The Creation of Colonial Sacred Space and Landscapes around Nevado Sajama, Bolivia

Summary

Around the mountain of Sajama in western Bolivia exists a network of pre-Hispanic linear pathways that connect villages, chapels, churches, and hilltop altars. These pathways were primarily used in the Colonial era (1532-1825) but are still used by the local Aymara people for fiestas and rituals. The creation and transformation of this space demonstrates a changing ritual practice that occasionally reused pre-Hispanic places to combine Catholic and Andean sacred elements. Through this negotiation of practice, the local Aymara people were able to integrate Spanish colonial strategies into local understandings of the landscape, space, and ritual. In order to examine the nature of this transformation, I combine informal ethnographic data concerning the modern-day use of these pathways along with the material remains of rituals around nine pathways, five chapels, and thirteen altars located primarily around the pueblo of Sajama.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage