Altars and Altitude: The ushnu and the puna during the Late Horizon

Abstract

It is common knowledge that in the Andes ecological zones are linked to subsistence activities. Decades ago, working with non-portable sacred monoliths ( Pierre Duviols (1979: 23–6) proposed their variability according to their location, opening a path for material culture studies. Following this approach, here I go a step further, relating ecological zones with pantheons, and finally show that when exploring pre-colonial sacred sites we must incorporate apparently mundane dimensions, which are all too often overlooked.huancas),ushnus, conceived as altars. In general, I aim to1 To start, I will present my methodological considerations and the main lines of discussion surrounding theushnu (also spelled:husno, husnu, osno, osño, ozño, usno, usnu, uzno, vsnu) in relation to the punaArchaeology of indigenous Americ

    Similar works