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Rocks in the Landscape: Managing the Inka Agricultural Cycle

Article  in  The Antiquaries Journal · September 2006

DOI: 10.1017/S0003581500000056

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The Antiquaries Journal, 86, 2006, pp 36–65

ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING

THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE
Frank Meddens, FSA*

In this paper an extensive structured system of carved stones in Peru’s Chicha valley is presented
in its local setting, analysed within its agricultural and social context and compared with similar
landscape features elsewhere. In any agricultural society, the timing of planting, irrigation and
harvesting events is crucial to maintaining crop yields. To a state system where the
administration is dependent on non-written systems of record-keeping, highly visible landscape
markers would be essential in defining labour allocations and designating the appropriate
allotment of irrigation water. This paper presents evidence that boundaries for water distribution
and for management of the irrigation cycles during the Late Horizon period of Peruvian
prehistory (c AD 1438ä–ä1534) were clearly set out and marked in a manner that enabled state
administrators to manage the agricultural round. Though clearly the use of quipu-basedä1
recording systems should not be underestimated in this context, timing of the agricultural cycle
on a local level could not solely be dependent on central directives from Cusco: local calendrical
tools were necessary to ensure successful agricultural seasons.

CUP-MARKED STONES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION

During archaeological work carried out by the author in 1999 in the Chicha/Soras valley
of the Southern highlands of Peru, cup-marked stones were noted along tributaries to
the Chicha river (fig 1).ä2 This rock art is of a type that is relatively easy to create using a
large hammer stone, as the sculptor lets gravity do much of the work by dropping the
hammer stone on the rock and catching it on the rebound. It is a type of decoration that
has been reproduced all over the world and is linked with a wide range of prehistoric
periods. Stones and boulders with carved dish-like depressions like those located in the
Chicha valley are found on sites known to date from the Early Horizon (c 900ä–ä200 BC),ä3
the Middle Horizon (c AD 600ä–ä1000) and the Late Horizon (c AD 1438ä–ä1534) in
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Similar petroglyphs are known from
Scotlandä4 (dating from the Neolithic well into the Bronze Age),ä5 from Scandinavia
(where they date to the Bronze Age and constitute the single most frequent type of
petroglyph)ä6 and from Ireland, Portugal, Spain, eastern Europe, Australia and Fiji.ä7
Cup-marked rocks appear to be associated with points of transformation, defined as
a significant change in the landscape from one state to another, such as a boundary or
the beginning or end of a feature. Examples include the points where rivers or streams
are joined by tributaries or run into marshes, at irrigation intakes, at the boundaries of a
sacred space (such as the edge of a stone circle), at the boundary of inhabited with
uninhabited land, of cultivated with uncultivated land, at territorial boundaries,
boundaries of eco-zones or at the margins of land and sea.

* Frank Meddens, 22 Carholme Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 2HS, UK.
E-mail: <meddens@vossnet.co.uk>.
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE

Fig 1. The Chicha valley and its location in Peru with the distribution of the rocks, principal archaeological sites and present-day
villages referred to in the text
37
38 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

The examples from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru described below
have been compiled through a literature search and discussions with archaeologists and
anthropologists active in the Andes. They do not constitute an exhaustive listing but
serve to indicate the range of locations with this type of petroglyph and the
characteristics of these sites. It will become clear that the phenomenon is widespread,
frequently occurs in similar contexts and is often late prehistoric in date.
Ian Farrington has noted carved stones with dish-like petroglyphs in significant
numbers around the Inka site of El Shinkal de Quimivil in Argentina, located on hilltops
on vertical and horizontal surfaces and on rocks in rivers and canals. They are usually
called morteritos (‘small mortars’) in this area but Farrington is not convinced that they
are always functional, or that they are exclusively Inkaä8 in cultural affiliation. Cup-
marked and linear rock designs are known from the Quebrada de Humahuaca in north-
eastern Argentina. These have been linked to water sources and the Inka road, which
runs through this area.ä9
Cup-marked rocks have been reported from Yotau de Guarayos on the bank of the
San Julian river in eastern Bolivia. At least some of the groups of cup marks here appear
to form parts of larger, more complex designs.ä10
A carved stone with two cups in the top surface at the Inka site of Chena in the
Maipo valley in central Chile appears to be positioned in a location of transition between
two parts of the site,ä11 comprising high points separated from each other by a low
saddle.
A stone complex with sixty-four rocks with cup marks and seventy-three rocks with
other petroglyphs is located in the El Encanto valley in central (El Norte Chico) Chile.
The stones have between two and forty-two cup marks distributed in irregular groups in
the top surfaces. The cup-marked stones are located in the riverbed itself and on the
riverbank at the point where the river sinks seasonally into a subterranean channel. At
least two of the other petroglyphs include two-headed serpent images (a possible variant
of the Amaru, the mythological Andean serpent or dragon, which is discussed below).
The rock sanctuary is thought to relate to a water and ancestor cult linked to agricultural
fertility. The cup marks are interpreted as having filled seasonally with rain water or, in
the case of the ones in the dry riverbed, with river water and are also thought to have
been used as a place for offerings. Dating is uncertain but an immediately pre-Inka or
Inka date is considered possible.ä12 A further large group of cup-marked stones is known
from Guanaqueros, south of the city of Serena.ä13
In northern Chile, in the adjoining coastal Lluta and Azapa valleys, various cup-
marked rock complexes have been identified. At the Millune habitation site in the Lluta
valley, there are three rocks with petroglyphs in the eastern sector of the site,
distinguished from the remainder of the settlement by having significantly smaller
circular structures.ä14 The carvings here comprise abstract cup marks and linear designs.
Surface material dates to the late pre-Hispanic period, and so is approximately
contemporary with the Inka examples. The site of Vinto, also in the Lluta valley, is
distinct from the other two sites with cup marks in this region in having a demonstrable
Inka presence. The nine carved rocks here are predominantly located on the eastern
margin of the site, in a sector defined by a wall and on the eastern side of an Inka-type
habitation compound, or kancha. The designs again comprise abstract cup marks and
linear configurations. At the site of Achuyo, in the Azapa valley, twenty-four carved
rocks are found in the habitation zone of the settlement, all outside buildings, but with
some incorporated in the walls. The motifs comprise abstract cup marks and linear
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 39

examples as well as a small number of figurative outlines of Andean camelids (llamas,

alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos). This site also dates from the late pre-Hispanic period.ä15
Cup-marked rocks of pre-Inka date are known from various valleys in western Chile and
southern Peru.ä16
Cup-marked rocks also occur on rock outcrops and boulders at the Inka site of Inga
Pirca in the Cañar valley in the Southern highlands of Ecuador.ä17
A group of boulders decorated with cup marks and other petroglyphs, including
spirals and other curvilinear designs, is located on the Cruz Moqo hill north of the Inka
site of Tipon in the Cusco valley in Peru.ä18 Bauer tentatively dates the petroglyphs here
to the Archaic period (Pre-Ceramic non-farming cultures of about 6000 to 1800 BC)
although he expresses little confidence in this dating.
A rock with two carved dishes identified as a ‘double mortar’ has been noted at the
Late Horizon site of Maranpampa, located on the eastern slopes of the Andes, 1.6km
north east of the site of Machu Picchu, in the Urubamba river valley.ä19
Other carved rocks with dish-like depressions have been noted in the Huayrapata
and Ayamonte sectors of Huari by Ismael Pérez Calderón, who speculates that their
ritual function at this site may be related to the Pleiades star cluster because of the
configuration of the carved dishes.ä20 The examples at Huari are not associated with
obvious bodies of water or canals.
At the Tajra Chullo site in the Virjinilloc valley, in the province of Espinar,
department of Cusco, there are thirty or more carved rocks on top of the flat mountain
forming the eastern sector of the site. This site is located at the point where a tributary
stream joins the main river. These rocks have one or two circular depressions of around
300mm diameter with a depth of 50mm to 80mm carved in their top surface.ä21 They are
similar to two of the carved rocks at Ayapampa in the Chicha valley.
In the Sondondo valley, neighbouring the Chicha valley to the west, a couple of sites
have bedrock mortars with holes of 200mm or more in diameter. These occur in small
groups of two or three. At the Huaycahuacho sacred rock/shrine in the proximity of a
thermal spring there is a rock similar to the cup-marked ones found in the Chicha area.
A number of small boulders are carved into what appear to be models of terraces and
irrigation canals in the Sondondo valley. Most of the latter are near sites provisionally
dated to the Late Intermediate Period (c AD 1000ä–ä1438).ä22
In the department of Ayacucho in the Quebrada Yanamayo, in the district of
San Pedro de Huaya, in V Fajardo province (13° 53, 08.8- S by 73° 55, 47.5- W), a single
large cup-marked rock with six larger cup marks and three smaller ones, with the former
in an ‘S’ configuration, is situated on the left side of the Yanamayo stream, or actually in
the stream itself. Ancient agricultural terracing is present in the immediate vicinity, but
the actual settlement sites are some distance away and the nearest ones (Huaylla and
Tiquihua) are Middle Horizon in date.ä23
At the site of Campanilla, east of the hill of Huepon in Chachapoyas, a cup-marked
boulder, which additionally has petroglyphs depicting spirals, serpent-shaped
ornaments, zigzags and a bird head with feathers, is associated with other carved rocks.
The carved rocks complex here is on the riverbank and appears to be linked to a water
cult. It might date to the Inka period.ä24
At the entrance to the largely Middle Horizon site of Conchucos, in Chacas in the
department of Ancash near Huaraz, a sizeable area of outcropping bedrock is covered in
large numbers of cup marks.ä25 The petroglyphs here are located on the boundary of
habitation and uninhabited space.
40 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

In the centre of the patio of the ‘new’ temple of Chavín de Huántar, of Early
Horizon date, is a stone with seven cup marks on its upper face. This arrangement of
cup marks has been interpreted as being a representation of the Pleiades.ä26
At the ceremonial site of Poro-Poro, close to Monte Calvario in the Alta Saña valley,
dated to the Early Horizon, or to the earlier Initial Period (c 1800ä–ä900 BC),ä27 a cup-
marked rock has been located that has been linked to a water cult or to astronomical
observations.ä28
Near Yonan in the Jequetepeque valley, on the north coast of Peru, two rocks have
been recorded with three large cup/bedrock-mortar-type depressions. Both are
associated with additional petroglyphs comprising more figurative designs. The
petroglyphs at Yonan are located between the Rio Jequetepeque and the dry riverbed of
one of its seasonal tributaries.ä29
In the Casma valley, near and to the west of the Sechín temple, there is a rock with
cup-like depressions and a linear design in its top surface.ä30 South of Huaricanga, in the
Quebrada de Huancapampa, in the Rio Fortaleza valley, a typical cup-marked rock has
been identified, with a large number of cup marks in the top surface.ä31 In the
Rio Chillón valley, a cup-marked rock is present among the Checta complex of
petroglyphs. The marks here are also in the top surface, although they are relatively
small in size, being 20mm to 50mm in diameter.ä32 Further cup-marked rocks have been
reported from Checta, including one at the entrance into the site and a further two
positioned near the centre of the site, with hundreds of cup marks on their horizontal
and vertical faces. One of these includes other petroglyphs, such as a fish and part of the
head of another, a shell and a further sea animal. A fourth cup-marked rock, located in
the higher sector of this site, includes an anthropomorphic figure among the cup marks.
Finally, an isolated cup-marked rock about 1km from Checta in the Quebrada Pucara is
associated with probable agricultural terraces.ä33
At the site of Mochumí, in the La Leche river valley, a single isolated large cup-
marked rock is known. In the same region similar rocks are known from the right bank
of the Chiñama river, sometimes associated with canals.ä34
Other examples have been reported from the site of Chuchusurco, in the Lurín
valley, apparently associated with platforms and agricultural terracing dated to the Early
Intermediate Period. Again, similar rocks are known from the entrance into one of the
occupation zones of the site of Chaymayanca, on the opposite bank of the Lurín river,
next to a sanctuary of one of the sons of the deity, known as Pariacaca. This site was
occupied from the Middle Horizon into the conquest period and is near the road linking
the Rímac with the Lurín valleys.ä35

THE CARVED STONES IN THE CHICHA VALLEY AND THEIR

DISTRIBUTION

The author carried out archaeological survey and excavation work in the study area over
a number of years between 1979 and 1982 and again in 1999 and 2000.ä36 A fieldwalking
survey carried out in the 1980s combined a stratified random sample covering
10 per cent of 18km of the length of the valley plus additional sectors identified by local
informants. The later fieldwork involved further fieldwalking over a smaller section of
the valley, concentrating on gaps in the earlier survey work, combined again with
information supplied by local guides. This has resulted in a detailed and comprehensive
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 41

coverage of the sample area over a series of field seasons. The indigenous informants
always proved to be highly reliable and thorough in their local knowledge.
As a result, forty cup-marked rocks have been located so far (see fig 1), and others
exist according to local informants. They consist of large boulders measuring from
around 1m by 1m by 1m to more than 5m by 4m by 1m in size. Thirty-five of those
examined had dish-like depressions in the top surface; four others had similar
depressions in one of the sides, and there was a single example with cup marks in two of
its opposing sides. Of the four with cup marks in the sides, two had been moved from
their original location when a road was constructed between the villages of Pampachiri
and Chicha and one was moved during the building of a boundary wall in the village of
Chicha. The depressions range in number from 2 to 178. Their sizes are predominantly
in the 80mm to 100mm diameter range, with a depth of 40mm to 80mm.
The distribution of cup-marked rocks in the Chicha valley follows a consistent
pattern: all but two are located on the northern banks of tributaries joining the Chicha
river from the east and on the southern banks of tributaries joining the Chicha river from
the west – looking in the direction of the water’s flow, they are all on the right-hand
bank. There are two exceptions to this pattern (one on each side of the Chicha) and in
both cases these stones lie alongside disused irrigation canals.
A single small rock, trapezoidal in shape viewed from the top (the base measures
0.85m, the two sides that taper in from the base are 1m long and the top edge measures
0.35m) with fourteen depressions carved in the top surface, is located just north of the
village of Pampachiri, east of the high school at 14° 10, 40.4- S by 73° 32, 41.37- W, at an
altitude of c 3,450m asl (altitude above sea level), east of the Late Intermediate Period
site of Chumayoc (see fig 1). It was found in the path running east of the school along
which a small stream also drains, and is also very close to the north bank of the Molino
river. The top surface projects only marginally above the ground surface and the
depressions are c 100mm in diameter and c 50mm in depth.
Some 1.8km south of the Pampachiri rock five more carved stones can be found at
14° 11, 28.24- S by 73° 32, 13.67- W at an altitude of c 3,335m asl (fig 2). These are
located along the north bank of the Quebrada Palcca stream, draining out of the marsh
called Chapitun Huju (‘wet place’ or ‘wet hairy dog marsh’), and in an area known as
Toqtoqasa (see fig 1). At the point where the stream drains out of the boggy basin a wall
is constructed across the exit point. This served to regulate the water flow, and two
further cross walls exist within 60m downstream, regulating the flow of the water and
creating small sections of boggy ground. It seems likely that the stream itself was
canalized along at least some parts of its course, though evidence of canalization is not
now easily recognized. A single cup-marked boulder lies just above and east of the
drainage point formed by the first most easterly cross wall (14° 11, 38.3- S by
73° 32, 16.6- W). It has eleven depressions in its top – slightly south-facing – aspect (this
boulder, A on fig 2, is not illustrated). Two carved boulders lie side by side just above
the drainage point (14° 11, 27.57- S by 73° 32, 10.61- W). The northern one (fig 3B) has
fourteen depressions and the southernmost (fig 3C) has eighteen; in both instances these
are carved in the top surface of the boulders. The depressions here have a diameter of
c 100mm and a depth of c 60mm. A smaller rock with eighteen carved depressions lies
some 30m further west, slightly down slope (14° 11, 28.24- S by 73° 32, 13.67- W) with
the carving in the west-facing aspect (fig 3D). A further 30m west, and still further down
slope (at 14° 11, 28.99- S by 73° 32, 14.27- W), a fifth large linear boulder can be found,
on an eastä–äwest alignment, with ten depressions carved in the top surface (fig 3E). The
42 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

Fig 2. Distribution of the five

cup-marked rocks located on the
west side of the Chapitun Huju
marsh in the Toqtoqasa area

Fig 3. Cup-marked rocks Bä–äE at Toqtoqasa

ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 43

Fig 4. A rock at Ayapampa with 113 cup marks

Fig 5. A rock at Ayapampa with 34 cup marks

44 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

stones here, when viewed standing alongside the stream from below, present a markedly
ragged profile running along the top edge of the quebrada (ravine). Similarly, looking
east along the edge of the quebrada, up along the Chapitun Huju marsh they stand out to
the view of any observer.
By far the largest concentration of carved rocks found in the Chicha area lies a
further 1.2km south, at Ayapampa. The area comprises a small basin on a natural
terrace of the Chicha valley, situated alongside one of the larger marshy areas to be
found in this section of the valley and immediately north of the widest sector of relatively
level floodplain to be found within the valley. Here, twenty-one carved boulders lie on
the north side of the marsh, which drains into a still-used irrigation canal whose original
course has been modified to take account of present irrigation needs. It forms part of a
former stream, the course of which can be traced in the channel it carved out of the
terrain to the point where it drained into the Rio Chicha. The stones are large and have
numerous carved dishes or cup marks (figs 4 and 5). Two have larger than average
sized bowls (c 300mm in diameter), comparable to bedrock mortars. The individual
characteristics of the twenty-one rocks are detailed in table 1.
Somewhat upstream of this location, at Ishcaywanka, a further carved rock is found,
located in the stream itself (14° 12, 19.4- S by 73° 31, 41.8- W, at 3,443m asl). At
Tornopampa, formerly known as Yana Orqo (14° 11, 58.8- S by 73° 31, 50.0- W, at
3,449m asl), to the north east, a carved rock with twenty-two dish depressions in its
surface is found. It is situated along the north-western side of a former irrigation canal.
On the west bank of the Rio Chicha, in the village of Chicha, along the south side of
the Rio Pachachaca, two further carved stones can be found. The first, with three dish
depressions in its surface, is located at 14° 13, 14.3- S by 73° 32, 05.2- W. The second
was probably moved from its original location and reused where it now stands on its side
in a boundary wall (14° 13, 13.6- S by 73° 32, 04.2- W). It has one small depression and
a second much larger one, like a grinding-stone.
In the Wallpa Wiri sector of the Late Horizon site of Imglesiachayoc (see fig 1) a
further stone with dish-like depressions is present alongside a former irrigation ditch
(further details not currently available).
A further eight rocks are located north west of the village of San Pedro de Larcay,
slightly above and west of the Late Horizon site of Laymi, along the southern margin of
the Rio Quichquicha, in an area called Marcalo (see fig 1). All have cup marks in their
top surfaces. One has twenty-four depressions (at 14° 09, 02.7- S by 73° 35, 12.0- W,
3,455m asl), one has ten depressions (14° 09, 03.2,, S by 73° 35, 13.2,, W, 3,462m asl),
one has five cup marks (14° 09, 03.3,, S by 73° 35, 13.2,, W, 3,462m asl), one has six
depressions (14° 09, 03.0,, S by 73° 35, 13.1,, W, 3,461m asl), one with water running
over part of the surface from the adjoining stream (14° 09, 02.3,, S by 73° 35, 15.8,, W,
3,468m asl) has twenty-six depressions (and possibly more, as the boulder was not fully
exposed), one has eleven cups (14° 09, 02.5- S by 73° 35, 16.4- W 3,472m asl), one has
seventeen (14° 08, 50.0- S by 73° 35, 29.4, W, 3,510m asl) and a final one, located slightly
upstream near the irrigation canal intake, has around thirty-six cup marks.ä37
These rocks are positioned along a boggy section of the stream situated near the
irrigation canal intake for one of the canals supplying Laymi, its cochas (artificial basins)
and the terracing below. Laymi is an important Late Horizon site with forty to sixty
circular structures, a set of three cochas, a number of chullpas (burial towers),ä38 a
substantial ushnu (‘throne’ platform)ä39 with adjoining plaza and extensive irrigated
terracing. Minor late Late Intermediate Period (c AD 1000ä–ä1438) occupation might be
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 45

Table 1. Carved rocks at Ayapampa

Description South West Altitude Number of Diameter Depth
(m) (asl) cup marks (m) (m)

Large boulder with 14° 11, 73° 32, 3,360 1 0.25 0.1
single carved 31.39- 13.72-
dish-like depression
Stone 11 14° 12, 73° 32,
18.7- 03.2- 3,429 2 0.125 0.04
Large boulder with 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,360 3 0.3ä–ä0.1 0.1ä–ä0.05
three depressions 22.93- 07.09-
and channel
Boulder, dish-like 14° 12, 73° 32,
depressions in top 14.01- 01.54- 3,360 8 0.1 0.04
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,373 12 0.08 0.04
east side road, 19.61- 06.78-
Ayapampa, dish-like holes
in side, broken, moved
in road construction?,
holes in west-facing side
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,380 14 0.08 0.05
dish-like depressions, 09.58- 01.3-
at Ayapampa, next to
mire and irrigation canal
Dish-like depressions 14° 11, 73° 32, 3,335 19 0.08 0.06
carved in top of 27.6- 10.6-
boulder north of stream
draining from marsh
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,374 26 0.08 0.04
west side of road, 20.39- 06.7-
Ayapampa, dish-like
holes in top surface,
angled slightly facing east
Boulder, dish-like 14° 12, 73° 31, 3,360 34 0.08 0.04
depressions in top, 11.06- 58.43-
top angled (fig 4)
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,373 39 0.08 0.04
east side road, 19.61- 06.78-
Ayapampa, dish-like holes
in side, broken, moved in
road construction?, holes
in west-facing side
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 31, 3,360 40 W- 0.1 0.04
dish-like depressions 17.32- 59.42- facing,
in two opposing sides, 4 E-facing
west- and east-facing

(continued)
46 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

Table 1. Continued
Description South West Altitude Number of Diameter Depth
(m) (asl) cup marks (m) (m)

Large flat boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,360 44 0.1 0.05
rising just above 15.12- 01.73-
turf level, dish-like
depressions carved in top,
central configuration
similar to an inverted
6 shape
Large boulder with 14° 12, 73° 31, 3,380 54 0.08 0.04
carved dish-like 12.04- 57.75-
depressions in top,
most of boulder below
ground, top near turf level
Stone 9, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,425 55 0.09 0.08
stone measured 18.4- 04.0-
5.2m " 4.2m by 1m in
height
Large flat boulder, 14° 12, 73° 31, 3,360 69 0.1 0.05
dish-like depressions 17.32- 59.42-
in top, top slightly
angled, line? across
Stone 10 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,425 84 0.1 0.08
18.2- 02.6-
Large flat boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,360 113 0.1 0.05
rising just above 13.82- 02.04-
turf level, dish-like
depressions carved in
top (fig 5)
Large boulder with 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,360 178 0.1 0.06
around 178 dish-like 13.07- 01.01-
holes in top
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 31, 3,380 30 0.1 0.05
dish-like depressions, 10.40- 56.9-
at Ayapampa, next to
mire and irrigation canal
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 31, 3,360 44 0.1 0.06
dish-like depressions 10.38- 58.66-
in top
Large boulder, 14° 12, 73° 32, 3,360 33 0.1 0.05
dish-like depressions 14.25- 03.77-
in top
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 47

present and there is evidence for limited colonial period occupation. The cup marks in
these stones appear to have been created by use of a hammer stone, with some evidence
of grinding to smooth out the cup shapes. Some stones show evidence for the
superimposition of carved cup marks, particularly where larger numbers of cup marks
are present. No attempt has been made to establish any sequencing within these
carvings, but the superimposition of cup marks indicates that a concept of the order in
which the marks were carved formed one aspect of their creation.

The Ayapampa Standing Stone

Immediately west of the carved boulder complex at Ayapampa lies a low rectangular
platform, c 200mm in height, measuring c 26.6m by 24.3m. The platform edges are
faced in unmodified stones. A small stela-like monolith is positioned at its centre
(14° 12, 05.99- S by 73° 32, 03.79- W, at an altitude of c 3,380m asl), measuring c 0.55m
by 0.40m at the base and c 1.37m in height. Immediately west of the platform a hill rises
in a pronounced manner, its crest forming the western horizon. The eastern horizon is
formed by the point at which the steep escarpment of the Chicha valley terminates and
the altiplano (tableland) begins. Due east is the point where a stream (the Quebrada
Puna Puquio) enters the valley with a steep drop, defined by a waterfall. This location,
known as Infiernillo, is also the point where an ancient irrigation canal enters the valley
and where its irrigation intake is located. The canal (fig 6) appears to be Late Horizon in
date, based on the terracing which it serves and the sites (such as site A20)ä40 associated
with these terrace systems.
On the day that the Ayapampa carved rocks and standing stone were first recognized
(Monday 23 August 1999), a particular event was also observed. At 16.30 hours (with
the setting sun at an altitude above the horizon of 17° 38, at an azimuth of 287° 04, west)
the small monolith was seen to cast a long shadow pointing directly at the rising moon
(at an altitude of 18° 13, and at an azimuth of 106° 14, east). The event observed recurs
at regular intervals and at certain times the alignment is better than at others. Following
the Metonic cycle, nineteen years (or 235 lunar months, covering all the changes of the
moon’s position relative to the sun and the earth) would need to pass before the next
nearest approximation to this event. Viewing the eastern horizon along the direction of
the shadow cast by the stone, a single feature stood out: the notch along the skyline
where the Quebrada Puna Puquio and the ancient irrigation canal enter the valley.
The date of this event might be significant because 23 August is at the start of the
Inka month of Yapaquiz (22 August to 22 September, or commencing at the closest new
moon date). This was the sowing month and the month when the annual Moon festival
of Situa took place, a time when all sin, pollution and disease were banished from the
empire and the community and its lands were ritually cleansed in preparation for
sowing.ä41 The chronicler Juan de Betanzos places Situa (also called Cituaiquis and
Situayquis) in September,ä42 and has two festivals for this month: participants at the first
washed from midnight to sunrise and carried burning torches, while the second (called
Purappucquiu or Porapuipia) entailed an offering of textiles and camelids to the
waters.ä43 The month in which Situa was celebrated appears to have included parts of
both August and September but this, and the differences given for the date between the
various chroniclers, do not present a problem – indeed some degree of variation is
inevitable for festivals associated with the moon. According to Felipe Guamán Poma de
Ayala, August was the month of Chacra Yapui, when lesser deities were honoured,
48 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

Fig 6. The point at which the Quebrada Puna Puquio enters the Chicha valley at
Infiernillo. The horizon profile is interrupted by the gorge eroded out by the Puna
Puquio stream

labour organized and ploughing started. This was also the month when the timing and
progress of the sun was monitored and the condition of the soil verified. It was the
following month of September, which Guamán Poma de Ayala identified as Coya
Raymi, that he linked with the festival of the moon and purification.ä44 Guamán Poma de
Ayala may be more appropriate to a study of the Rio Chicha area than any other
chronicler because he came from, or lived a significant part of his life in, the nearby
Lucanas Andamarca area and is more likely to have been informed of practices local to
this region and relevant to the local calendar and agricultural cycle. Having said that,
many chroniclers copied each other’s information and Guamán Poma de Ayala appears
to have taken much of his calendrical data from Juan Polo de Ondegardo.ä45
Cristóbal de Molina (c 1570) described the Situa ritual that was held in the main
plaza of Huacaypata, in Cusco, during the month of August. Molina states that the
festival took place at the time of the conjunction of the moon (probably signifying the
astronomical new moon in this context). Foreigners and people with disabilities were
expelled to a distance of two leagues from Cusco for the duration of the celebration.
Four groups of one hundred warriors gathered at Huacaypata around the usno (here
including a stone basin) for libations of chicha (maize beer). Each of these groups then
took one of the four main roads leading out of Cusco to one of the four quarters (or
suyus), shouting in order to banish all evil and polluted things. These cries were handed
over to ayllus (localized kin groups usually claiming descent from a common ancestor) of
mitimaes (settlers from another area, representing Inka state colonists) at regular intervals
(around every two leagues); they in turn carried the cries banishing dirt and evil to the
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 49

main rivers, where they washed their weapons and clothes in the waters which drained
the evil and dirt to the sea, thus purifying the state.ä46

DISCUSSION AND DATINGä47

The Inkas, and many of their subject peoples, recognized selected stones and boulders
in the landscape as being sacred and as defining sacred space. Sacred stones are
mentioned by a number of chroniclers, although their descriptions on the whole are
inadequate to establish whether they are referring to natural unmodified rocks or carved
stones. Polo de Ondegardo listed rocks or large stones as being among the items
worshipped by the Indians,ä48 and of the 328 huacas (sacred shrines or focal points in the
landscape) listed by Bernabé Cobo on the ceque system (sacred land divisionsä49) at
Cusco, 108 were stones or rocks.ä50
In briefly discussing the huacas of the provinces of the Chancas, Aymaraes and Soras,
Albornozä 51 mentions Aycho Guaca, which was a stone on the slopes of Suparaura
(another huaca and mountain), Uscovilca, another stone, in the village of Andahuaylas,
Llahapalla of the Chancas, and Auqui Uscuntay of the Soras,ä52 a stone on a mountain
top. He states that there were thousands more huacas in these provinces. The
importance of this information lies in the fact that almost all the huacas referred to by
name here are stones. Some had shapes like dressed humans, and had houses or temples
associated with them; others lack descriptive detail.
An important feature of the carved rocks in the Chicha valley is that, with very few
exceptions, the circular depressions appear in their horizontal top surfaces. The
exceptions are two rocks on the Apurimac side and the single rock on the Ayacucho side
of the river (both of which appear to have been moved from their original positions), one
at Toqtoqasa with the depressions in its south-facing aspect and another at Ayapampa
(both of which still appear to be in their original situation). The one at Ayapampa is of
particular interest as it has cup marks in both its east- and west-facing aspects and is
unique within the system of carved rocks. The great majority of the rocks (totalling
thirty-five out of the thirty-seven still in their original position) have a flat or slightly
angled top surface into which the depressions were carved.
Although no detailed study of the patterns represented in the petroglyphs has as yet
been completed, some striking similarities have been observed between two of the rocks
at Toqtoqasa, which both have eighteen cup marks in a very similar S-like configuration.
Other recurring patterns might yet be found, and the presence of repeating motifs,
together with the concept of sequencing as demonstrated by the occurrence of
superimposed cup marks, is of particular interest. If cup marks were carved over a
prolonged period of time, with new configurations being added over a series of seasons,
the stones could include a number of distinct superimposed motifs. The petroglyphs
would have been used and created at ritually prescribed times of the year and in that
sense served to register time and seasons.ä53
Several archaeologists, including Moseley and Grossman, interpret cup marks as
morteritos or bedrock mortars.ä54 Certain examples in the Chicha valley, such as one
observed at Chicha and two more at Ayapampa, might have served this purpose. The
association of grinding-stones with a ritual function would not be incompatible with the
agricultural context of the carved stones. The circular bowl-like depressions could serve
to receive offerings, in either a solid or liquid form. As they are mostly located in the
50 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

horizontal top surface of the boulders, rituals associated with them might also have been
related to times at which the depressions were naturally filled with rainwater.
The Chicha valley rocks are all buried, with only their flat carved surfaces exposed at
turf level, or fully exposed (either lying on the ground, or on top of another rock with
the carved face not visible unless the rock is climbed, or viewed from above). It is not
clear whether this buried/unburied dichotomy has any significance with respect to the
use and function of the stones. Considering the geo-morphological characteristics of the
region, it is very unlikely that the buried rocks’ positions result from worm activity or
erosional action; it seems to be an inherent attribute, and might reflect an inside/outside
polarity (or uku pachaä55 and kay pachaä56). In this respect it should also be noted that all
the boulders with cup marks in the Chicha valley appear to be discrete entities, whereas,
for instance, the ones known at the Conchucos site in Chacas in the department of
Ancash are on a bedrock outcrop.ä57
The dish-like depressions in the tops of the carved rocks would easily fill up with
water and mud at times of rain and, indeed, could easily be filled with water from
nearby water features, or other liquids, such as blood. The latter thought is prompted by
the chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega’s statement that the Piedra Cansada (‘tired stone’)ä58
‘cried blood’ when it was abandoned.ä59 A cup-marked rock with depressions filled with
red mud would bear visual similarities to a rock ‘crying blood’. Sunlight and moonlight
would reflect in liquid-filled cup features, generating a visible link with sky deities. Van
de Guchte notes that the Piedra Cansada is an animated entity with human
characteristics, conceptually linked to water management, ideas of reciprocal balance
and sacrifice.ä60
It has already been noted that the Chicha valley pairing of carved rocks with water is
very consistent. They are mostly located alongside tributaries to the main (Chicha)
river, and the two exceptions are placed alongside irrigation canals. In his study of Inka
carved stones of the Late Horizon, Maarten van de Guchte concluded that carved
stones were found at carefully selected locations following concerns of a dynastic and
cosmological nature; that they were always paired with hydraulic features and frequently
associated with buildings; that they could be distinguished as being huaca or non-huaca,
and that in the guise of huaca they were classified either as pacarina (the sacred place of
origin of a social group, lineage or community) or huanca (the sacred protector of a field
or site).ä61
The location of carved stones with respect to bodies of water, where this has been
studied elsewhere, is often related to specific focal points, such as the point of confluence
of rivers; locations where a river becomes canalized; where an irrigation system enters a
valley; where an area is marshy (such as for example the sites of Phuyupatamarka and
Yurac rumi); or where springs originate.ä62 The principal characteristic which the Chicha
valley carved-rock complexes share with these and other Inka complexes is the link to a
transformation, or an aspect of change, within a body of water. They are associated, for
example, with marshy areas at Toqtoqasa, Ayapampa and Marcalo, with the end of an
irrigation system at Chicha, with the point where an irrigation system commences at
Marcalo, and with the points where walls have been constructed across streams at
Toqtoqasa. In the Chicha valley, carved stones are mostly in isolated groups and not
linked to architectural units. In contrast, other Inka carved stones are mostly associated
with architectural complexes and isolated stones are the exception.ä63
Of the Chicha valley carved rocks, two isolated examples occur in streambeds – one
on the northern side of Pampachiri, near the Colegio (high school) and the other at
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 51

Ishcaywanka. The Pampachiri example is tentatively identified in this respect, as the

stream is ephemeral and easily diverted. Indeed this stone may well be more directly
associated with the Molino river, a little to the south, rather than with this insignificant
stream, which might well not be in its original bed, and thus might not even be
contemporary with the carving of the stone. One of the stones at Marcalo is also
submerged regularly when water originating from the Rio Quichquicha runs over it.
Carved rocks, according to Van de Guchte, frequently occur in groups, which are
‘interrelated through visual bonding’.ä64 This concept can be exemplified in the Chicha
valley complexes, and is particularly clear in the Toqtoqasa group. The larger stones
here all share a denticulate profile when viewed from the base of the Quebrada Palcca;
when viewed in alignment, looking east, they draw in the managed marsh to the east of
the group.

Dating
The dating of the Chicha valley stone complexes starts with their association with other
dated sites. The only clear example in the Chicha valley is the association between a
cup-marked rock and the Late Horizon site of Imglesiachayoc/Wallpawiri. There are
two sites in close proximity to carved rock complexes: Chiqna Jota (see fig 1),
immediately south of the Chicha group, was occupied from the Middle Horizon II
period to the end of the Late Horizonä65 and the Marcalo group, located immediately
north west of Laymi, largely dates from the Late Horizon with minor Late Intermediate
Period and colonial occupations.
Further dating evidence comes from associated surface material, and from the date
of sites in other areas with similar rock complexes. In the Chicha valley carved-rock sites
are associated with Middle Horizon to Late Horizon period terracing and pottery and
lithic scatters of the same period. Sites elsewhere in the Andes where rock complexes
with cup marks have been found mostly date to the Late Horizon, with some examples
of Early Horizon through to Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate Period date.
Additional dating evidence derives from the distribution pattern of the cup-marked
rocks in the Chicha valley. The consistency of this pattern suggests the rocks form part
of an integrated structure formed over a relatively short period of time. If this were not
the case, a greater degree of variation in the pattern of positioning of the stones could be
anticipated, as well as greater variation in the size and positioning of the cup marks. On
balance a Late Horizon date for the Chicha valley carved-stone complex appears most
likely.

Standing Stones
Standing stones such as the one located on the low platform at Ayapampa in the Chicha
valley are known from other sites in Peru. Examples include Q’enqo, where there is a
low stone-faced platform, with a 6m-high standing stone. The site is located in a sector
named Socorro, immediately east of Cusco. Its position, close to a small hill, is similar
in configuration to that of the Ayapampa standing stone. This site has been linked with
the stone gnomons (‘saywas’ and ‘suqanqas’) seen by the first conquistadores when they
came to Cusco in the T’oqocachi sector of the city. Both Q’enqo and T’oqocachi are
part of the parish of San Blas, from where Polo de Ondegardo is known to have
retrieved the mummy of Pachacuti Inka Yupanquiä66 and various of his relatives.
52 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

Kenko Grande is located at 13° 30, 19- S and 71° 58, 16- W at an altitude of 3,590m
asl. A curved niched wall and a basin are associated with the standing natural stone. The
water appears to have exited the site through an acequia (water channel) to the east.ä67
The natural stone has been interpreted as once having been a carved sculpture, probably
of an animal (possibly a puma) which was mutilated at the time of the conquest, or
shortly thereafter.
At Tajra Chullo, in the Virjinilloc valley, another stone over 6m in height standing
on a platform is known from the Inka sector of the site. It is positioned in a large plaza,
along the eastern side of which a number of kallanka-typeä68 structures are found, at the
base of a mountain slope. The west and north-western sides are open, overlooking the
river, while there is another mountain slope to the south. The stone itself is unmodified
but gives the impression of having the shape of an animal, such as a guinea pig, sitting
on its rear quarters and looking straight up.
Standing stones and platforms are linked with a large number of Inka sites, from large
to small settlements, shrines and mountains.ä69 Garcilaso de la Vega described the Inka
use of such stones as gnomons. He states that richly carved stone columns were used to
monitor the equinoxes. These columns were placed in the plazas at the centre of a very
large circle in front of the temple of the sun. During the day of the equinox the column
was decorated with many flowers and aromatic herbs. On top of the column they placed
the seat of the sun, on which, they said, the sun sat down that day with all its light.ä70
Sarmiento de Gamboa also outlines the use the Inkas made of stone columns to make
astronomical observations and thus to establish the time for sowing and harvesting.ä71

The Myth of the ‘Amaru’

The myth of the ‘Amaru’ is relevant here because of the links it makes between water
and stone.ä72 The Amaru is a dragon- or snake-like creature who causes hail and
thunderstorms when he flies up into the sky. According to a local Pampachiri myth, just
after the Spanish arrived in Peru a priest was sent from Pukaqasa to take up a posting in
Pampachiri. On his way to Pampachiri, he saw a big storm brewing and the Amaru
flying up in the sky. The local people were terrified and shouted warnings, so the priest
pulled out his cross and Bible, and rode towards the Amaru shouting benedictions. The
Amaru fell out of the sky and hit the earth with such force that the lower half of its body
was buried in the ground, where it turned to stone. The myth thus links an ancient sky
deity (the sky serpent or Amaru) with rain and river water (storms and the Molina river)
and stone.
That stone, known as Amaruchayoc (fig 7), consists of a linear rock outcrop near the
confluence of the Rio Molino with the Rio Qoypachayoc (a point of tincoq).ä73 It is
located on the altiplano, east of the Chicha valley at 14° 09, 30.1- S by 73° 27, 53.3- W.
The rock outcrop is c 15m long and 2.25m wide at its widest point. At about the
midpoint it narrows to c 0.53m and remains this width along its southern half. It lies on
an orientation of 143° with its narrow end aligned south east. It looks a little like a large
chaquitaclla (foot plough) lying on the ground. The local informants state that water
flows over the narrow side of the rock during the wet season. This side of the stone
shows evidence of iron oxide crystallizing out on the surface, and running water issuing
across it for part of the year appears to be the likely cause. The people living near this
rock claimed that their principal wamani (mountain deity) is Waman Wiri, a nearby
mountaintop.
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 53

Fig 7. The Amaruchayoc rock located near the confluence of the Rio Molino with
the Rio Qoypachayoc

The Amaru story, with its linkage of snake, water and stone, is of great antiquity and
is likely to pre-date the Spanish conquest, as is snake symbolism, which is widespread in
the iconography of many Andean cultures and is present as early as the Pre-Ceramic
period. Cristóbal de Albornoz, carrying out extirpation activities along the Rio Chicha in
the 1560s, recorded a story from the time the Spaniards first entered Peru in which a
snake called Amaru was said to have emerged from a lake to go to another lake, but
because of the news of the arrival of the Spaniards he turned into stone.ä74 The
Huarochirí manuscript relates a story in which a character called Huallo Caruincho
turns loose a huge two-headed snake called Amaru, thinking that this will bring
misfortune on Pariacaca (a mountain deity). Pariacaca responds to the sight of the snake
by stabbing it furiously with his golden staff, at which the snake freezes and turns to
stone.ä75 The Amaru is clearly a great mythic being, a water snake symbolic of disorder
transforming into a new order.ä76 The story of the Amaru plummeting out of the sky and
burying itself in the ground as it turns to stone links several sacred realms and is allied to
the concept of a ‘descent into the earth’, as expressed in cave shrines and certain Pre-
Ceramic ritual sites. In this sense the semi-buried cup-marked sacred stones of the
Chicha valley can be seen to express a similar concept.ä77
In another story the snake is linked with ancestors and origins. Michosamaro, a
mythical dragon/snake in the Cusco area, was said to have emerged from the cave at
Pacariqtambo with Manco Cápac, the first mythical ancestral king in the list of Inka rulers.
A woman who emerged with him killed Michosamaro because of an act of disrespect
towards her; he turned to stone and became the first huaca (shrine) on the first ceque
(sacred boundary) in Chinchaysuyu. This was considered a very ancient huaca, and gold,
54 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

textiles and shell were offered to it.ä78 Sherbondy notes the connection between the idea of
ancestors emerging from caves and springs or water sources that were under the control of
single ayllus.ä79 The Amaru in this instance would clearly have been associated with a
particular ayllu, or subsection of the population. It is this sort of link that is instrumental in
joining the concept of the ayllu and their agricultural land with stone markers that are used
in the management and control of water for agricultural purposes.ä80
The winding linear characteristics of rivers and streams, mimicking the shape and
movement of the snake, may well explain their association with the Amaru.ä81 Indeed
there was an Inka ritual dance called Yaguayra, performed during the second month of
the year on the night following the full moon, in which the dancers go to the temple of
the sun and take out a multicoloured rope with a ball of multicoloured wool for a head.
Groups of men and women held on to the rope as the dance spiralled around the plaza.
At a certain point they all dropped the rope, letting it fall to the floor in a shape
resembling that of a snake.ä82
As far north as Colombian Amazonia and the northern Ecuadorian montaña
(highland zone) there are stories of mythical beings similar to the Amaru. For example,
the cotomachaco (from Colombian Amazonia) is a large snake-like being with two heads,
one of which it would place on the ground and the other in the tree canopy, to catch
prey. The Canelos Quichua people of the northern Ecuadorian montaña know a similar
being called a juri-juri, which lives on territorial boundaries. When these were to be
opened up for hunting, the Canelos Quichua’s most powerful shamans would ritually
render the juri-juris safe with the aid of hallucinogenic drugs. The boundaries of such
newly sacred and appropriated areas were often delineated by large stones.ä83
The Amaru concept is thus strongly associated with the sky and rain, with rivers and
irrigation canals, with transformation, with stone and, to some extent, with caves, the
full moon and with ancestors.ä84

Time-keeping and Calendars

‘The difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is a fortnight’:ä85 hence the
importance to an agriculturally based society of a calendar to follow the seasons of the
year. It is inconceivable that a people functioning in a complex society with the sun and
moon as two of their most important deities would not have had a sophisticated system
in place to monitor, follow and predict the movements of these bodies. Indeed there is a
considerable body of evidence to substantiate the existence of elaborate systems for the
upkeep of astronomical records.ä86
One such source – Guamán Poma de Ayala – is of particular relevance to the
calendrical and yearly agricultural cycle for the Soras area because he came from
Andamarca, which is located immediately west of the Chicha valley in a similar eco-
zone. The calendrical and agricultural cycles he describes are thus more likely to be
relevant than the empirical calendar of Cusco described by Betanzos – and clearly a
calendar formulated to respond to the requirements of an empire stretching for some
4,200km, straddling both sides of the equator, is going to be different from one focused
on the demands of a more localized set of eco-zones. Although this argument is
weakened by Guamán Poma de Ayala’s apparent copying of significant aspects of Polo
de Ondegardo’s description of the Inka calendar,ä87 it is unlikely that such copying would
have been done if Guamán Poma de Ayala found its content incompatible with his own
knowledge of the subject.
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 55

A localized agricultural calendar needs, for example, to take account of the vertical
distribution of ecosystems in the mountainous Andean area, which will result in
variations in the dates for ceremonies relating to key events in the agricultural cycle,
such as harvest, or the cleaning of irrigation canals.ä88 Guamán Poma de Ayala divides
the year into twelve months of thirty, thirty-one or thirty-two days, depending on the
waxing and waning of the moon,ä89 and states that weeks were ten days in length. He
says that the order was recorded in quipu.ä90 He adds that hours and days were tracked
by observing the appearance and disappearance of the rays of the morning sun through a
ravine or gorge visible along the horizon.ä91 This statement can be related to the use
made by the prehistoric inhabitants of the Chicha valley of the rock on its platform at
Ayapampa as a gnomon, to observe the alignment of the shadow cast by the rock at
certain times towards the Quebrada Puna Puquio and Infierniello on the horizon. A
reference (by the same chronicler) to the sun moving cyclically six months to the left and
six months to the right in relation to the point of observation seems to be reflected in the
positioning of the carved stones in the Chicha valley on the north side of tributaries on
the eastern side of the Rio Chicha and on the south side of the tributaries on the western
side of the Chicha.
Guamán Poma de Ayala habitually refers to left and right rather than west and east
in his description of the movement of the sun,ä92 and this perceived left- and right-
handedness fits in well with Andean thinking, where east would mirror the spatial and
conceptual right, associated with female elements and the moon, and west the
conceptual left, associated with male elements and the sun.ä93 Within Andean thinking
too there is a well-established notion where the topographic reality of the landscape is
conceptualized as a human body with its liquids (blood, urine and fat) constituting
metaphors for the rivers moving water through the landscape.ä94 This understanding of
the landscape is intimately related to expressing cardinal directions as left and right.
Viewed from the direction of flow of the tributaries all cup-marked stones in the
Chicha valley are located on the right-hand side, the side on which the sun, the source
of all life, rises in the southern hemisphere. The only term used in modern Quechua to
refer to a cardinal direction is inti seqamuna, or ‘place where the sun rises’.ä95 It should
also be remembered that the Inkas (and contemporary Quechua speakers) use the
Milky Way (called Mayu, the celestial river) as their reference plane for celestial
orientation, which results in a 90° shift from the northern hemisphere practice of
viewing sky objects by reference to the North (or Pole) Star.ä96 The configuration of the
cup-marked rocks in the landscape thus mimics the movement of the sun, moon and
stars and in this focus links this group of stones to the standing stone at Ayapampa. Both
types of rock serve to tie earth and cosmos into an overall dynamic system.

CONCLUSIONS

Inka carved stones are often found associated with canals, rivers or their sources, where
they appear to have functioned as a type of marker.ä97 The use of carved stones during
the Late Horizon in the Chicha valley in relation to the organization of space with
respect to bodies of water is therefore not surprising. They appear here to delineate a
form of boundary emphasizing one bank of the stream or river over the other, and they
emphasize the movement of the sun for six months ‘to the left’ followed by six months
‘to the right’.ä98 Their location on the right-hand side of the tributaries (when viewed
56 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

from the direction of the flow of those tributaries) is related to this side being sacred and
confirms one use of the system as a calendrical tool. Carved rocks, and monumental
architecture, are also likely to have been symbolically linked with specific dynastic
interests. Cup-marked rocks would have been a very useful instrument for Inka dynastic
groups to employ in legitimizing their claims to, and control of, ‘land, life and water’.ä99
If the concept of using monumental stone carving as one element in the
establishment of territorial claims is correct,ä100 then the distribution of carved stones in
the Chicha valley takes on a significant additional importance in the light of the personal
role taken by Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui in the conquest and reorganization of the Soras
area, in which the Chicha valley is located.ä101 In Inka history/mythology, it was
Pachacuti’s conquests and territorial and administrative reorganizations that formed the
basis of what was to become the Inka empire. Observations of these principles at work in
an undiluted state, at the first establishment of these characteristics of imperial power,
could form a basis for the interpretation of the nature of the approach taken by
Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui elsewhere, demonstrating the methods employed by him, and
subsequently by the Inka state, in consolidating power in newly incorporated territories.
To define the boundaries of an irrigation district, Sherbondy used the area from the
irrigation canal intake to the final parcel of land irrigated by it.ä102 The delineation of a
‘water’ area for the Chicha valley is more complicated. The carved stones are
concentrated on the lower reaches of the natural streams and tributaries to the Chicha
area, focusing on the sacred side, and on the bank of the tributary that is most clearly
associated with agricultural terracing. These stones are predominantly found outside
occupation sites, a fact which reinforces their link with agricultural land rather than with
settlement location.
The irrigation canals of the Cusco area not only have an economic role, they also
serve a cosmological function, because the sources of the canals were themselves
considered huacas (sacred sites).ä103 A similar pattern can be discerned with respect to
streambeds entering the Chicha valley. The Amaruchayoc rock is located at the point
where the Qoypachayoc river flows into the Molino, near to where the Molino enters the
Chicha valley. The Ayapampa standing stone casts its shadow to the point where the
Quebrada Puna Puquio and its associated irrigation canal intake enter the valley. Both
examples indicate a link with the sky and sky deities: Amaruchayoc through the myth of
the Amaru flying through the sky, with rain and lightning, and the Ayapampa standing
stone through its links with the sun and the moon by means of the shadow it casts. The
point of entry of the tributary rivers to the Rio Chicha can be viewed as a point of
transition to the cultivated, cultural and inside world of the valley from the outside, wild
and pastoral world of the altiplano. Valderrama and Escalante noted a structure of
opposition and complementarity between culture (village) and nature (mountain) in their
study of the community of Yanque Urinsaya and Yanque Hanansaya in the Colca
valley.ä104 Billie Jean Isbell observed in her work on the village of Chuschi in Ayacucho
that the people here view the valley as civilized and the puna as wild or savage.ä105 Harris
notes a similar dichotomy for the Laymi people of Bolivia. The mountain deities are
sacred, a source of life, they are guardians and bringers of fertility, but they also represent
malevolent spirits and transmitters of disease; their domesticated livestock are the wild
animals of the altiplano – the puma, fox and condor.ä106 That these beliefs are deeply
rooted in Andean thinking and go back at least to the early colonial period, and almost
certainly well into the Late Horizon, becomes clear in the Huarochirí manuscript. Here
green irrigable valley lands are viewed as female, whereas snow-capped mountaintops,
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE 57

where river waters originate, are viewed as male and violent.ä107 The implications and
perceived dangers associated with such points of transition as the location where a
tributary river flows off the altiplano down into a river valley are a common feature of
Andean beliefs and cultures.
In Cusco, the ceque system (and by definition the huacas, which were the concrete
manifestation of the ceques’ location and existence) served to define specific irrigation
districts which were managed by the ayllus (social group)/panacas (royal ayllus) allocated
to them. As well as representing boundaries between irrigation districts, the ceques
therefore represent boundaries between social units in addition to delimiting ritual
space.ä108 This interpretation of the role played by these stones is reinforced by the
consistency of location favoured for the Chicha valley carved stones. There are only a
few stones that appear anomalous in their placement. Their higher frequency in the
Ayapampa sector may be connected to the greater width of the tributary floodplain, the
less noticeable inclination of the terrain and the less pronounced topography. The
distribution of the stones does not appear related to a system of lines radiating out from
a central focal point, as is the case in the Cusco ceque system. The Chicha distribution
appears to be a linear system set at right angles to a central stem.
Every village in the Inka empire had its own ceque system of sacred boundaries
(defining the community, its irrigation districts and aspects of the religious and
economic calendar), but only the Cusco ceque system is known in detail.ä109 Zuidema has
compared the Cusco ceque system to a quipu.ä110 His proposals have been rejected by
various authors,ä111 as has the suggestion of a link between the Cusco ceque system and a
luni-sidereal calendar system (based on observations of the moon and stars).ä112
However, there remains a powerful reason for considering the use of the ceque system in
the manner proposed by Zuidema: the fact that the 328 huacas representing the Cusco
system is a whole multiple (12 " 27.3 days # 327.6) of the sidereal-lunar period, which is
37 days short of the solar year of 365 days, which as a time interval matches the time the
Pleiades disappeared from view, as seen from Cusco at the time immediately prior to the
Spanish conquest.ä113 The Pleiades (known as the celestial storehouse, or Collca)
continues to this day to be an important constellation in the Quechua agricultural cycle,
being used to establish when the planting season should start.ä114
The link of the ceque structure to a calendrical system per se is not controversial.ä115
The use of the quipu in time-keeping and the calendrical cycle has been confirmed by
the discovery of a quipu in a grave, at the site of Laguna de los Condorés, in
Chachapoyas, where it has been demonstrated to record a two-year calendrical
sequence.ä116 Neither is the applicability of using a quipu in the reading of ceque structures
(in particular with reference to land and water distribution and rights) in doubt. The
crookedness observed in the ceque lines of the Cusco system,ä117 and also obvious in the
Chicha system, may well be a further characteristic it has in common with the quipu, as
its knotted strings do not need to be straight.
The existence and operation of carved-stone complexes within extended ceque
systems and operating in relation to Situa cleansing rituals has been noted with respect
to Chinchaysuyu and the Vilcanota and Apurimac rivers.ä118 Similarly, the practice of
child sacrifice served to link the loyalties of communities located away from the centre at
Cusco to individual Inka rulers. Cusco was at the centre of Tawantinsuyu and the Inka
universe, so the fact that something came from Cusco increased its value and status
many times. ‘Perfect’ children were selected and sent to Cusco where the capaccochas
(sacrificial victims) were chosen from among them. Following an elaborate ritual the
58 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

capaccochas would then return to where they came from to be sacrificed (travelling in as
straight a line as possible) and their parents gained greatly in status because of the Cusco
link.ä119 The Chicha petroglyphs fit into the same extended pattern of ritual links,
particularly with regard to a local Inka administration and its management from a far-
away Cusco.ä120
Clearly the Chicha structure of rock petroglyphs is not associated with a specific
occupation site (unlike the Cusco system); instead it appears to draw together
conceptually distinct parts of the natural drainage within the valley’s agricultural system.
Its layout also resembles certain quipu typesä121 and could represent a variant on the ceque
concept. Indeed, in view of the apparent reorganization of the system in the Cusco area
by Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui and the conquest and reorganization of the Chicha area by
this same Inkaä122 this possibility becomes even more tantalizing. In this respect a
reference made by Guamán Poma de Ayala to the use of the quipu for record-keeping by
the philosophers and astrologers responsible for time-keeping, land-management and
boundary maintenance takes on an added significance.ä123
The concept of the stones as knots and the river and its tributaries as string (or the
main cord and its pendants respectively) and thus being ‘readable’ by the community as
a quipu defining rights to water and land makes complete sense in a society where this
type of symbolic use of the landscape would have been perfectly understood. Indeed,
such a quipu would have been essential to the management of the community, its lands
and resources. Detailed quipu literacy would have been limited to the elite quipucamayoc
officers and administrators, but the use of simple forms of quipu was widespread among
cultivators and herders for some types of record-keeping. This practice could still be
observed until relatively recently – indeed more complex symbolic modern quipu use was
recorded in Tupicocha in 1994.ä124
The cup-marked stones would have been ritually used and carved at prescribed times
of the year. They represent markers in social space as well as in agricultural and social
time. They visibly and physically tied the ancestors in with water sources, water
distribution and land rights. The land divisions and agricultural cycle were thus
integrated with the calendar. The carved-stone system functioned, for a society where the
quipu system formed the basic recording tool,ä125 as a mnemonic device and a public
monument. The system used the landscape, the stones and the movements of sun and
moon, as an integrated dynamic mechanism for the management of the agricultural cycle.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Richard Bradley, Ian Farrington, Ken Heffernan, Ann Kendall, Colin
McEwan, Bill Sillar, John Staller, Paul Steele, Ismael Pérez Calderón, Cirilo Vivanco
Pomacanchari and Tom Zuidema for discussing various aspects of this paper with me,
and also to the two anonymous reviewers who commented on the text prior to its
acceptance for publication in this journal. I thank the people of Pampachiri, Ayapampa,
Chicha and Larcay – and in particular the Sotelo and Alarcon families – for giving their
time, sharing their knowledge and for helping in the field; my sister Suze Meddens for
her encouragement and assistance in Peru; my friends Santiago Agurto and Inés
Hormazabal de Agurto for their encouragement; Helen Davies and Michael Miles for
their work on the illustrations; and Jose Pablo Baraybar for his suggestions regarding
Spanish terminology.
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE
NOTES
1. A recording system using knotted and
coloured strings of great complexity,
which may have had characteristics
similar to writing (see note 90 below). All
definitions of Quechua and Spanish
terms are used here in summary form, as
lengthy papers can be (and have been)
written on the meaning of many of these
terms.
2. One stone had already been noted during
fieldwork in the 1980s (Meddens 1985)
but its significance was not then recog-
nized.
3. In the chronological sequence of periods
used to define Peruvian prehistory the
Early Horizon period refers to the time
between c 900 and 200 BC, when a series
of closely linked art styles (for example,
the Chavin, Chavinoid and Cupisnique)
are found widely distributed across the
highlands and coastal areas of Peru. They
have been linked to the spread of religious
ideas linked with the site of Chavín de
Huantar in the Callejon de Huaylas. The
dating sequence continues with the Early
Intermediate period (c 200 BC to
AD 600), then the Middle Horizon period
(c AD 600 to 1000) when a series of
closely related art styles can be found
widely distributed throughout Peru.
These have been identified as being
linked to an early empire whose principal
polities centred on the city of Huari in the
department of Ayacucho. Next comes the
Late Intermediate period (c AD 1000 to
1438) when great regional diversity char-
acterizes Andean assemblages tied to
regional ‘kingdoms’ or independent poli-
ties. Finally, the Late Horizon (AD 1438
to 1534) refers to the period where the
Inka and Inka-influenced art and artefact
styles are widespread across the area of
the Andes under the political control of
the Inka state. The end date equates with
the fall of the Inka ‘empire’ as a result of
the arrival of the Spaniards. The start
date has to be treated with some caution.
C14 dating suggests it could extent a
further forty or fifty years into the past.
4. Morris 1967ä–ä8; Ritchie 1917ä–ä18.
5. Ruggles 1999, 97ä–ä9, 141.
6. Simek 2003, 37.
7. Richard Bradley and Aubrey Burl, pers
comm.
8. Ian Farrington, pers comm, 2000.
59
9. Valenzuela, Santoro and Romero 2004,
434.
10. Riester 1981, 204ä–ä26.
11. R Stehberg, pers comm.
12. Gordon 1985.
13. Ibid, 276.
14. Valenzuela, Santoro and Romero 2004,
424, fig 2.
15. Ibid, 421ä–ä35.
16. Ibid, 434ä–ä7.
17. John Staller, pers comm, 2004.
18. Bauer 2004, 36.
19. Chohfi 1987, 1, 4.
20. Pérez Calderón 1999, 101ä–ä2.
21. Meddens 1989, 155, fig 7.
22. Kathy Schreiber, pers comm, 2001.
23. Cirilo Vivanco Pomacanchari, pers
comm.
24. Schjellerup 2003; Inge Schjellerup, pers
comm.
25. Carolina Orsini, pers comm.
26. Guffroy 1999, 130.
27. The period defined by the first introduc-
tion of pottery in and the antecedents
to the subsequent Early Horizon
c 1800ä–ä900 BC.
28. Guffroy 1999, 130.
29. Nuñez Jiménez 1986, 219, 223ä–ä4.
30. Ibid, 577ä–ä9.
31. Ibid, 604ä–ä5.
32. Ibid, 683.
33. Guffroy 1999, 123ä–ä6.
34. Ibid, 127.
35. Ibid, 127ä–ä9.
36. Meddens 1984, 1985, 1991, 2001;
Meddens and Cook 2001; Meddens and
Schreiber forthcoming.
37. Ann Kendall, pers comm.
38. Constructed of stone, usually round, or
square for multiple interments.
39. Platform used for administrative pur-
poses, from which the population was
addressed and instructed by rulers or
administrators.
40. A small Late Horizon site probably linked
to the Inka administration of the area.
41. A ritual celebrating the event actually
took place at Ayapampa on the same day
that the author visited the site in 1999,
where the surveying team encountered Sr
Felix Santa Cruz Guamáni, a curandero
(healer) who acknowledged being there
for ‘special reasons’. He was observed
conducting a ceremony with the people of
the hamlet involving a large cooking pot
60 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL
with a red liquid and considerable quanti-
ties of aguardiente (liquor distilled from
sugar-cane syrup). Unfortunately, details
could not be collected as the work being
conducted by the team in the limited time
available took it elsewhere. It is perhaps
of interest to note that in the extirpation
visit made by Cristóbal de Albornoz to
the Soras area to suppress idolatry in
c 1569, the huacas and idols of the cacique
(kuraka) (‘native ruler’) Fernando
Gualca Guamáni were burned and
destroyed (Millones et al 1990, 265, 268).
In addition, a number of individuals (all
with Guamáni as part of their ‘surname’)
were punished for being idol worshippers
and followers of Taqui Onqoy (literally
‘dancing sickness’, because its followers
acted as if possessed), an indigenous
movement that arose in the 1560s and
whose followers believed that native
deities had risen up against the Christian
God and the Spaniards. The movement
appears to have been linked to attempts
to organize an armed uprising against the
Spaniards and it was largely quelled by
Spanish extirpation campaigns (ibid, 270,
271, 272, 273).
42. Betanzos 1987, 71ä–ä4. The monthly cycle
of months and festivals varies between
chroniclers; Antonio de la Calancha (an
Augustinian friar active in Peru in the
17th century who wrote a history of the
early Augustinian order there, and also
wrote on Andean religion) and Polo de
Ondegardo agree and their sequence
appears to be the one which can be most
relied on (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1999,
102).
43. Ziólkowski 1989a, 158.
44. Guamán Poma de Ayala 1980, 225ä–ä7.
Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala was the
son of a native provincial Lord and his
mother was the daughter of an Inka. He
spent his childhood in Lucanas Andamarca
and was involved in the early Spanish
extirpation campaigns to rid the land of
idolatry. In this capacity he is known to
have assisted the Spanish cleric Cristóbal
de Albornoz in Soras territory. He wrote a
copiously illustrated letter of over 1,000
pages in length in a mix of Spanish and
Quechua to Carlos V of Spain, which he
completed in 1613. It was written in order
to appraise the king of the abuses being
perpetrated on the natives of the Andes
by Spaniards and Spanish officials. The
‘letter’ was discovered in the Royal Library
of Copenhagen in 1908 by Richard
Pietschmann, and forms an exceptionally
rich source on native Peruvian history,
religion and customs.
45. Tom Zuidema, pers comm. Juan Polo de
Ondegardo was an early, and particularly
astute, Spanish administrator serving the
Spanish Crown in Peru for the first fifty
years following the conquest. He was
based as a magistrate in both Cusco and
Potosí, and wrote numerous treatises on
Inka religion, history and customs,
showing particular interest in native insti-
tutions.
46. Urbano and Duviols 1988, 73ä–ä5.
47. It should be noted that the use of Spanish
and indigenous archival sources and
ethnographic data is not without its prob-
lems. Indigenous concepts are known to
have changed over time and to have been
influenced by Christian religious ideas
and European cultural concepts. The
indigenous ideas expressed below have
therefore been approached with some
caution and a judgement has been made
on their likely antiquity as well as their
likely use by non-Inka groups. Cristóbal
de Albornoz and Guamán Poma de Ayala
are particularly relevant to the discussion
of non-Inka ideas as sources, as the
former spent a considerable time in Soras
territory during an extended campaign of
idolatry extirpation and the latter accom-
panied and worked with Cristóbal de
Albornoz in the area, and spent his child-
hood in the neighbouring territory of the
Lucanas Andamarcas: Guamán Poma de
Ayala 1980; Albornoz 1984; Urbano and
Duviols 1988.
48. Polo de Ondegardo 1916, 189.
49. A system of lines radiating out from a
central focal point or axis and defined by
sacred shrines, used to define communi-
ties, responsibilities, irrigation districts
and aspects of the religious and economic
calendar. The Inka empire was named
Tawantinsuyu, the land of the four quar-
ters (Chinchasuyu, Cuntisuyu, Collasuyu
and Antisuyu). The four parts were sepa-
rated by imaginary lines that came
together in Cusco. Each quarter was
divided by nine lines known as ceques,
except Cuntisuyu, which held fourteen
ceques, making a total of forty-one. In
each of the four quarters these were hier-
archically ranked in three subgroups. At
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE
the centre of the Inka empire at Cusco
this ceque system was defined by a series
of 328 huacas, being shrines or places that
held sacred essence, along which the
ceques were aligned. These huacas con-
sisted of landscape features, such as
stones, springs, mountains and buildings.
Their individual significance and
meaning was explained in a detailed
mythology: for example, some of the
huacas were stones that had turned into
warriors to help the Inkas defend Cusco
against the Chankas (an ethnic group
located in Chichasuyu, north west of the
Inka core territory). An individual ayllu
(kin group) or panaka (a royal ayllu) was
responsible for each set of huacas along
the line of its designated ceque. These
ceques and the associated huacas per-
formed multiple functions. They defined
irrigation districts and the social groups
responsible for these, as well as their
ranking. They constituted a calendrical
system central to the demarcation of Inka
social and ritual culture as well as its
agricultural cycles. Its details were
recorded by a 17th-century Jesuit scholar
Bernabé Cobo (1892) and by Polo de
Ondegardo (1916) and some of its aspects
by Cristóbal de Albornoz (1984), and it
has been analysed in detail by John Rowe
(1979b), Tom Zuidema (1962) and
others.
50. Cobo 1892.
51. Albornoz 1984, 207.
52. The Soras were the ethnic group identi-
fied as living on the west bank of the
Chicha river at the time of the Inka con-
quest of the area: Meddens 1981.
53. Silverman and Proulx 2002, 176.
54. Michael Moseley and Joel Grossman,
pers comm, 2001.
55. The world below or inside, past time and
ancestors.
56. This world, present time and humans.
Bouysse-Cassagne and Harris have dis-
cussed the Ayamara terms alax pacha (the
world above, or heaven), aka pacha (this
world, present time and humans) and
manqa pacha (the world below, or hell),
which have the same or very similar
meaning to the Quechua terms hanan
pacha, kay pacha and uku pacha. Their
review of these terms considers their
current meanings as having been strongly
influenced by European Christian reli-
gious thinking in terms of their association
61
with above and heaven, here and now and
below and hell, and in having acquired a
moral dimension. They see the terms in
antiquity as reflecting concepts that have
meaning in relation to each other as repre-
senting oppositions linked with aspects of
light and dark as well as inside and outside
(1987, 11ä–ä57). Though the terminology
has clearly acquired Christian religious
flavours in the time since the conquest,
the concepts of ‘in’ and ‘outside’
expressed here can, without contradic-
tion, be included in the pre-Hispanic
Andean understanding of these ideas.
57. Carolina Orsini, pers comm.
58. The ‘tired stone’ was a large stone meant
to be used in the construction of the
Sacsayhuaman site in Cusco, but which
was abandoned while it was being trans-
ported and became a huaca.
59. Vega 1723, 260ä–ä1.
60. Van de Guchte 1984.
61. Van de Guchte 1990, 346ä–ä7.
62. Ibid, 38ä–ä9.
63. Ibid, 24.
64. Ibid, 51.
65. Meddens 1985.
66. According to Inka mythology and history
this Inka ruler was responsible for the first
conquests of the Inka state and its devel-
opment into an empire. His name,
Pachacuti, translates as ‘cataclysm’, or
‘reversal of the world’.
67. Van de Guchte 1990, 143ä–ä4.
68. Large rectangular hall and administrative
structure.
69. Farrington 1998, 54.
70. Vega 1723.
71. Sarmiento de Gamboa 1999, 132.
72. This myth was first collected by Barbara
de Silva and Frank Meddens in August
2001 from Monica Sotelo, a lady in her
forties, from Pampachiri. On a visit to
Amaruchayoc in June 2002, the author
encountered a family near the source of
the Molino river engaged in freeze-drying
potatoes. In their version of the
Amaruchayoc myth (which was almost
identical to the one told by Monica Sotelo
the year before) the Amaru was inter-
preted as a swirling cloud formation, as
well as a ‘dragon/snake’. One of the occu-
pants of a small house overlooking the site
of the stone itself again recounted a virtu-
ally identical version of the story.
73. Tincoq or tinku refers to points of joining
and combination. It is used for the
62 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL
confluence of rivers and for meetings of
people (Isbell 1978, 113). Mayer views the
term as involving a concept of harmony
(1977, 78). Gonçales Holguin, who pub-
lished a Quechuaä–äSpanish dictionary in
1608, defines it as a pair of equal things
and links it with pairing and joining of
two things (1989, 342ä–ä3). It also refers to
encounters in ritual battle (Harris 1980,
74), and Sallnow describes one such on
the intersection of the boundary of three
districts with the alliances between the
various combatant groups shifting over
time dependent on quarrels, commonly
over land disputes (1987, 136). He distin-
guishes between internal and external
tinkus, within and between communities
(141ä–ä6). The concept includes divisions
over territorial and social boundaries and
therefore incorporates aspects of contact
and liminality.
74. Albornoz 1984, 202.
75. Salomon and Urioste 1991, 93. The
Huarochirí manuscript deals with the
religious traditions, beliefs and mythology
of the Huarochirí area east of Lima. It
was written in Quechua in the early 1600s
by a native scribe, as part of the extirpa-
tion efforts of the Spanish cleric
Francisco de Ávila.
76. As defined by Salomon and Urioste,
1991, 93, n 399.
77. Van de Guchte 1990,165.
78. Cobo 1892, 10.
79. Sherbondy 1986, 42.
80. Van de Guchte 1990, 161.
81. Anders 1986, 914.
82. Cobo 1892, 105.
83. Bray 2002, 347ä–ä8, and referring to
Whitten 1976.
84. Albornoz 1984; Cobo 1892; Van de
Guchte 1990.
85. John Parrett, pers comm, 2000.
86. Aveni 1981; Bauer and Dearborn 1998;
Dearborn and Schreiber 1989; Zuidema
1977; Ziólkowski and Sadowski 1989.
87. Tom Zuidema, pers comm.
88. Ziólkowski 1989a, 129ä–ä30.
89. Guamán Poma de Ayala 1980, 210ä–ä34.
90. A quipu or khipu is a Quechua term refer-
ring to a device comprising strings with
knots used to record administrative and
narrative information (Urton 2003, 1ä–ä2);
see note 1. Inka philosophers and
astrologers used the quipu to keep records
of the harvest, of the food, meat, con-
sumption and of administrative matters.
91. Guamán Poma de Ayala 1980, 234.
92. Ibid, 234.
93. Classen 1993, 20, 22; Harris 1980, 83ä–ä5;
Palka 2002, 422.
94. Bastien 1985; 1987, 67ä–ä85.
95. Urton 1981, 68.
96. Ibid, 9, passim.
97. Van de Guchte 1990, 52.
98. Guamán Poma de Ayala 1980.
99. Van de Guchte 1990, 61.
100. Ibid, 51.
101. Meddens and Schreiber forthcoming.
102. Sherbondy 1986, 43.
103. Ibid, 46.
104. Valderrama and Escalante 1988, 210.
105. Isbell 1978, 164.
106. Harris 1980, 75ä–ä80.
107. Salomon and Urioste 1991, 15, 115.
108. Sherbondy 1986, 43ä–ä4.
109. Polo de Ondegardo 1916; Zuidema 1962;
Sherbondy 1986, 54; Bauer 1992;
Farrington 1998, 54.
110. Zuidema 1989a.
111. Ziólkowski 1989b; Sadowski 1989.
112. Bauer and Dearborn 1995, 64ä–ä5.
113. Aveni 1996, 161.
114. Urton 1981, 113ä–ä27.
115. Aveni 1996, 161; Rowe 1979a, 232.
116. Urton 2001; 2003, 150ä–ä1.
117. Bauer 1992; Aveni 1996.
118. Heffernan 1996, 23ä–ä33.
119. Zuidema 1989b, 144ä–ä90.
120. In considering the Chicha valley carved-
rock complexes as huacas, the use of this
term in connection with references to
capaccocha/capachucha and cachaguies/
ceques by the Spanish chroniclers
Cristóbal de Molina and Cristóbal de
Albornoz is worth considering. Albornoz
(in Urbano and Duviols 1988, 196) states
that the term capaccocha can refer to
clothes of huacas, and that these textiles
can be used to carry the sacred essence of
a huaca to another rock to transfer the
essence of the original huaca into this new
rock and transform it into the original
one. He also claims that the term ceque
equates with the word cachauis. Cristóbal
de Molina equates the word capaccocha
with the term cachaguaes (in Urbano and
Duviols 1988, 120ä–ä1, n 134). Urbano and
Duviols see the linkages of these words as
being significant (1988, n 134). The
Quechua terminology with respect to the
movement and transfer of sacred essence
between huacas and shrines and ceques
in the context of the cup-marked rock
 ROCKS IN THE LANDSCAPE: MANAGING THE INKA AGRICULTURAL CYCLE
complexes in the Chicha valley fits in with
them being inherently defined by an
underlying ceque system.
121. Locke 1923.
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