Inca Mortuary Practices. Material Accounts of Death in Quebrada De Humahuaca at the Time of the Empire- Juniper Publishers
Archaeology & Anthropology- Juniper Publishers
Abstract
This contribution has the purpose of presenting a set
of material evidences linked to mortuary practices from Inca times
recovered in Esquina de Huajra and Pucara de Tilcara archaeological
sites. This in order to ponder the role of funerary practices in the
social life of loca populations under Inca control. The presented
contexts refer to diverse practices pointing at the great variability
regarding the treatment of the deceased during Inca times, allowing to
analyze the new socio-political context established in Quebrada de
Humahuaca. The funerary practices registered refer to a strong tradition
linked to the cult to the ancestors, probably rooting from pre-Inca
moments. As in other Andean cases, these manifestations could have
responded to beliefs associated with the regeneration of crops and
productive cycles in general. The role of the deceased in strengthening
the collective memory and the meaning of traditions shared throughout
time is also relevant.
Keywords: Mortuary Practices; Material evidences; Inca domination; Quebrada de Humahuaca
Introduction
The analysis of mortuary practices allows us to
approach several aspects of the societies in which they occurred,
reflecting not only the memory of the group but also the socio-political
and economical processes of it. In the case of the Andes, it has been
stated that the cult to the ancestors has strongly molded the way of
conceiving death and treating the deceased [1-4]. Thus, the body or
parts of the deceased would have functioned as referents of the
ancestor, in charge of keeping the well-being of the community. This
contribution has the purpose of presenting a set of material evidences
associated to mortuary practices from Inca times recovered in the
archaeological sites of Pucara de Tilcara, located in the central sector
of Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy, Argentina), and Esquina de Huajra in
Quebrada’s south-central sector. This, with the objective of analyze the
role of funerary practices in the social life of local populations
under Inca domination. Although being located in the same region and
being contemporaneous, Esquina de Huajra and Pucara de Tilcara present
characteristics that differentiate them in their spatial and functional
organization as well as mortuary evidences. The presented contexts refer
to a diversity of practices signaling a wide variety in the treatment
of death during the Inca period, allowing us to analyze the new
socio-political context established in Quebrada de Humahuaca.
Quebrada de Humahuaca and the Inca Domination
Quebrada de Humahuaca (Figure 1) became part of the
Kollasuyu, the southern province of the Inca Empire, during the first
half of the 15th century. A series of indicators, as the presence of
artifacts and Inca architecture, the network of roads, garrisons and
tambos, refers to this conquest in the Argentine Northwest [5-8].
Williams [6], following González [5], proposed that the Inca political
organization was flexible, presenting notable variations between several
conquered regions, given that imperial administration was built over
pre-existent political systems, making use of an ideology based on
reciprocity and local redistribution of resources in order to legitimate
the newly established economy (Figure 1).
In this sense, the Empire established several
conquest strategies that included both diplomacy and violence, and
strategies of power consolidation, linked to a long process of
integration of the dominated groups. The characteristics of the Inca
occupation in the region depended, as mentioned by Cremonte &
Williams [9], on the degree of political centralization of the ruled
societies and their acceptation or resistance to the domination. The
existence of important settlements both in places with presence of local
population as well as in “empty areas”
would evidence, according to Williams & D’Altroy an occupation
of selective intensity in strategically located productive areas. This
would indicate that the Empire designed its way of government
regarding local situations but always having in mind a largescale
planning, favoring at the same time certain ethnic groups
and using local elites in order to help establish and maintain the
government. The presence of ethnic groups favored above others
would be evidenced by the circulation of certain ceramic styles in
parallel to the Inca Imperial style, as in the case of Yavi Chico, Inca
Pacajes or Inca Paya [6].
The main policies of the Inca government for the conquest of
the South-Central Andes included the installation of fortresses in
the oriental border and the establishment of a vial network, the
installation of imperial centers, the intensification of agriculturalherder
and mining production, and the claim of sacred spaces
by means of the construction of high shrines [6,7,10]. Although
we do not observe a state infrastructure as ambitious as in the
northern regions of the Empire, these policies were executed
by means of sophisticated strategies, as we mentioned before,
adapting themselves to the local variations in each region.
These strategies generated changes in the use and significance
of public, domestic and ceremonial spaces, since they included
military control, ideological claims, demographic relocation,
and agricultural-herding and mining intensification, but also the
ceremonial hospitality and the preferential treatment of certain
conquered groups.
In the Argentine Northwest, the Inca empire created four
provinces, of which the northernmost was Humahuaca, whose
capital would have been constituted in Pucara de Tilcara. Towards
the south, the provinces of Chicoana with its capital in La Paya,
Quire Quire with its political center in Tolombón, and the Southern
province with its center in Tambería of Chilecito would have been located [11]. In Quebrada de Humahuaca, state policies are
visible through the presence of remodeling in the conglomerated
settlements established in the previous period, called Regional
Developments Period (1000-1410/1430 AD). Among these sites
we can identify La Huerta [12-14], Campo Morado [15], Pucara
de Perchel [16], Pucara de Tilcara [17-20] and Pucara de Volcán
[21-24]. Thus, the main administrative centers where established
in most of the pre-Inca sites of the region [12,25]. Remodeling of
previous sites in charge of the state administration would be linked
to the Inca recreation of the conquered community’s landscape,
where architecture could have functioned as a symbolic act of
territory appropriation based on a double-end game of integration
and segregation between the local and the imperial [26,27].
The landscape remodeling performed by the Empire meant
the total or partial abandonment of some sites such as Los
Amarillos [28], reinforcing the changes introduced by Inca
administration in the pre-existent landscape. The case of Los
Amarillos considered as the political center of the Omaguacas
ethnic group [29-34], could indicate, as suggested by Nielsen
[28,35], that the Incas reorganized pre-existent social and power
relations in Quebrada de Humahuaca. As mentioned before,
Pucara de Tilcara would have been the political-administrative
center of the Humahuaca’s province, registering during these
moments the largest occupational density in the settlement,
reaching a complete coverage of the mountaintop where it is
located, of about 17.5 hectares [20]. The findings in Pucara de
Tilcara lead to its consideration as one of the main productive
and administrative poles of the region, in which numerous artisan
workshops destined to specialized manufacture of goods in
metal, shell and stone would have been situated [8]. Likewise, the
possibility of expanding the settlement as well as the proximity to
Alfarcito’s agricultural fields and alabaster, limestone and copper
quarries could have been the main causes behind the Inca’s
usage of Tilcara for the installation of a large productive center.
In addition, the finding of materials with a clear Inca affiliation,
as the Inca Imperial pottery, may account for a state organization
strongly linked with local populations [36]. Among the studied
contexts for this site, we recognized these forms of articulation
mainly within ritual practices involved in the cult to fertility and
the ancestors. Burials and other evidences manifesting different
types of mortuary behaviors express a plurality of events where
social hierarchies within a state political frame could have played
an important role. In other sites of the region, as in the case of
Esquina de Huajra, we also distinguished this variety of practices,
which are exposed below.
Esquina de Huajra
Esquina de Huajra (Figure 2) is a late Humahuaca-Inca
settlement located in the south-central sector of Quebrada de
Humahuaca, in a space not previously occupied by local populations
[26,37,38]. Nine datings obtained in this settlement allowed us to
delimit its occupation to nearly two centuries, encompassing Inca
and Hispanic-Indigenous Periods [39]. Although the occupation of this
site would have lasted until the Hispanic-Indigenous Period,
we have not registered any Spaniard elements. It is a clearly
Humahuaca-Inca context that does not show any of the typical
features characterizing other contemporaneous assemblages,
with clear differences for example, with the cemetery of La Falda
de Tilcara [40,41] (Figure 2).
So far 222 m2 have been excavated in three levels of terraces.
The inferior level, called Terrace 1, corresponds to a domestic
area, probably the patio (external area) of a house where a sector
directly destined to food preparation, storage and consumption
would have existed, associated with a hearth, grinding tools,
camelid remains and fragments of different vessels, as well as
tableware. The presence of a spindle with its whorl is an indicator
of textile activities, while the obsidian cores and flakes point to
reduction tasks for the obtainment of lithic instruments. The
incidence of foreign ceramic pieces in this terrace is remarkable,
especially from the highlands, as well as the deployment of forms,
surface treatment and finish, and fine pastes in tableware. These
elements, added to the presence of polished aribalos (typical
Inca vessel used to store alcoholic beverages such as chicha) and
standing pots, would refer to a context of status and interaction,
allowing us to suggest that Esquina de Huajra functioned as a
strategical and special settlement. The intermediate level, called
Terrace 2, presents a few contention walls and its excavation did
not allowed the identification of a clear occupational floor. Finally,
Terrace 3 conforms a burial area, where we found the funerary
contexts analyzed in this opportunity.
The funerary contexts in Terrace 3
Until now, four burials have been excavated in Terrace 3, as
well as a sector outside the graves (Figure 3). In this space, we
have recovered fragments of polished dishes, plates and bowls
with and without decoration, associated to pots, aribalos, jugs and
jars both ordinary and decorated with local and non-local styles.
At least five large ordinary restricted vessels were registered,
probably used for moving beverages such as chicha and solid or
semi-solid aliments from the domestic units. These vessels were
associated to metal and stone instruments, flakes and three likely
lithic ornaments, among which a mica plate with a central orifice
stands out (Figure 3).
In the external area, polished bowls are more abundant that
within the domestic area (Terrace 1), indicating the individual
consumption of liquid aliments. Little plates, also more abundant
and varying regarding shape and decoration, would indicate a
similar behavior but for the case of solid aliments. Preparation
and storage vessels appeared in less quantity and variety that
inside the domestic area, especially in the case of pots. The better
finishing of vessels and the larger proportion of decorated pieces
in this sector would indicate that, for its use in this sector, people
selected the local pieces with better termination. These evidences
allow us to suggest that the sector external to the graves could
have been an area where individuals could congregate for the
preparation of burials and the corresponding funerary rituals
(Figure 4). The scarcity of preparation and storage vessels
reinforce this idea, indicating the non-domestic functionality of
this sector. Given the fact that we are referencing a reduced space,
we consider that the sector external to the graves could have
reunited a small number of individuals directly participating on
funerary rites (Figure 4).
The graves exhibit variations regarding constructive
techniques, burial modalities and mortuary goods. Tomb 1 is a rectangular chamber constructed over the surface containing the
remains of four adult individuals and a perinatal, conforming a
secondary burial (Figure 4). The grave goods consisted on a small
ceramic vase and ordinary fragments corresponding to one or two
vessels, a little lump of red pigment, a flattened and smoothened
plaque of schist, a bone projectile point manufactured on a
camelid metapodium, as well as a bone tube. Tomb 2 is also a
chamber constructed over the surface but in this case an entrance
was registered (Figure 4). In this secondary burial the remains
of seven individuals were recovered. They were accompanied by
almost 100 necklace beads made of bone, carbonate rocks, black
lutite and turquoise, fragments of a tweezers and a pendant of tin
copper, two lumps of blue pigment composed by ground azurite,
atacamite green powder and oropiment yellow, as well as two
skulls of Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata s.p.). Recovered pottery
includes fragments of nearly 14 local and non-local ceramic
vessels and a small Humahuaca Black-on-Red style dish, probably
used for the offerings of solid or semi-solid aliments.
The grave goods found in Tomb 2 are significant due to the
symbolic value of the ornaments, colored powders and duck
skulls. The scarce presence of pottery and its fragmentation degree
allow us to suggest that these could have been the remains of the
vessels offered in the primary burial that with the subsequent
manipulation of the remains, probably in one or more rituals,
could have fractured and being replaced by other elements. Tomb
3 corresponds to a semi-circular chamber constructed above the
occupational floor (Figure 4), in which the secondary burial of a
woman of approximately 40 years old was found. The grave goods
consisted of a black polished dish, some camelid bones, fragments
of about six ceramic vessels corresponding to different local and
foreign styles, as well as two metal topus (pin decorated at one
end, used for holding clothes), one of them manufactured with a
silver and copper alloy that would not be local. Scattered among
the bones orange realgar powder was also found.
The elements integrating this woman’s burial would reflect
gender and social or ethnic identity distinctions. The topus were
symbols clearly related with the feminine in Inca times and until
the Early Colonial Period, serving as gender indicators. The fact
that at least one of them was non-locally manufactured and the
presence of Yavi-Chicha and Casabindo vessels from the highlands
allow us to think that the buried woman was native of the Western
Jujuy’s Puna or that she had strong bonds with that area. Tomb
4 was the only primary burial found, located in the interior of a
large vessel that was interred in the floor of the external space
to the tombs (Figure 4e). Inside the vessel, the remains of a 7
years old boy and a perinatal of 38-40 gestation weeks were
found. The grave goods that accompanied the infants included
two chisels and fragments of a tweezer, all manufactured in tin
bronze; two pink polished aribalos and two Humahuaca-Inca
bowls. The elements composing the grave goods of Tomb 4 would
be expressing the idea of Andean duality, manifested in several
organizational aspects of this society [42-44]. In this case, there
are two children of different ages, buried alongside two bowls,
two aribalos and two chisels. The fact that these elements were
also of different sizes -one larger and one smaller-, allow us to
suggest a correlation between the age of the children and the
size of the objects conforming the grave goods. Thus, a network
of meanings between the children, the bowls, the aribalos and
the chisels could be established. These would be expressing the
dual world-view of the groups to which these children belonged,
as social practices that could manifest in different circumstances
and diverse materialities.
Three of the tombs were found in structures built above the
occupational floor. This situation expresses a change in contrast
with the previous local funerary pattern, which consisted in
tombs located under the floor of domestic units. Besides, these
three tombs consist on secondary burials -that in two cases
are ossuaries- containing the remains of several individuals of
different ages. This situation would evidence the manipulation of
human remains in periodic re-opening of the tombs. Therefore,
we argue that a space for the veneration of the ancestors may
have emerged in Esquina de Huajra, constituted by an area of
congregation of few individuals directly in charge of mortuary
rites and by stone chambers that would have had a high visual
impact not only in the settlement but also in the surrounding
areas.
Pucara de Tilcara
This archaeological site, located in the central sector of
Quebrada de Humahuaca (Figure 5), is known for being the
largest pre-Hispanic settlement in the region. The beginning of
its occupation corresponds to the 12th century, but it is during
Inca times when the settlement’s size increased as a consequence
of an accelerated rise in population density. As a result, several
structures were remodeled and terraces were expanded to build
new houses and workshops [20]. The approximately 580 detected
structures allow estimating that the site could have housed
more than 2.500 inhabitants dedicated to diverse productive
activities and in some particular cases administrative tasks. The
architectonic features of some buildings and the importance of the
objects found in them led us to believe that an important number
of religious leaders linked to the Empire may have lived in Pucara
de Tilcara (Figure 5).
The settlement apparently functioned as the capital of the
Inca province or wamani of Humahuaca. Besides fulfilling political
functions, as its mentioned by González & Williams [46], this was
an important productive center. The recent excavations carried out
in eight sectors of this site and the review of materials recovered
during the early 20th century that are currently preserved in
three Argentinian museums, allowed to detect over 50 metallurgic
and stone workshops. These workshops can be defined as houseworkshops,
since evidences pointing out towards both domestic
activities and multi-artisanal production [47] destined to the
specialized manufacture of metal and stone goods.
Tombs in Housing Unit 1
Housing Unit 1 (Figure 6) is one of the house-workshops that
provided the most information about the artisanal labors, since it
was intervened with modern excavation techniques, uncovering
almost its total surface [48,49]. This unit represents a house
located in two terraces of the inferior extreme in the Pucara’s
southwestern foothill, known as “Sector Corrales”. The excavation
of four of its enclosures and two patios, covering 127m2, revealed
a continuity in its occupation, between the 13th century and the
late 15th century or maybe beginnings of the 16th century AD
[50]. This house-workshop, destined to metal objects production
during the Inca domination, was abandoned as a productive and
housing space in order to be used as a graveyard. Five burials
were detected within the central and lateral patio [20] (Figure
6). Built above the occupational floor of the central patio, Grave
1 (G1) constitutes an ossuary (Figure 7). A curved wall attached
to the perimeter of this patio was used for its construction. The
dimensions of this chamber (1,6 meters wide x 1 meter long)
indicate that it was built with the purpose of burying several
individuals, of which 11 adults and 10 immatures were identified
[51] (Figure 7).
It was possible to distinguish a first burial event,
corresponding
to an infant, whose remains were articulated and covered with
a thin ash layer [52], and was accompanied by a copper and
aragonite beads, as well as by materials that are not frequently
found due to conservation issues, as a wooden beaker conserving
pigments and fragments of wood and calabashes recipients with
red paint impregnations and a siliceous polisher. Subsequently,
the second phase took place as a secondary burial where several
human bones were placed, massively and intermingled. Theses
bones were also covered by numerous and successive ash and
charcoal lenses, which served as ritual marks for distinguishing
each burial event. Among these human remains fragments of
ceramic pitchers and bowls, a fragment of spatula or loom stick,
camelid bones, pieces of wood -some of them shaped as shafts
with remains of red painting-, remains of molds for the production
of metal objects using the lost wax technique, over 40 calabash
fragments -probably used as liquid containers-, pigment’s lumps
of several colors and a bone tarabita (a tie hook) used for tying a
funerary bundle were detected as mortuary offerings. The ceramic
pieces deposited as grave goods show evidence of a previous use.
This situation also appears among restricted vessels used as urns for
the burial of two infants along the eastern wall in Enclosure
3.1, denominated Graves 2 and 3 (G2 and G3). They were located
alongside the eastern wall of the patio and lineally to G1, and they
may have been contemporaneous to the first moment of use of the
chamber (Figure 7). Grave 2 corresponds to the burial of a 3 years
old infant with a tabular cranial deformation [52], placed inside
an “Angosto Chico Inciso” pot that was longitudinally fractured.
This pot presents abundant soot in the surface, especially in the
lower body and base, demonstrating its previous use for cooking
foods expose to long terms fire as arrope.
The burial identified as Grave 3 corresponds to an infant of
approximately 3 months old placed inside a large ordinary pot with
evidences of fire exposure. This pot was placed vertically without
its base, which was probably sectioned for introducing the infant,
since the opening of the vessel does not exceed 15 cm in diameter.
The opening was sealed with a mud layer and the base of a pitcher
was placed above it as a cover, in such a way that its internal
surface was exposed. Inside this base, large amounts of soot were
registered, suggesting that it was used for burning offerings.
Grave 4 was identified in the Northwestern corner of Room 2 in
Enclosure 3. It also corresponds to the burial of an infant that was
placed over the floor of the room. In this case, several bones of the
skeleton were missing, possibly as a consequence of a subsequent
extraction or maybe due to the context’s perturbation caused by
the falling of the supporting wall located in the upper step. Part of
these remains was found covered by a layer of consolidated mud
and surrounded by ashes. Three ceramic pieces were identified as
grave goods. A Fifth grave (G5) was located in the Northwestern
grid in Enclosure 2.2 (Figure 7). In the Northwestern corner of
this patio, about 10 cm below the surface, the skull of an adult
was found. After cleaning this context, it was confirmed that the
skeleton was complete. This is the reason why we argue that it
was a primary burial, in which the body was deposited in fetal
position inside a 1 x 1meter stone chamber, partially fallen at
the moment of excavation. The collapse of this structure must
have occurred when the remains of this individual, identified as
an adult woman, still conserved its soft tissues. The skeleton is
articulated, so it must have fallen over its left side and its lower
limbs remained underneath the rocks forming the eastern lateral
wall of the chamber. The occupational floor was cleaned in order
to build this mortuary structure, such as Grave 1.
The falling of this structure must also have affected
the
disposition of materials found associated to this woman, some
of which must have been included as grave goods [53]. On one
side, along the skull a red pigment lump was found and beneath
the pelvis a projectile point with notched base. Once the set of
stones conforming the burial was removed a small lens of ashes,
dispersed carbons, burned camelid bones and a shallow hole
were detected. These evidences could indicate the placement
of offerings and the preparation of the floor for the burial by
means of burning and smoking (sahumado) the context. From
this hole, we extracted wood remains, among which we identified
fragments of a spoon handle, and a tube manufactured on a bird bone.
Several bone alterations were identified in the bodies of the
buried adults, accounting for pathologies of postural origin and
periodic stress probably associated to artisanal activities carried
out in this Housing Unit.
Other aspect demonstrating the link between the deceased and
the development of artisanal activities in Unit 1, and that in turn
highlights the filiation with the individuals that occupied it, is the
kind of offerings included as grave goods and the ritual practices
that honored them, even in moments well after their burial.
Regarding the type of grave goods found, it is worth mentioning
once again the finding of a beaker with pigment remains inside,
pigment lumps, wood remains with red paint impregnations and
the siliceous polisher found at the base of Grave 1, all of them
making clear references to ceramic production. These findings are
complemented by the identification of a Humahuaca Black-on-
Red small pitcher, which appeared outside this chamber, buried
in proximity to the foundations of the structure. Inside this small
pitcher with sectioned neck, three siliceous polishers were found,
likely deposited as an offering.
The only indicators of metallurgic activity detected are the
remains of molds and the powder with content of copper, which
were included as grave goods. The numeric difference between
these materials and those linked to ceramic production could
indicate that the primary activity of this housing unit was pottery.
Thus, the assemblage of grave goods could be considered as
sensible signs or informational material components about
the personality of each buried individual. From the moment in
which polishers and pigments, among other materials, were
included in these funerary contexts, they lost their “neutrality”
and transformed into attributes corresponding to particular
individuals [54]. Different kind of objects, from those previously
used in artisanal activities to ceramic pieces used daily for
the processing and service of food, were re-signified by their
introduction in a sacralized and ritualized context. Despite the fact
that in some cases they continued playing their roles, as sharing,
serving and containing aliments, they must have acquired a new
symbolic value by being used for a different type of consumers:
the deaths. This new form of consumption must not have been
a destructive act, considering that death was not imagined as a
definitive end.
The bond between the living and the deaths that occupied Unit
1 must have also symbolically endured through time, renovated by
conducting commemorative events after the house abandonment.
The finding of a small pitcher that, considering the dispersion of
its fragments, should have been placed on top of the ossuary and
fell down when it collapsed, is an evidence supporting this idea.
According to its decoration, this vessel can be attributed to the
Hispanic-Indigenous Period (ca. 1536-1595 AD).
Pucara de Tilcara’s cemeteries
The presence of ancestors in the daily life of the Pucara’s
settlers can also be perceived in the segregation of collective
burial areas. This is a distinctive feature of the site, only shared
with another important settlement occupied during late pre-
Hispanic times in Quebrada de Humahuaca: Pucara de Volcán. In
the case of Pucara de Tilcara, these areas (Figure 5), described as
East, West and South cemeteries are found next to the main access
roads to the site and to some housing sectors. The location of
these cemeteries evidence that a numerous set of structures, daily
occupied for the development of artisanal and ritual activities
were spatially framed by the presence of the deaths. Beyond their
inclusion within domestic spaces, the existence of these collective
burial areas indicates an intention of signaling the perimeter of
the Pucara with the ancestors.
Pucara de Tilcara is one of those sites that cannot be defined
as pucaras in a strict sense, which is to say in the way of a fortress
[55]. Although this site presents some features that could be
defined as defensive, such as its location over an elevated geoform
that provided a broad view of the surroundings, this could also
respond to a supernatural reason, considering that the hills were
identified as the dwelling site of the ancestors [56]. In this sense,
the construction of over 130 graves in different foothills of this
site and alongside the main access roads, in some cases occupied
by 18 individuals or more [57], perhaps could be manifesting the
use of landscape traits linked to the necessity of projecting a sense
of pertinence and collective memory [58]. In turn, delimiting the
settlement perimeter through the presence of the deceased could
express that the cult to the ancestors was, among other aspects,
linked to the search for protection of its inhabitants.
Discussion
In spite the variety of funerary practices from Inca moments
registered both in Esquina de Huajra and Pucara de Tilcara, it is
possible to point out some common elements that would allow us
to characterize mortuary practices during Inca times in Quebrada
de Humahuaca. Among them, we must highlight the presence of
graves with positive traits that in some cases constituted true
burial chambers that could be considered as “monuments to
the ancestors” (as Grave 1 in Housing Unit 1 from the Pucara de
Tilcara and Graves 2 and 3 from Esquina de Huajra). Although
the characteristic pre-Inca funerary pattern of Quebrada de
Humahuaca points to graves located below the occupational floor
of the houses [59], there are some cases where raised tombs
similar to the ones mentioned before were found, such is the
case of Complex A of Los Amarillos site. This situation would be
directly linked with the communal cult to the ancestors [35].
By adding the presence of ossuaries in both sites (Grave 1
from Tilcara and Graves 1 and 2 from Huajra), the evidences of
periodic extraction of the remains or possible re-burials, and the
geographic closeness of burials to settlement spaces, it is possible
to argue that burials in Esquina de Huajra and Pucara de Tilcara
refer to a marked tradition linked to the cult to the ancestors
and that this can surely be traced back to pre-Inca times. As it
has been defined for other Andean cases, these manifestations
related to the veneration of the deceased could have been seeking
the regeneration of crops and productive cycles in general, at the same time that ancestors could benefit the community since
they possessed part of the fertility’s control (Arnold and Hastorf
2008). Therefore, the analyzed graves would allow a continued
access to the remains of those people considered important
(Gluckman 1937, cited in Morris 1991), whether for the social
group as in the case of Huajra or for the reproduction of a family
group as in Housing Unit 1 in the Pucara de Tilcara. Independently
of the hierarchy of the deceased, given that we know that not
every predecessor was considered an ancestor (Kaulicke 2001),
we observed a frequent manipulation of the remains for the
separation of skeletal parts, their re-location and even their
shaping, in contexts both domestic as supra-familiar.
In the case of Esquina de Huajra, we consider that Terrace
3 would have established as a public space where several rites
linked to the cult to the ancestors could have occurred. This high
visibility space would have functioned as a scenario where a group
of people congregated in the reduced space external to the graves
(approximately 50 m2) could have conducted the corresponding
rituals, being observed by the other settlers. The fact that Grave
1 and 2 were constructed over the occupational floor points to
their visual impact from different sectors, especially from the
North. On the other hand, the absence of covered graves would
allow a continuous access to the remains of the deaths, reinforcing
the character of these burials as “monuments to the ancestors”
who were regularly called upon to “give food and drink to the
deceased” [35].
Meanwhile, in Pucara de Tilcara we are faced with the redeposit
of remains that possibly involved the development of
ritual practices at an intra-domestic level. Nevertheless, given that
the burial chamber was located in the large central patio, these
practices should have been visualized from several points in the
foothills. Perhaps, these celebrations came to exceed the limits
imposed by the domestic and private plane, therefore remarking
with each commemoration a kinship line and the coexistence
of the deceased with the other settlers of the site. Regarding
the cemeteries of Pucara de Tilcara, segregated areas from the
housing units used specifically for the burial of the deceased, it is
relevant their presence in the limits of the settlement and linked
to the main access roads. In this sense, cemeteries could have
reinforced the protection of the ancestors over Pucara de Tilcara’s
inhabitants, being constantly visualized. This spatial configuration,
embedded by the symbolic and the ritual, highlighted the multiple
composition of the functional character of this settlement as an
administrative, politic and religious center. In Esquina de Huajra,
we have not found cemeteries of this type, allowing us to think
that perhaps their presence in Pucara de Tilcara could be related
with its functionality as capital of the province during Inca times.
On the other hand, the presence of cemeteries may indicate the
need to place the bodies of the deceased in segregated areas,
due to the fact that many housing spaces would continue to be
used. Considering the population density that Pucara de Tilcara
had during the Inca Period, concentrating a large population
destined to artisanal production, it is possible to estimate that
the settlement would require to occupy every house and patio on
artisanal tasks.
Another common trait to both settlements is the presence
of direct burials exclusively dedicated to adult women (Grave 5
from Pucara de Tilcara and Grave 3 from Esquina de Huajra). The
inhumation of these women, elderly for their time (over 30 years
old approximately), could indicate the role they played within
Inca social structure. In the case of the woman found in Pucara de
Tilcara, her individualization from the whole of society could refer
to the ritualization of her tasks and artisanal activities with the
intention of exalting those values associated with the fulfillment of
the chores [60]. Likewise, probably in both burials people sought
to highlight their power as life generators, following certain
principles of the Andean mythology in which the role of women
and feminine deities, linked to the procurement of sustenance
necessary for human reproduction, is raised [61]. The associated
grave goods of both women tend to highlight their identity
features. In the case of Tilcara, her figure as artisan is manifested,
while in Huajra the objects refer more to her provenance, probably
from the Puna.
These distinctive features were also registered in the other
burials. In Esquina de Huajra, the elements included as offering
specifically refer to links to other environments, as the highlands,
while in Tilcara they seemed to reflect the kind of artisanal
activities developed. As we mentioned before, these differences
possibly responded to the sites’ functionality. Nevertheless, it is
interesting to highlight that this is only expressed in the grave
goods corresponding to sub-adults and adults’ individuals.
The burial of children and infants in urns are frequent in both
settlements. In these cases, we observe the re-utilization of
ceramic pieces whose primary function was food processing, an
action demonstrating that these pieces were not manufactured
specifically for the inhumation of short aged children. The absence
of objects destined to function as mortuary offerings for these
children in the case of Pucara de Tilcara could point out that they
were not considered subjects with a constituted social figure as in
the case of young and adults. Their placement inside urns buried
below the surface level of residential floors perhaps add to this
condition, given that in a certain way they remained invisibilized,
in opposition to the apparent exposition of those individuals
placed in positive traits.
These multiple ways of treating the deceased and, above
all, the periodic contact with their remains, demonstrate that
in Quebrada de Humahuaca, as in other Andean regions under
Inca domination, the cult to the ancestors kept playing an
important role for the reinforcement of local identities, in certain
contexts with clear hints of “Incaization”. This refers, in a case,
to intentionally demonstrating the active role of artisans within
the state structure, and in the other, to express the provenance
of certain individuals, maybe as a reflex of the displacements of
dominated populations. On the other hand, the meaning given
to death is exposed once again. Contrary to an occidental point
of view, where death is presented in opposition to life, mortuary practices registered here manifest the way in which the power
of past generations conditioned daily life. In this sense, the
deceased were presented as materially close and participants
of daily decisions. This coexistence and continuity in the cult to
the ancestors was possibly the one that laid the foundations for a
resistance of regional identities, extremely accentuated before the
Spaniard’s arrival. The mortuary contexts in Huajra and Pucara
de Tilcara could be a sample of this resistance, with datings
ascribable to the Hispanic-Indigenous Period [62,63]. Practices
destined to maintaining this cult probably revealed that “what
was to be done, was done” with the hope of ensuring prosperity
and fertility. During the decline of the Empire and even more in a
region distant from the capital, local societies had to reformulate
their idiosyncrasy, putting into play the collective memory and
slowing down the incaization process.
Acknowledgement
To the technical staff and researchers of the Instituto
Interdisciplinario Tilcara, Lic. Pablo Ochoa, Daniel Aramayo,
Armando Mendoza, and Presentación Aramayo, who collaborated
with the digging tasks on Pucara de Tilcara. To Myriam Tarragó,
María Asunción Bordach and Osvaldo Mendoça for the information
provided on their research in Housing Unit 1. Also to the Tumbaya
Aboriginal Community for their support to the research. The
research was founded by the following projects: PICT 2015-2164,
PICT 0538, CONICET- PIP 0060, PAITI Res (D) 2271.
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