Hierarchy, Power, Identity and Time: Building a Khipu Simulacrum of Chachapoya Society at Laguna de los Cóndores

Summary

In 2005, the author published a study of a large khipu found in the plundered remains at the rock overhang site at Laguna de los Cóndores. That publication focused on the calendrical features of this khipu, showing that it was composed of cord groupings that constituted a two-year calendar. Subsequent study of the large sample and other, smaller khipus also found at the site show evidence of a process of the collection of information from several smaller cord records (perhaps from subordinate khipukamayuqs in the region) and their synthesis, perhaps by a head khipu-keeper residing at the lake, into the large khipu. This paper explores the evidence in these materials for a process of constructing a khipu model – a simulacrum – of the hierarchical Chacha/Inka society that was emerging in the area at the time.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• What was Chachapoyas?: Towards a cultural geography of the northeastern Peruvian Andes   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage