Page 312 - Perú indígena y virreinal

can see in this exhibition. Also evident is the maternal connection with their children, showing that childcare and education were a part of their daily lives.
From birth, the young children stayed close by their mothers, swathed, carried on their backs or playing on the floor nearby until breast-feeding was over. Some chroniclers tell how from their early days onward, splints were applied to their heads which in time would lead to the desired level on cranial deformation corresponding to their specific group or level of social status. The end of this first period of infancy was marked by a rite of passage; the child’s hair and nails were cut, he or she was given presents and entrusted to the Sun God for his protection.
At the age of 14, children took their definitive name and began a period of social maturity in which they were considered of marriageable age and ready to take a full and active part in the various agricultural labours. The norm was to take only one wife, yet polygamy was practiced, it being the privilege of the military and elite classes to take other spouses as a gift from the Inca or alliance. Their first obligation however was looking after the fields—the irrigation systems, the construction of new terraces or “patas” and tending to the conservation of foodstuffs. Men and women shared in this task, accompanied by songs, chants and rhythms to lighten their load. Music was one of the most outstanding features of Andean life, forming an integral part not only of work, but also all festivities and rituals, both local and regional.
Musical instruments, such as tambours, flutes, pututos, bells, ocarinas and trumpets were played by both sexes as they sang and danced. Everyone took part and one can still see scenes depicted on ceramic ware showing large lines of people holding hands and dancing, showing festivities from both daily life and other “from beyond the grave”. Corn liquor, or chicha was an ever-present during these celebrations and rituals, assuring that the joint was always jumping.
The games they played were also a reflection of many of their sacred rituals, as can be seen in the example of the pichca, resembling a dice game, and played during funeral ceremonies. In these burial rite, amidst the tears and grief, the most important deeds of the deceased person’s life were recalled, and in the case of the Incas, there conquests and exploits as warriors. Ancestors remained always present in their lives, forming a part of the ayllu as a sign of their identity for future generations.
religion and cosmology
Alicia Alonso
The immensity of the coastal desert, with its thousands of colours and textures, the beauty of the Andean lakes and the imposing snowy peaks presiding over everything below them, made Andean Man feel he was a part of a totally alive and changeable setting, with an active role to play within it. The animist concept that everything surrounding him was alive was reflected and recorded from the earliest times of his civilisation.
The Pachamama, or Mother Earth was, without doubt, his first point of reference, and soon became a central element in the numerous rituals that formed a part of day-to-day life. The relationship between his environment and the living things formed the basis for the first manifestations of an Andean religion, with animals and plants chosen as local “protectors” or “totems”. Felines, condors and snakes were some of the first examples as the religion soon reached the pinnacle of its splendour with their power centres and ceremonial centres where the official cult worshipped deities such as The Feline in Chavin de Huantar, the
God of the Staff in Tiwanako or the Sun and the Moon in Korikancha de Cusco.
From the archaeological remains of monuments and temples, as well as from art from the period, we can ascertain that there were a countless number of priests and specialists in rituals with a number of odd items of headgear in the form of animals or other symbols of authority, adopting strange postures or affecting various ritual gestures
as can be seen in many examples throughout this exhibition.
The large numbers of ceremonial chalices and utensils decorated with images of their deities confirms the importance placed in these official cults throughout this period of history. Oracles such as those found at Pachacamac (Lima) or Copacabana (Titicaca), in which the dried innards of llamas and birds were consulted for guidance as to the best moment
in which to take decisions, kept their fame until long after the Spanish occupation.
In return for protection, rainfall, good harvests and abundant and healthy livestock, the gods demanded oblations. The Quechuas and Aymaras willingly complied, offering foodstuffs such as corn, chicha, seashells such as spondylus, incredibly ornate textiles known as cumbi or animal sacrifices of llamas. The gods, however, were not satisfied and kept asking for more and so boys, girls, men and women were offered up on specific occasions. “The Cult of the Hills”, as can be seen in the exhibition, included the practice of such sacrifices and recent archaeological finds, such as those at Ambato, confirm this. Andean man climbed to heights above 5,000 metres above sea level in order to find favour with
his gods or his Inca.
Religious sentiment among the people followed the laws laid down by the ruling elite.
They took part in the celebrations and official offerings and yet they never forgot their own places of worship, the lakes and caves from where they had come, the strangely shaped rocks near their settlements, the places where they had buried their forebears and their hills were always their own local huacas.
Their shamans were the great specialists in the use of plants in herbal medicine, with which they would cure the sick or at least limit the effects of their illnesses as well as consulting the oracle of the dried intestines of cuy or guinea pig and reading coca leaves. Their mesas—literally “tables”, or altars—contained countless items of magical paraphernalia and offerings to the gods.
Nevertheless, there was one belief system shared by both rulers and peasants; the so- called “cult of the dead”. The Andean southern coast, (Paracas, Nasca) is our point of introduction to these burial rites that date back to 2000 BC. The dry desert environment, ideal conditions for conservation, has meant that bodies found there still maintain all their features and personalities. The later preparation of the corpse, most probably carried out by specialists, turned the bodies of into mummies, some of whom still conserve the haircuts, clothes and perfectly detailed facial expressions is still astonishing today. And yet these mummies were not left to rest in peace in their graves. Instead they formed an active part of religious life in general, they were worshipped, protection was sought from them and, on occasion, they were taken out and “walked” around the surrounding fields in order to ensure abundant harvests. In the case of the Incas, these mummies, both male and female, were looked after by their relations, consulted as oracles and venerated as gods.
These funeral rites clearly reflected the social position of the individual, as did the tombs of these leaders. A large quantity of ceramic ware was found there, along with shells, metal objects of all kinds, headdresses and furs, their own weapons, funeral masks and, most significantly, “the company of the deceased”. In his journey to the other side, they would attend to their lord’s needs. However, death was not considered in tragic or fatalistic terms in the Andes. It was instead regarded as a continuation of life. The belief in a world above our world and a third below us allowed them to order and make sense of the cosmos, and a balanced approach that, even today, typifies Andean people.
cultural syncretism
Víctor Mínguez
The first renaissance images that arrived in 16th Century Peru had been brought there from the Old Continent by the Spanish. The first European artists were not far behind, crossing the Atlantic to introduce the country to first, the aesthetics and iconography of Mannerism, and later, that of Baroque. In the early days, both the pieces exhibited and the artists that came tended to be Sevillians. During the second half of the 16th and beginning
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