The Archaeology of Wak'as : Explorations of the Sacred in the Pre-Columbian Andes

"In this edited volume, Andean wak'as--idols, statues, sacred places, images, and oratories--play a central role in understanding Andean social philosophies, cosmologies, materialities, temporalities, and constructions of personhood. Top Andean scholars from a variety of disciplines cross regional, theoretical, and material boundaries in their chapters, offering innovative methods and theoretical frameworks for interpreting the cultural particulars of Andean ontologies and notions of the sacred. Wak'as were understood as agentive, nonhuman persons within many Andean communities and were fundamental to conceptions of place, alimentation, fertility, identity, and memory and the political construction of ecology and life cycles. The ethnohistoric record indicates that wak'as were thought to speak, hear, and communicate, both among themselves and with humans. In their capacity as nonhuman persons, they shared familial relations with members of the community, for instance, young women were wed to local wak'as made of stone and wak'as had sons and daughters who were identified as the mummified remains of the community's revered ancestors. Integrating linguistic, ethnohistoric, ethnographic, and archaeological data, The Archaeology of Wak'as advances our understanding of the nature and culture of wak'as and contributes to the larger theoretical discussions on the meaning and role of-"the sacred" in ancient contexts." -- Book jacket Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Epigraph 7 Table of Contents 8 List of Figures 10 Acknowledgments 16 Part I: Introduction 20 1 Andean Wak’as and Alternative Configurations of Persons, Power, and Things • Tamara L. Bray 22 Part II: Contemporary Orientations 40 2 The Whole World Is Watching New: Perspectives on Andean Animism • Catherine J. Allen 42 3 Wak’as: Entifications of the Andean Sacred • Bruce Mannheim and Guillermo Salas Carreño 66 Part III: Wak’as in the Time of the Inkas 92 4 What Is a Wak’a? When Is a Wak’a? • Zachary J. Chase 94 5 Pachacamac—Old Wak’a or Inka Syncretic Deity? Imperial Transformation of the Sacred Landscape in the Lower Ychsma (Lurín) Valley • Krzysztof Makowski 146 6 Of Blood and Soil: Tombs, Wak’as, and the Naturalization of Social Difference in the Inka Heartland • Steve Kosiba 186 7 Men Who Would Be Rocks: The Inka Wank’a • Carolyn Dean 232 8 The Importance of Being Inka: Ushnu Platforms and Their Place in the Andean Landscape • Frank M. Meddens 258 9 Ordering the Sacred and Recreating Cuzco • Colin McEwan 284 Part IV: Deeper Histories of Wak’as in the Andean Past 312 10 The Shape of Things to Come: The Genesis of Wari Wak’as • Anita G. Cook 314 11 Of Monoliths and Men: Human-Lithic Encounters and the Production of an Animistic Ecology at Khonkho Wankane • John W. Janusek 354 Part V: Concluding Thoughts 386 12 Final Reflections: Catequil as One Wak’a among Many • John R. Topic 388 List of Contributors 416 Index 418