Housing the Dead, Assembling Kin: The Construction and Use of Chullpa Tombs during the Middle Horizon in the Callejón de Huaylas Valley, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the highland Andes, archaeologists often emphasize the late prehispanic era (post-1000 CE) when examining the widespread mortuary tradition of interring the deceased in above-ground tombs known as chullpas. Our understanding of this practice during the preceding centuries, however, remains limited due to the smaller geographic distribution of early chullpas. In this paper, we present findings from excavations at two Middle Horizon (700-1000 CE) archaeological sites in the Callejón de Huaylas—Hualcayán and Jecosh—to assess how local peoples adopted this funerary tradition in different communities. We discuss the material evidence for distinct chullpa building techniques, their spatial layout and location on the landscape, the feasting and offerings found outside the structures, and the social identities of the deceased interred inside them. As monumental architecture and focal points of ritual interaction, these chullpas were impressive settings where communities of mourners gathered to venerate the dead and ask them to intercede on their behalf. Yet, our data for the use and decommissioning of chullpas points to how communities perceived chullpa tombs as much more than venues for interring and feeding the dead: they may have also considered chullpas to be social actors with personhood and agency, even kin, much like many Andean houses.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39997.0