Inca Mountaintop Shrines and Glaciers in the High Andes

Home , Aconcagua, Aracar, Capacocha, Cerro El Plomo, Chachani, Constanza Ceruti

JGA 3.1 (2016) 59–78 Journal of Glacial Archaeology ISSN (print) 2050-3393 https://doi.org/10.1558/jga.34465 Journal of Glacial Archaeology ISSN (print) 2050-3407

Constanza Ceruti

Universidad Católica de Salta

[email protected]

This paper offers a summary of several years of high altitude archaeological investigations that I have undertaken in the South American Andes, focusing on the strategies used by the Inca civilization to choose Andean peaks for the construction of mountaintop shrines that are the highest archaeological sites in the world. Selected mountains were used as places of pilgrimage in the context of sacrifices and offerings performed five centuries ago during state-sponsored ceremonies called capacochas. Diverse attributes could have been involved in the selection of the mountains to be crowned with imperial summit shrines. Archaeological examples are from Andean mountains above 5,000 meters in elevation, where I have been conducting high-altitude explora- tions on more than one hundred peaks since 1996. The evidence from archaeological surveys is contrasted with ethnographic data and references from ethno-historical sources. Attributes such as the altitude of the mountains and their visibility, as well as the accessibility of the summits, are taken into consideration in the analysis, ponder- ing the strategies used by the Incas to cope with glaciers climbs, active volcanoes and snowcapped peaks.

Introduction Mountains are universally considered sacred. For an entity to be perceived as sacred or numinous, it has to show aspects that are, on the one hand, appealing and fascinat- ing, as well as attributes that are considered threatening or dangerous (Otto 1988). In their majesty and beauty, glacial mountains and snow-capped peaks fascinate observers, and cause a particular feeling of exaltation in those who can climb them to their summits. At the same time, mountains are feared for the dangerous thunder and snowstorms, the hurricane winds and the volcanic eruptions. These ambivalent qualities turn Andean mountains into sacred entities that are object of traditional religious adoration.

Keywords: Inca Empire, high altitude archaeology, glaciers, mountaintop shrines

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018, Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX 60 Constanza Ceruti The Inca Empire started expanding along the western mountains of South America about 1438 AD, and reached the highest level of socio-political organization in the history of Andean civilizations, prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in 1532. The state of “the four regions of the sun” (or Tawantinsuyu, as it was known in Quechua) spread from its capital in the Peruvian Sierras northwards to southern Colombia and southwards to the Bolivian highlands, central Chile and northwest Argentina. In a span of less than a century the Incas built dozens of administrative centres and fortresses, thousands of kilometres of stone-paved roads and nearly two hundred mountaintop shrines on snow-capped Andean peaks over 5000 meters in elevation. The Inca ceremonial shrines built on the highest summits of the Andes are a unique phenomenon in the history of mankind. There are no mountaintop sanctuaries in the Himalayas, where the sacred mountains are worshiped by circumambulation and the ascent to the most sacred summits remains ritually forbidden (Bernbaum 1990, 7–13). In the volcanoes of Mexico, the Aztec shrines are often located on the slopes of the mountains, at lower elevations, and they lack the architectural complexities of their Andean counterparts (cf. Montero García 2004). The Incas were the first to dare climb the highest summits of the Andes, facing the extreme high-altitude environment and overcoming the psychological barrier of fear that the colossal summits inspired amidst the ancient Andean inhabitants (Reinhard 1983). Sacrificial victims and Inca style offerings made their way to the most sacred summits of the Andes during state sponsored ceremonies of capacocha, elaborate religious mechanism of social and political control. A first step in the capacocha ceremony involved the convergence of selected victims and sumptuary items from all over the Inca territory into Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire. Subsequently, these offerings were taken in processions towards the mountains in the periphery of the empire, where they were destined to be sacrificed and buried (cf. Duviols 1976). Commemoration of important moments in the life of the Inca emperor, propitiation of the fertility of the crops and the success at war, appeasing of natural catastrophes as well as the preventive expiation of faults to reestablish the cosmic equilibrium, were among the ideological justifications for the sacrifices and offerings performed on the high Andes by the Incas (cf. Betanzos 1996). The processions towards the chosen mountains served to underline the sacredness of Andean geography as well as to consolidate the domination on the new territories conquered by the Incas. This paper deals with diverse attributes involved in the selection of the sacred mountains to be crowned with Inca summit shrines. Variables such as altitude, accessibility, visibility, presence of snow and volcanic activity will be discussed in the analysis, based on evidences from archaeological surveys, ethnographic data and references from ethno-historical sources.

History of field investigations From the high Peruvian sierra down to the monumental peaks of central Argentina, the Inca mountaintop shrines sat atop volcanoes and snowcapped peaks, contribut- ing to the sacredness of the geography of the Andes. Those shrines built on the high-

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 Inca Mountaintop Shrines and Glaciers in the High Andes 61 est mountains were occasionally consecrated as ceremonial places for offerings, and exceptionally, for human sacrifices. High altitude archaeology reveals the complexities of mountaintop burials in the Inca civilization. In the volcanoes of southern Peru, four human bodies were recovered from the glacial peak of mount Ampato (Reinhard 1996, 1997); three burials were excavated on the heights of mount Pichu Picchu (Linares Málaga 1966 and Rein- hard 1998), and one female individual was recovered from the snowcapped massif of Sara-Sara (Reinhard 1998). In 1998 I collaborated with American anthropologist Johan Reinhard in the discovery and recovery of a group of six sacrificial victims and offerings found at an elevation of 5,822 m, inside the crater of the active volcano Misti, overlooking the city of Arequipa (Ceruti 2013b; Reinhard and Ceruti 2010). More than a hundred Andean mountains with sanctuaries on their peaks have been surveyed by high altitude archaeologists in northern Argentina (see Ceruti 1999, 2006, 2008a and 2014b; Reinhard and Ceruti 2005 and 2010). Mount Quehuar (6.130 m) has a monumental aboveground ceremonial platform near the summit and a circular structure that was the burial site of a sacrificed Inca girl (Reinhard and Ceruti 2006). Unfortunately, the site on mount Quehuar was looted by treasure hunters in the 1970s, causing the destruction of the burial site and a partial collapse of the architecture. Mount Chañi, with its granite peaks soaring almost 6,000 m, was also chosen for the construction of a mountaintop site and the sacrifice and burial of an infant, whose body was extracted in 1905 (Ceruti 2001b and 2007). From the summit of mount Chuscha (5,512 m), treasure hunters in the early XXth century extracted the mummy of a young woman with textiles of typical Inca style (Schobinger 2004). Rising in the heart of the Puna highlands, Llullaillaco has an impressive ceremonial complex built on its slopes and summit (6,739 m). A young maiden and two infants were sacrificed to the gods by the Inca priests during a ceremony ofcapacocha (cf. Ceruti 2003a; Reinhard y Ceruti 2010). The Inca frozen bodies from Llullaillaco, discovered by Johan Reinhard and myself during a scientific expedition conducted in 1999, have been analyzed as objects of dedication (Ceruti 2004a), as well as objects of bioarchaeological research (Ceruti 2014a). I coordinated interdisciplinary studies on these ice mummies in collaboration with local and international scientists, including radiological evaluations by conventional X-rays and CT scans (Previgliano et al. 2003, 2005) and dental studies. D.N.A. and hair analysis were also performed in cooperation with academic institutions in the United States and Europe (cf. Wilson et al. 2007 and 2013). The material offerings associated to the Llullaillaco mountaintop burials have been described and studied extensively in terms of their social use and symbolic meaning (Ceruti 2003a; Bray et al. 2005). In the Andes of central Argentina, rescue missions were undertaken by archae- ologist Juan Schobinger after the partial accidental exposure of two mummies. One was an adult male, found at 6.100 m near the summit of mount El Toro (Schobinger 1966) and the other, a seven year old boy buried at the base of a secondary summit of the Aconcagua massif (Schobinger 2001) (Figure 1). In Chilean territory, treasure hunters excavated the burial of a male infant at 5.400 m, on the heights of mount El Plomo (Mostny 1957). Two sacrificed female individuals buried together with distinc-

Figure 1 Map of the central Andes with selected Inca mountaintop shrines marked (Adapted from Reinhard and Ceruti 2010, courtesy of National Geographic Society).

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 Inca Mountaintop Shrines and Glaciers in the High Andes 63 tive Inca offerings were accidentally exposed by workers during the construction of a road on the summit of mount Esmeralda, on the coastal town of Iquique (Checura Jeria 1977; Besom 2013). Material evidences of the pre-Columbian use of Andean summits during Inca rituals are mainly found on the mountains located in the ancient territories of Cuntisuyu and Collasuyu, the western and southern provinces of the Inca Empire, which in the XVI century included the Andean territories of southern Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina. A clearer panorama on the occupation of the summits of the northern Andes will require an intensification of the archaeological surveys conducted on high mountains of northern Peru and Ecuador, which are currently in a preliminary state.

The selection of Andean peaks In northern Argentina, the Inca high altitude sites are found on both the eastern and the western ranges of the Andes, as well as on the volcanoes in the Puna tableland in between. In the Western Range of the Andes, Inca sites have been found on volcanic mountains such as Peinado, Bertrand, Granada and Collaguaima (Ceruti 1999). The Eastern Range of the Andes also has numerous high altitude shrines built on snowcapped peaks such as Chañi or Acay (Ceruti 2007a). The summits of Cachi, Chuscha and Bayo (Ceruti 2004c and 2009a) demonstrate the Inca occupation of the higher mountains in the Calchaqui Valleys. Beyond the Andes, some of the highest sierras in the world were worshipped in the southeastern confines of the Inca Empire, as it is the case of mounts Famatina and Negro Overo (Ceruti 2010b). Other mountains in western Argentina became sacred under the Inca, as it is the case of mount Veladero, Azul, Pilar, Morado and Fandango (Ceruti 2004b). To the south, the Principal Range of the Andes contains several Inca mountain sanctuaries such as Mercedario and Alma Negra (Ceruti 2003b), El Toro (Ceruti 2009c) and Aconcagua (Ceruti 1999). A first glimpse at the orographic landmarks on which the Incas built theircer- emonial complexes demonstrates that an assorted range of types of mountains were selected. Colossal extinguished volcanoes were often used, such as Aracar and Arizaro (Ceruti 2001a). Extended mountain ranges with many summits were also selected, as it is the case of the sierras of Famatina (Ceruti 2010b) and the massif of Chañi (Ceruti 2007). Snowcapped peaks partly covered with glaciers, such as Alma Negra and Mercedario were also considered (cf. Ceruti 2003b). Even the crater of an active volcano - such as Misti in Arequipa - could be selected to become a ceremonial ground (Reinhard and Ceruti 2010). On the other hand, icy peaks and mountains fully covered in glaciers, such as those in the Royal Range in Bolivia or the White Range in Peru, offered technical complications that usually could not be negotiated by the pre-Columbian climbers (Figure 2).

Snow cover and glaciers As early as 1590 AD, Fray Martín de Murúa referred to the Andean veneration of snowcapped ranges and sierras that had snow on them (Murúa 1946, 285). When

Figure 2 Mount Aconcagua, in the Andes of western Argentina (© María Constanza Ceruti). describing the principal shrines or huacas in the province of the Collaguas, Span- ish chronicler Ulloa Mogollon also named five sacred places and explained that they were all high mountains covered in snow (Ulloa Mogollón 1965, 330). Polo de Onde- gardo mentioned the universal worship given to snowcapped peaks in the ancient Andean world, specifying that “the snowcapped ranges were revered and worshiped by all the natives” (Polo de Ondegardo 1916, 191). The presence of abundant snow and ice may have been an important consideration for the ritual importance given to a mountain by the Incas. Modern ethnography shows that Quechua speaking people consider the most powerful mountains to be those covered in glaciers. Water is believed to be more powerful in a crystallized state, and ice is considered an important source of energy that is ritually collected at the glaciers of mount Colque Punku, during the festivity of QoyllurRit´I (Figure 3). The festival is dedicated to “the Lord of the Star of Snow” and it takes place high on the Vilcanota Range south of Cusco, under the sphere of influence of mount Ausangate, a very sacred massif from the time of the Incas until moderns times (Allen 1988, 63; Ceruti 2008b and 2013a). Many mountains that are described as “nevados” or snowcapped peaks often keep high-altitude shrines on their summits. This is the case of mounts Chañi, Castillo, Chuscha and Famatina, among many others (Ceruti 1999). Additionally, several mountains with permanent glaciers have also been selected for the construction of high-altitude shrines, including Llullaillaco, Cachi, El Toro, Mercedario and Alma Negra. On all of these mountains, permanent glaciers cover only a part of the slopes, allowing a route to the summit that remains free of ice. The Incas were not equipped for ice climbing and could not negotiate obstacles such as vertical walls or extensive glaciers. In order to build their summit shrines

Figure 3 Pequeño Alpamayo, in the Royal Range of Bolivia (© María Constanza Ceruti). they were limited to mountains that offered at least one slope or ridge for a normal ascent. Colossal volcanoes in the Andes of Ecuador, or icy peaks in the Royal Range in Bolivia and the White Range in Peru, were presumably worshiped as sacred mountains, but could not become the location of mountaintop shrines, due to the problems of accessibility. The absence of archaeological evidences during my surveys on the summits of volcano Cotopaxi (5,847 m) in Ecuador (Figure 4), and on the icy peaks ascended in the Royal Range of Bolivia—including Huayna Potosí (6,088 m), Pequeño Alpamayo (5,400 m) and Illimani (6,460 m)—supports the hypothesis that only fairly accessible mountains of the Andes would become ceremonial places. Aside from ritual climbing and the burial of the offerings on the summit, the Incas developed other means of acknowledging the sacredness of inaccessible mountains. Chronicler Cristobal de Molina explains that during capacocha ceremonies, mountains that could not be climbed because they were “too rough” would be presented with offerings by throwing them with a sling (Molina 1959, 96).

Prominence, altitude and visibility of the mountains The early Spanish chroniclers repeatedly mentioned the veneration that the high mountains received in the Andean territories conquered by the Incas. A Jesuit writer tells that in the Peruvian provinces of the Huachos and Yauyos, as well as in the Sierra of Huarochiri, a tall snowcapped peak called Pariacacca was worshiped, together with a very high peak close to Huacavélica, called Tambraico (Jesuita Anónimo 1918, 183). Chronicler Antonio de Herrera comments about the setting of the mountaintop shrines, noting that the Incas had their temples in their highest lands, on the mountains and peaks of their highest sierras (Herrera 1728, 93).

Figure 4 Andean pilgrims climb down a glacier in Vilcanota (© María Constanza Ceruti).

Chronicler Juan de Matienzo specifically referred to the high elevation of the mountain peaks as a requirement for them to be selected as oracular shrines. Those mountaintop shrines were known in the Quechua language as huaca or vilca, and they were commonly placed on very high mountains (Matienzo 1967, 129). Apparently, in Inca times, the ritual prestige of a mountain would increase in direct proportion to its altitude (Polia 1999, 159). Even in modern Andean beliefs, the altitude of a mountain is proportionately related to the power of the spirit that dwells on its summit, given the vastness of the vistas that he is capable of dominating (Morote Best 1956, 302). Examples of ceremonial locations on very high Andean peaks include the shrine on top of volcano Llullaillaco, at an elevation of 6,715 m, which is the highest ceremonial site in the world (Figure 5). Archaeological research conducted by Johan Rein- hard and myself on the summit of Llullaillaco led to the discovery and excavation of three nearly perfectly preserved Inca frozen mummies and more than one hundred sumptuary offerings that were buried by Inca priests nearly seven kilometers above sea level (cf. Ceruti 2003a and 2014a; Reinhard and Ceruti 2010). Archaeological and bioarchaeological considerations about the frozen Llullaillaco mummies have been analyzed in detail in the first volume of the Journal of Glacial Archaeology (Ceruti 2014a, 79–97). The prominence with which a mountain soars over the horizon is another significant factor. There are mountains of limited elevation, but with important Inca mountaintop sites on their summits because they rise more than 1,500 m. above the valley

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 Inca Mountaintop Shrines and Glaciers in the High Andes 67 floor. This is the case of mount Morado, which rises 2,000 m above the village of Iruya, in northern Argentina (Ceruti 1999). A similar example is provided by mount Guanaqueros, only 5.314 meters high, but rising 1,700 m above the salt flats of Arizaro (Ceruti 2001a). The visibility of a mountain is a fundamental attribute for it to be considered sacred. Naturally, almost any mountainous elevation in the Andes is highly visible. However, comparative visibility among mountains can display significant variations due to their shape and setting. Isolated mountains and abrupt peaks attract atten- tion, even when their altitude is not so significant. On the other hand, there are very high mountains that do not soar in the landscape, due to their elongated shapes, or because they are surrounded by other mountains of similar heights. This seems to be the case with the volcanic massif of Pissis (6,882 m), the third summit in elevation in the American continent. Despite its altitude, I did not observe any evidences of ceremonial architecture or pre-Columbian rituals on its main summit (Ceruti 2009b). Jesuit chronicler Blas Valera explained that mountains that displayed singularities worthy of consideration, were specially revered (Anonimo 1968, 157). Chroni- cler Antonio de Herrera gave an example of a sand hill with an abrupt summit in Cajamarca, which was worshiped as sacred because it was seen as a wonder amidst other rocky mountains in the area. And he emphasized that Andean people would find divinity in anything that looked extraordinary (Herrera 1728, 91).

Figure 5 The summit crater of volcano Cotopaxi, in Ecuador (© María Constanza Ceruti).

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 68 Constanza Ceruti An interesting archaeological example is offered by volcano Blanco, only 4,200 m high. In spite of its low elevation and its location in the Puna highland, it has a small ceremonial site on its summit with a deposit of firewood (Ceruti 2001a). Being a low mountain that rises only 700 meters above the surrounding salty plain of Arizaro, it is probable that the choice of its summit for a mountaintop site is based on the distinctive white color of the volcanic cone, which contrasts sharply against the brown and reddish lava flows in the surrounding landscape. Reinhard noted that certain mountaintop shrines have been placed on summits from which there is a visual link to the Pacific Ocean (Reinhard 1983). This is particularly true in the case of the volcanic peaks of the western province or Cuntisuyu, which are located near the coast. Those mountains would have been considered capable of “calling the rain”, as explicitly defined by Father Cristobal de Albornoz (1967) in his “instructions to discover all the sacred places in Peru and their resources and caretakers,” written around 1583 AD. Although most mountains in northern Argentina are too far from the coast to provide a view to the sea, this becomes a possibility among the highest peaks of central- western Argentina. The ocean can be visualized from the burial site at the base of mount Piramide of Aconcagua, as well as from the ceremonial sites on the slopes of Mercedario, and from the small shrine on the saddle of Alma Negra Peak (cf. Ceruti 2003b).

Volcanic activity Mountains harness forces that can be unleashed causing catastrophes, particularly active volcanoes, whose eruptions can have a devastating effect over large areas. Chronicler Cabello de Balboa describes the vivid impression that volcanic eruptions caused on Andean peoples in Colonial times: “Lo que más les admiró y encaminó a mayores desvaríos fue ver que de entre las entrañas heladas de la nieve puesta en las más elevadas cumbres de la sierra se levantasen llamas de vivo fuego y no solo se mostrasen por los aires, sino extenderse sobre la tierra y abrasar los árboles y sementeras” [They were terrified and in awe to watch the flames rising from thefrozen snows on the summits of the highest sierras, which not only inflamed the air but also burnt the surface of the earth and set the trees and cultivated fields on fire]. (Cabello de Balboa 1951, 228). In the year 1600 AD, volcano Huayna Putina erupted, devastating the area of Moque- gua, in southern Peru. Spitting fire and ashes, the eruption burnt villages, destroyed the vegetation, killed the cattle and polluted the springs and rivers. The detailed account of chronicler Vasquez de Espinoza describes how the indigenous peoples climbed to the top of the mountain -a traditional place of worship- and made human sacrifices in which the volcano would “swallow” the victims (Vazquez de Espinosa 1990:685-686). This historical account clearly demonstrates that in the past, volcanic activity and sacrificial ceremonies on mountaintop shrines were inextricably con- nected, in this case for the purpose of appeasing eruptions.

Figure 6 The active volcano Misti overlooks the city of Arequipa (© María Constanza Ceruti).

In the region of Arequipa, volcano Misti erupted during the first half of the fifteenth century, under the rule of emperor Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui. The reoccupation of the area was eventually enforced by the Inca—by means of the mitimae system of colonist—but only after some large scale offerings and sacrifices had been presented to the mountain (Chávez 1993, 101) (Figure 6). The archaeological evidences that we documented on the crater of mount Misti included six human sacrifices and a large number of offerings (Ceruti 2003; Reinhard and Ceruti 2010). In the case of mount Ampato, the stratigraphic evidence of ash layers also indicated an eruption that took place prior to the burials performed at an elevation of 5.800 meters (Reinhard 1996) suggesting that the sacrificial ceremony on Ampato was also conducted after a volcanic eruption.

The location of mountaintop shrines Ceremonial shrines on top of Andean mountains are often associated with camps that provided shelter to the pre-hispanic climbers. The careful choice of the best locations for the ceremonial and logistical sites show that the Incas had developed important mountaineering skills and that, in most cases, they had a precise knowledge of the best routes to the summit. Many high-altitude shrines occupy fairly large and flat summit areas, or flat areas surrounding the principal summit, when the peak proved to be too abrupt. Some- times the shrines are located on a secondary summit, when they have larger flat surfaces than the main peak. Scenic design of sacred and profane spaces can also be inferred from the architectural evidence erected at the shrines (elevated platforms, stone rectangles, enclosures, etc.). All these alternative strategies suggest that the capacity to shelter people was taken into consideration in the selection of the locations for the high altitude sanctuaries in the high Andes.

Inca base-camps and intermediate stations along the slopes, were intentionally located to counterbalance the natural obstacles encountered along the routes to the highest and hardest mountains. Therefore, logistical structures are more commonly located in higher and less accessible Andean peaks. The optimum selection of routes to summits also reveals a great deal of previous knowledge about the mountain. The Incas had clever plans for the setting of intermediate stations in places where the mountain slopes changed their gradient, tak- ing advantage of locations that were better protected from the strong winds. Ethno- archaeological observations in the context of modern climbs suggest that the routes to the summit chosen by the Incas were often the ones that reduced the danger of the climb, by skillfully avoiding the main obstacles presented by the mountain. Addition- ally, the Inca routes made it easier to climb up and down the mountain while carrying heavy loads. Historical sources provide little information regarding the logistics of pre-Colum- bian ascents. Some historians mentioned logistical sites called corpahuasis (“houses for devotees”) that were specifically constructed to host pilgrims attending temples or shrines (Ramos Gavilán 1976, 66). Base camps or corpahuasis have been archaeologi- cally documented on mount Licancabur (Reinhard 1980; Ceruti 2005), Misti (Reinhard and Ceruti 2010), Chañi (Ceruti 2007), Llullaillaco (Figure 7), (Reinhard and Ceruti 2010), Quehuar (Reinhard and Ceruti 2006) and Mercedario (Ceruti 2003b), among other colossal mountains, usually 5.800 meters high or more. On the other hand, small summit shrines have been found with no association to intermediate stations or base camps on mountains less than 5.500 meters in elevation, such as the volca-

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 Inca Mountaintop Shrines and Glaciers in the High Andes 71 noes Pocitos, Del Medio, Tultul, Verde and Quironcolo (Ceruti 2010a), or the small peaks of Rosado, Mellado and Socompa Caipis (Ceruti 2012). A famous extirpator of idolatries, Father Joseph of Arriaga made a note about the simplicity of the small huts and shelters used by the caretakers of the sacred places on the higher mountains: “No todos los adoratorios eran templos y casas de morada, porque los que eran cerros, peñas y fuentes no tenían casa ni edificio, sino que cuando mucho una choza en la que moraban los ministros y guardas de las dichas guacas”. [Not every shrine was a temple. Those that were located on mountains, or near sacred rocks and springs, usually did not have a house or building, but simply a hut in which the caretakers would reside]. (Arriaga 1984, 21) As mentioned, on mountains with an abrupt principal peak, the shrines are fre- quently built on secondary summits. Mount Chuscha is a perfect example, where all secondary summits have ceremonial evidences -stone structures or firewood-, which are not found on the abrupt major peak (Ceruti 2004c). On mount Alma Negra, the abrupt peak could not be used, and the shrine was constructed nearly one hundred meters below, on the northern saddle of the mountain (Ceruti 2003b). An alternative strategy has also been implemented on mount Chañi: the shrine was erected on the summit itself, despite the abrupt terrain, by means of building terraced platforms that created the flat surfaces that were necessary for the ritual action (Ceruti 1999a). Terraced platforms were also used on the abrupt summit of Pichu Picchu (Ceruti 2013b) (Figure 8).

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 72 Constanza Ceruti There are other shrines located on very abrupt or narrow peaks, in which the ceremonial architecture has been reduced to a minimum expression, such as a small rec- tangular platform built on the top of mount Azufre (Ceruti 2010a). Sometimes, there is no architectural record involved, and the only traces of ancient ritual activities are represented by firewood deposits. These small scale mountaintop sites are not usually associated with camps at the base of the mountain, and they were apparently not meant to be revisited in the future. Pedro Cieza de León, one of the earliest chroniclers of the Inca world (whose writ- ings were published in 1553), offers a detailed description of a mountaintop shrine with an Inca platform located on the eastern side of the summit. Interestingly, Cieza de Leon underlines the importance of the East in the selection of the setting for the shrine, as well as the flat morphology of the summit terrain. “En lo más alto de una sierra [...] a una parte de este llano, hacia el nacimiento del sol, estaba un adoratorio de los señores, hecho de piedra, cercado con una pequeña muralla, de donde salía un terrado no muy grande, de seis pies de ancho.” [On the highest point of a sierra, on the flat side of the summit that looks towards the sunrise, a small indigenous shrine was built above ground, six feet wide and enclosed by a low stone wall]. (Cieza de León 1984, 330) The archaeological evidence tends to support this interpretation. In numerous mountains explored, including cerro Morado de la Laguna Brava (Ceruti 2004b), the sanctuaries were found on secondary summits to the east of the massif, rather than on the principal peaks, even when the main summits were conveniently flat and large. Historical sources provide little information about the ceremonial architecture on mountaintop shrines, due to the obstacles of accessing the sites, which prevented most Spanish conquistadors and extirpators of idolatries from ascending. One excep- tion is the description by Rodrigo Hernandez Principe of the mountaintop burial of a girl named Tanta Carhua, who had been sacrificed in the Peruvian sierras under the rule of the Incas (cf. Hernandez Principe 1986 [1621]). Father Blas Valera explained that in “the natural temples” -among which he enu- merates the summits of the mountains- it was common not to erect any buildings, but simply build an altar of stones for the sacrifices, that would be called “ushnu” (Anónimo 1968, 157). According to Inca expert John Hyslop, human sacrifice of children during capacocha ceremonies took place at the side or on the ushnu itself (Hyslop 1990, 72). His hypothesis seems to be confirmed by the material evidence that we recovered on the summit platform of volcano Llullaillaco, which included the burial of three Inca children and numerous offering assemblages (Reinhard y Ceruti 2000, 2010). I have personally observed (and photographed) dozens of Inca mountaintop platforms and stone arrangements (cf. Ceruti 1999, 2008a). Ceremonial rectangles appear on the summits of mount Chuscha, Pocitos and Famatina (cf. Ceruti 2004c and 2010b); terraced platforms crown the abrupt peaks of Pichu Pichu and Chañi (Ceruti 2007); low platforms occupy the summits of Morado de Iruya, Macon and Llullaillaco (cf. Ceruti 2003a); higher platforms or ushnus are located on the summits of mount Acay and Quehuar (cf. Reinhard and Ceruti 2006); small platforms of piled stones crown

Figure 9 Inca platform on the summit of mount Quehuar (© María Constanza Ceruti). the abrupt summits of Azufre and Alma Negra (cf. Ceruti 2003b); stone circles were recorded on the summits of Famatina and Llullaillaco, as well as on the slopes of Mercedario; large circular plazas were documented on the summits of Cuevas and Misti (Ceruti 2013b); low wall precincts are present on the summits of Acay, Bayo and Chuscha; windbreaking structures appear on the summits of Arizaro and Blanco (Ceruti 2001a), and the volcanoes Licancabur and Llullaillaco have unique roofed structures near the ceremonial platforms on the summits craters. Mount Quehuar offers one of the most impressive and complex manifestation of high-mountain architecture achieved by the Incas. Strategies of control of the visual access to the ritual activities can be inferred from the architectural design of the shrine, which provides an above-level ushnu platform on which certain ceremonial actions could be displayed (Figure 9), in addition to a circular structure with walls more than two meters high, inside of which the ritual activities could not be seen from outside (Ceruti 1999).

Conclusions Andean mountains have traditionally been conceived as the homes of the spirits of the ancestors. Mountain peaks are deities in themselves, and they are thought to be “alive.” Under the rule of the Incas, the phenomenon of the high altitude shrines turned the mountains into places of pilgrimage, and their summits into religious compounds for sacrifices and offerings. Ritual climbing became an active procedure to enhance the sacredness of the Andean landscape. Physical access to the summits channeled the religious inten- tion to revere the mountain spirits. Political and economical implications were also

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2018 74 Constanza Ceruti embodied in the circulation of goods and human beings during state controlled processions directed towards the sacred mountains in the confines of the territories conquered by the Inca Empire. The preservation of the architectural and artifactual evidence of mountaintop sanctuaries is significantly threatened by human and natural factors. Treasure hunters and looters have seriously impacted archaeological structures and brought about near-total destruction of mummified bodies and grave goods. Consider the cases of a female mummy dynamited alongside an Inca platform near mount Quehuar in the seventies, and the damage done to a mummy and its funerary structure from the snow-capped Chuscha mountain, during the early 1920s. Such was also the fate of the infant mummy discovered on the heights of mount Chañi in 1905 (Ceruti 2001b). In this context, a better understanding of the criteria that the Incas used to select mountains and build shrines on their summits, could contribute to more efficient survey designs, and thus to a more successful preservation of the unique Inca mountaintop sites in the high Andes. In this paper I have attempted to identify the attributes of Andean mountains -altitude, accessibility, volcanic activity, visibility and the presence of snow and glaciers- that could have been considered significant for the selection of the peaks that the Incas turned into ceremonial places. Our analysis has incorporated ethno-historical sources, ethnographic references and archaeological evidences collected during surveys and excavations conducted at high altitude sites, mainly in northwest Argentina. I conclude that snowcapped mountains of higher elevations, sometimes partly covered with glaciers, with a view to the Pacific Ocean or with particularly distinctive features, were often selected for the construction of the most important Inca ceremonial complexes. Active volcanoes -perceived as extremely dangerous and powerful- were presented with human sacrifices and offerings to keep them appeased. Sometimes, very high mountains seem to have gone unnoticed, due to their low comparative visibility. Mountains completely covered in ice or glaciers, including the colossal volcanoes of Ecuador or the icy peaks of the Royal Range of Bolivia and the White Range of Peru, were not used for the construction of mountaintop shrines, due to technical obstacles in accessing to their summits. The characteristics of the highest Andean mountains conditioned the religious purpose of the rites celebrated on their summits. Inca offerings were sometimes meant to appease the deities on active volcanoes, when facing the threat of a catastrophic eruption. Glaciers and snow fields are highly regarded as reservoirs of water, which is a precious resource in the desert Andean environment. We can presume that offerings such as small figurines representing llamas -clearly meant to propitiate the fertility of livestock- would have been more important on mountains that had lagoons at their feet or those that gave origin to rivers (Figure 10). Although the Inca offerings were highly standardized as imperial manufactures, it is probable that the destination of the offerings would have varied according to the singularities of each mountain Transcendence of mountains, that endure the passing centuries, is a key to their importance as religious places and the massive physical presence of Andean peaks can resist many of the transformations that may affect other sacred landmarks. At

Figure 10 The glaciers of mount Mercedario melt into a river (© María Constanza Ceruti). the symbolic level, more perdurability would be granted to beliefs and ritual prac- tices configured around mountains. The words of Spanish chronicler Polo de Onde- gardo still resound after five hundred years, implying that the mountains continue to stand, despite the systematic destruction of Inca ritual objects during the European conquest: “Si ahora se han desecho los ídolos e instrumentos de sacrificios y otras muchas cosas que tenían para sus ritos, con todo están en pie los cerros y collados...” [The idols and the sacrificial instruments have now been destroyed, together with many other things that Andean people had for their rituals; however the mountains are still standing]. (Polo de Ondegardo1916, 43)

Acknowledgements I would like to thank the institutional support of the National Council of Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET), the Catholic University of Salta and the National Geographic Society. I am also grateful to Johan Reinhard, Martin Callanan, Oddmunn Fabregd, Craig Morris, Richard Bradley, Juan Schobinger, Ian Farrington and Thomas Besom.

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