THE TWO FACES OF INCAN HISTORY UNRAVELLING DUAL REPRESENTATIONS IN ORAL TRADITIONS OF PRE- HISPANIC CUZCO Isabel Yaya A Thesis submitted to the University of New South Wales in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sydney, Australia, 2008 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. i COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the historical traditions and ritual representations of Incan society through the conceptual framework of dual organization. Broadly defined as the division of society into opposed halves, dual organization has been an enduring pattern of social classification in South America. In Pre-Hispanic times, it characterised the social and spatial organization of Cuzco – the imperial capital of Tawantinsuyu – which was divided into two asymmetric moieties, Hanan and Urin, composed of several elite factions. Analysis of this system has been hitherto restricted to a branch of ethnohistory informed by structural and cultural anthropology. Very few works have yet investigated the dynamics that linked dualism with the shaping of an historical consciousness proper to the pre-Hispanic ruling elite. The present thesis offers to fill this lacuna in modern scholarship by reassessing Incan narratives in the light of moiety division. In doing so, it identifies the traits proper to two distinctive bodies of Incan traditions, each of which encloses a particular, and mutually conflicting, representation of the past reflecting the moieties’ respective perspectives. Such an approach not only harmonizes many discrepancies affecting primary sources on Incan society, but also enables a re- examination of other forms of dualist representation in Incan religion. Three case studies are therefore considered through this methodological approach: the structure of Incan cosmology, the seasonal division of the metropolitan calendar, and the ritual expressions of social antagonisms. The first case study suggests that Incan religion was divided into two sub-cults headed by divinities that were complementary in overseeing water regulation throughout the annual cycle. The second case study shows that the dual division of yearly activities did not coincide sensu stricto with the temporal setting of the Andean meteorological seasons, but rather followed a time framework guided by communal activities and astronomical knowledge. The last case study reveals that the formal model of the conical clan not only clarifies the underlying structure of Incan descent, but also enlightens the triggering mechanisms of Incan succession wars and moiety conflicts. The outcome of this work decolonizes the Andean past by refining our understanding of historical representations in pre-colonial societies. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All ethnography is part philosophy, and a good deal of the rest is confession. (Geertz 1967: p. 25) Over the years, a great number of people have encouraged and supported this work. Chief among those who made this enterprise possible is my supervisor, Prof. David Cahill, who demonstrated a tireless enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity for my research. I cannot thank him enough for the constructive criticism he has provided and his perseverance at establishing conversation even when, early on, my rudimentary English could not express more than my state of frustration at being speechless. I owe him a special debt of gratitude for trusting me with his personal notes of the Archivo Departamental del Cuzco, but also for letting me gradually empty the shelves of his personal library and transfer the precious loots to my own workspace. I would like to express appreciation to my co-supervisor Dr. Peter Ross for the comments he made on an earlier draft of Chapter 1. His suggestions were extremely useful in reshaping my approach to primary sources. The writing of this thesis and my research in Spain and Peru were further supported by the UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The financial assistance the Faculty provided at different stages of the thesis elaboration and the allocation of a comfortable workspace allowed me to pursue my research in the best possible frame of mind. Many people influenced my thinking during the writing of this dissertation. Thanks to Prof. Michael Houseman, I developed a nerdish interest in kinship systems and ritual action. His courses at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes were both engaging, high-spirited and stimulating, which are qualities I least expected from such topics. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. César Itier who taught me Quechua for more than two years, and co-supervised my Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies thesis. His feedback and encouragement have remained with me until today; but it is also his dedication to Quechua Studies and his work ethic that have been an endless source of iv inspiration. I am also most grateful to those scholars who, having never met me, answered back enthusiastically to my most incongruous emails about agriculture at high altitudes, astronomical observations with the naked eye, and kinship. Among them, I particularly thank Prof. Alf Hornborg for keenly illuminating my path towards a better understanding of social structures in dual organizations. The two anonymous readers of Ethnohistory who reviewed the first draft of my first publication also provided suggestions that have significantly reshaped my thinking. My intellectual debt to these people is enormous. During my overseas research travels, I received generous assistance from the archivists of the Real Biblioteca Española, the Archivo General de Indias, and from Prof. Berta Ares Queija who provided me with access to the library of the Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos in Seville. My research in the Archivo Departamental del Cuzco was greatly facilitated by the warm reception I received there from its chief archivists and the generous attention of M. Donato Amado Gonzales. I will forever nurture the lively memory of seating in this archive on crisp and sunny winters’ day, half attempting to decipher colonial manuscripts and half listening to the enthusiastic radio commentator of the World Cup Soccer 2006, which everyone in the room was closely following. These acknowledgements would not be complete without thanks to those I met in the past four years, and to those I left behind when moving to Sydney to undertake this PhD. My wonderful clique, it would be near impossible to cite every one of them, but they should all know that their reliable friendship through this time has made this enterprise considerably more enjoyable and provided a much needed distraction when doubt entered my mind. As for the strength that carried me through the days, I owe it to John. His presence, unconditional support, and reassuring words made me feel at home when the distance that separates me from the world I had always known sometimes felt unbearable. Perhaps these acknowledgments should close with a special thanks to the two persons who brought me up to be who I am. My dearest parents met when they left their respective countries in the antipodes to experience what Paris had to offer. I will forever smile at the wonderful circumstances that brought them together when neither of them could speak each other’s tongue. They raised my brothers and me in the language of their country of adoption, but also imparted their love of their motherlands. v It is to them, and to all the irresistible confusions and neologisms that our upbringing created, that this thesis is dedicated (à défaut de mieux faire) because the flavours of our three countries are here reunited. vi CANDIDATE’S PUBLICATIONS Sections only of the following publications, written by the candidate as sole author, have been included in several chapters of the dissertation: “The importance of initiatory ordeals: kinship and politics in an Inca narrative” in Ethnohistory 55 (1): 51-85. “Wonders of America: the curiosity cabinet as a site of representation and knowledge” in Journal of the History of Collections 2008, 20: 173-188.