwrapping of the Quehuar offerings in the

120 Constanza Ceruti

laboratory. The Expeditions Council of the National Geographic Society provided funding to Johan Reinhard for the expeditions to Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Chafti. The National Council for Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET) provided the grant that partly funded my research in high-altitude archaeology and the Kellner Foundation

partly supported my library research. I also appreciate the assistance of the Government of Salta, the Catholic University of Salta and the National University of Cuyo. The

following people were also very helpful in research relating to the article: Craig Morris, Brian Bauer, Antonio Beorchia, Keith McKenney and Carlos Previgliano. Of course, they are not responsible for any of the errors and interpretations presented here.

National Council of Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET), Catholic University of Salta

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Constanza Ceruti is a postdoctoral grantee of the National Council for Scientific Research in Argentina, a Professor at Catholic University of Salta and the co-director of the archaeological expeditions to Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Chafii.