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CEREMONIAL ROADS IN THE APUS OF TAWANTINSUYU

LOS CAMINOS CEREMONIALES EN LOS APUS DEL TAWANTINSUYU

Christian Vitry

During the process of territorial expansion of the Incas, the road systems played an essential structural role by shaping a type of spatial continuity through built infrastructure, which started in the capital of Tawantinsuyu and spread to distant peripheries. Far from being considered as obstacles or inaccessible places, the vast Andean landscapes and their high mountains were the abode of deities, which shaped a symbolic and ideological territoriality with strong material and cultural presence in the landscapes. So far, a little more than two hundred mountains with archaeological evidence have been studied in the Andes and other neighboring mountain ranges. On fifteen of these mountains human offerings were made, and in many of them, ceremonial roads leading to the top of the peaks have been surveyed. We have previously referred to the paths of Mount Chañi and the Llullaillaco volcano. Here, we present an extensive list of mountains with roads in an attempt to establish some archaeological and spatial indicators of these particular paths, built in some of the most extreme environments in the world.

Tags: Capacocha, apus, Ceremonial roads, high mountain archaeology, sacred mountains

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