The Acllacona: The Inca Chosen Women in History and Archaeology A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright by Flannery Kathryn Surette 2008 Anthropology M.A. Program (September 2008) Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-43191-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-43191-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT The Acllacona: The Inca Chosen Women in History and Archaeology This thesis documents for the first time the acllacona or chosen women of the Inca Empire in both historical and archaeological sources, revealing that these women participated in a variety of activities including religious ceremonies such as sacrifices, agriculture, and as wives and concubines of the Inca and other elites in addition to the houses of perpetual virgins who conducted the weaving and brewing of corn beer, chicha, traditionally prescribed to them. The second part of the thesis examines the role of the Roman Catholic Church, in shaping the characteristics of the acllacona in the Spanish colonial documents. It also reviews modern interpretations which focus upon the economic importance of these women in supplying fine cloth for the Empire. Finally I propose that the practice of spinning and weaving was as important as the finished product of textile manufacturing and that both possessed ritual significance. Keywords: Inca, weaving, women, aclla, weaving, archaeology, colonial, Spain ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the support of my supervisor, Dr. John Topic and members of my committee, Dr. Roger Lohmann and Dr. Jocelyn Williams, and external examiner, Dr. Theresa Topic. In addition I'd like to thank Grace Katterman of the California Institute of Peruvian Studies for her textile course based in Arequipa, August 2006, as well as my Trent University cohort and other friends of whom there are too many to name. Finally I am grateful to my parents for their ongoing support in this endeavour. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Photographic Plates vi List of Tables vii 1 Introduction 1 Background 1 Textile production 2 Spinning and weaving: basic tools 6 Examples of form and function 8 On chicha 10 Conclusion 12 2 Literary Evidence 14 Introduction 14 Historiography 14 Defining the terms 18 Origin of the institution 28 The Cuzco acllahuasi 29 How they were chosen 32 Class and ethnicity 35 Numbers 37 Other occupants of the acllahuasi 38 On punishment 42 As weavers, beer brewers and agriculturalists 46 As wives, concubines and gifts 48 As participants in the religion particularly in Cuzco 51 As sacrifices 57 The arrival of the Spanish 59 Conclusion 65 3 Archaeological Evidence 67 Introduction 67 Attributes of Imperial Inca Architecture 69 Spanish Descriptions of Inca Imperial Architecture 73 Material Remains 76 Archaeological Evidence for Houses of Chosen Women 80 Skeletal Remains and Burial Assemblages 100 Conclusion 109 IV Analysis 111 Introduction 111 The Spanish and the Influence of the Roman Catholic Church 111 Modern Views of Chosen Women 118 Another perspective on the chosen women 126 Conclusion 132 Conclusion 134 Introduction 134 Archaeological Information 134 Modern Models 136 Convents and acllahuasi—the chosen women as nuns 137 Weaving as an act of magic 138 Future Research 13 9 Primary Sources 140 Secondary Sources 144 v LIST OF FIGURES Plate Description Page I Spindles and spindle whorls 7 II Acllacona spinning in the courtyard of the Cuzco acllahuasi 30 III Punishment of the adulterers at 'Copper Rock' 45 IV Compound of the mamaconas 88 V Harthe-Terte's Acllahuasi 90 VI Tambo Colorado—overlooking the 'palace' and large plaza 100 towards the Pisco River VII The locutorio or visiting parlour at the Convento Santa 116 Catalina, Arequipa, Peru. VI LIST OF TABLES Table Description Page I Quechua Terms related to Chosen Women 21 II Division of the Acllacona inside the Acllahuasi 25 III Locations of Acllahuasi 83 IV Characteristics of Acllacona and Qompikamayoc 123 VII Chapter 1 Introduction The goal of this thesis is to gather and analyze the known information concerning the acllacona, the chosen women of the Inca Empire. Ironically, the Inca are disadvantaged by the large corpus of written material as it has impeded archaeological research; until recently it was common to rely upon the Spanish for information on the Inca, despite the biases inherent in their work. The purpose of my thesis, then, is to examine both the written documents and the archaeology concerning the acllacona, identifying problematic assumptions and areas for new research. The first chapter provides general information on the Inca Empire and the broader information that will place the specific documentary and archaeological data into context. The second chapter is a compilation of the Spanish sources that record information about the chosen women, the acllacona. The third chapter collects together information from the archaeological record. Finally the fourth chapter examines how modern scholars have understood the role of the chosen women, followed by a concluding chapter, chapter five. Background The Inca Empire was the largest pre-Columbian state in the Americas, stretching from modern Colombia in the north to central Chile in the south. It covered thousands of kilometres linked by extensive primary and secondary highways designed for foot traffic and llama caravans, encompassing a potential total human population of 6-30 million (Rowe 1963: 184; Dobyns 1966: 415). It was a short-lived state, rising quickly before its destruction in roughly a century (AD 1430-1534). Nevertheless, the Inca left an impressive architectural legacy, distinguished by extremely fine stone masonry. Equally impressive are the Spanish documents which record the end of the Empire, the extent of its territory, history and mythologies, and a few details of the complexity of socio­ political relationships between classes and ethnic groups. The chosen women were part of this complex web of relationships as members of a state-supported institution. In brief, they played a vital role in producing products which were used to build and maintain essential alliances with Cuzco and provincial elites and perhaps even with members of the military, the forces by which the emperors constructed their empire. The chosen women also became products themselves, women raised to become gifts to important personages, who would also bring the skills learned in the cloistered houses to their spouses' households. The goal of this chapter is to discuss the chosen women and their two most frequently mentioned roles as producers of textiles and brewers of chicha or corn beer. Textile Production Spinning, weaving and the manufacture of cloth predates pottery in the material history of the Andes and these crafts are depicted as ubiquitous skills; this is true especially for women whose cultural symbol, the spindle whorl, marks their presence at a site. Based on the Spanish records, the standard image of an Inca woman was as "never idle...spinning endlessly as she stood, sat or even walked" (Murra 1956: 115). On a broader societal scale, Murra writes that "no political, military, social, or religious event was complete without textiles being offered or granted; burned, sacrificed, or exchanged" 2 (Murra 1956: 115). While he refers specifically to the Inca period, textiles are abundant at earlier times and places, both as preserved specimens and as depicted in other forms of art such as pottery. Weaving was part of an essential skill set for common and elite women. Clothing was a marker