Representing Difference in the Pre-Columbian Andes: An Iconographic Examination of Physical "Disability"

Summary

This paper will review iconographic representations of physical disabilities and differences from several Andean societies from different time periods, such as the Inka, Chimú, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Moche. People with physical disabilities were actively included in many societies throughout the Pre-Columbian Andes. Many cultures developed their own social perceptions that benefited people with physical disabilities and differences and they often thought the disabled were more intimately connected to spiritual worlds. People with differences were rarely depicted in a manner of despair, or being helped by others; quite the opposite, people with disabilities were virtually always operating independently even when depicted with a larger group. Artistic depictions of people with disabilities and physical differences often presented such individuals as being active – frequently participating in ritual, playing music, and even appearing content. People with physical differences and disabilities are some of the most overlooked individuals in current Andean research.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage