Andean Grave Markers: Emblems of Asymmetrical Dependency

The pre-Christian cosmology of the indigenous Andean populations is based on a complex system of reciprocal, i. e. mutual, dependency relationships between humans and their environment. However, there is usually a power imbalance within these relationships. They are characterized by strong asymmetry, particularly between living people and their ancestors. This can still be seen today in archaeological evidence, such as painted gravestones made with fabric.

Reciprocal Dependencies

In Andean cosmology, the well-being of humans on Earth is significantly dependent on care provided by their ancestors. The ancestors only grant this care, however, if they receive sufficient worship and offerings themselves, although people can only know that the offerings were sufficient in retrospect. This gives them a perpetual duty of care towards their ancestors. Today, these ideas are interwoven with Christian ideas, although the roots of reciprocal thinking lie in the pre-Columbian era and can be reconstructed and documented using written sources from the colonial period and archaeological finds.

The care for Inca ancestors is described in detail in by far the most important indigenous source about the history, everyday lives, and cosmology of the Andean population in the pre-Columbian, i.e. Inca period, the autoethnography of Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala (1534-1615). These ancestors were responsible for the well-being of the entire Inca Empire, called Tawantinsuyu, and were considered powerful members of society. As the royal ancestors were so important for the Inca Empire and its people, they were mummified and housed in the most important temple in the capital Cusco, in the Coricancha. There, the mummies resided in their own chambers just as they had done in life and were cared for like living rulers. There were servants who were responsible for daily offerings or caring for garments. During major celebrations, especially in November, the month in which the dead are remembered, large processions took place in Cusco, during which the Inca ancestors were also carried through the city’s streets on palanquins before being presented in the main square (fig. 1).    

Fig. 1: Eleventh Month, November; Aya Marq’ay Killa, month of carrying the dead, Royal Danish Library, GKS 2232 kvart: Guaman Poma, Nueva corónica y buen gobierno (c. 1615), page [256 [258]].

Gravestones

However, the ancestors were not accommodated in their own houses or chambers in all parts of the Inca Empire. On the coasts, for example, they were buried. The deceased were tied into a bundle (fardo) with the aid of strips of fabric, nets, and parts of plants (mainly leaves). To ensure the bundle looked like a person and was reminiscent of the ancestor, the outer textile layer was made from an item of clothing, called uncu, and a head made from fabric was placed on top of the bundle (fig. 2).

Prepared in this way, the mummy bundle was buried together with grave goods in the dry desert sand. The grave goods included ceramic vessels, metallic objects, various foods, such as maize or fruit, and sometimes also tools for textile production, known as sewing baskets (fig. 3).   

However, these ancestors also had to be cared for, so that they, in turn, would ensure the well-being of the living, mostly their direct descendants and their families. To mark the graves and make reference to the ancestors, painted gravestones were used in the large cemeteries in the area around present-day Lima, i.e. on the Peruvian central coast. Round or rectangular pieces of fabric were stretched over a reed frame and painted in red and black, usually with figures (figs. 4-6).

Fig. 2: Mummy with unku (W. Reiß & A. Stübel, Das Todtenfeld von Ancon in Perú, 1880, Vol. 1, Plate 16).

Fig. 3: Spindles and work basket (W. Reiß & A. Stübel, Das Todtenfeld von Ancon in Perú, 1880, Vol. 3, Plate 86).

Fig. 6: Mummy with grave goods and painted grave tablets (Reiß, W., Stübel, A., Das Todtenfeld von Ancon in Perú, 1880, Vol. 1, Plate 15).

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Further Reading

Guamán Poma de Ayala, Felipe, 1615] 2015. Nueva crónica y buen gobierno. Lima: bnp Biblioteca Nacional del Perú.

Hoffmann, Beatrix, 2005. Bemalte Grabtafeln von der zentralperuanischen Küste im Ethnologischen Museum Berlin. In: Baessler Archiv N.S.,53: 55-73.

Reiss, Wilhelm und Alphons Stübel, 1880-1887. Das Todtenfeld von Ancón in Perú. Bde. 1-3. Berlin: Verlag von A. Asher & Co.