Death and Burial among North-Western Argentina’s pre-Hispanic Societies: insights from materiality

Death and Burial among North-Western Argentina’s pre-Hispanic Societies: insights from materiality

  The non-fortuitous association between stones and death is indeed pervasive in the material record of NW Argentina. In the Formative period and later periods as well, the use of rounded stones or stone slabs in the form of sub-circular and sometimes squared sunken structures was widespread among many communities inhabiting very different environments. However, the variability of shapes and modes of construction is wide. Certainly, stones are used in many different ways and not solely to build enclosed containers, but also to define semi-circular walls or undefined accumulations. Single stones -usually of peculiar qualities- may also constitute an important part of the burial. Frequently, stone tombs are built out of an arrangement of multiple single stones which may show signs of intentional shaping or selection. These forms entail the rearrangement of stones into shapes that are inexistent in the natural surroundings, sometimes clearly enhancing their visual perception in a landscape where stone is in fact, the prevailing natural element.

  As discussed in the previous chapter, stones and stone formations entail powerful conceptual associations in Andean thought. Not only the actual veneration of specific mountain and rocky outcrops may have made stones and caves an effective means of confinement, but also, the way in which these stones were shaped or arranged may have entailed clear implications in the realms of death. Built out of the purposeful accumulation of single stones, the ‘apachetas’ have since ancient times been perceived as an effective means of protection against unspecified evil forces as well as a material promotion to the accomplishment of a journey (see Chapter II). Significantly, these two issues -danger and journey- are the fundamental pillars from where death is constructed in Andean thought. The ambivalent harmful and benevolent nature of the dead as perceived by Andean past and present communities does not need to be further emphasised. Equally numerous and recurrent are the accounts concerning the journey made by the souls of the dead. These journeys take place in different moments and significantly, they are thought to use the very same roads as the living (Harris 1982:62, Carter 1968:241): when the person is approaching death -and even a year before it- the soul is said to travel back to all the places it has known during life; while doing this, its noxious influences start being felt (Allen 1988:60-1.). After death occurs, the rituals performed are destined to urge the dispatching of the dead to the ‘underworld’, a journey that usually entails the crossing a river or the sea (e.g. Harris 1982:62, Gose 1994:130). Finally, the souls of the dead are thought to travel cyclically during the yearly commemoration of All Saints day to visit the living (e.g. Fernández Juárez 2006). Among some contemporary Aymara communities, this ‘pilgrim’ character of the souls is materially and metaphorically represented in the altars constructed during the Day of the

  Dead. The canes used to build the structure are equated to the walking stick used by the dead and the decorative onions represent their water bottle (Fernández Juárez 2006:175).

  As he travelled through La Ciénega, Adán Quiroga noticed the formal resemblance of some burial structures to “a big and extended ‘apacheta’” (Quiroga 1921:23; Figure 10). This idea was also earlier evoked by another group of funerary structures near Amaicha. The cemetery consequently named “The Apacheta” was formed by a series of artificial ‘mounds’ shaped by the superposition of several layers of earth and stones surrounding the interred bodies (Quiroga 1912:155-6). In the same line of thought but with reference to a series of small cairn structures found next to an excavated cist at Bajo Los Cardones site it was suggested that these -as present day apachetas- could have been placed “to protect the journey of the deceased” (Navarro, cited in Chiappe Sánchez 2007:100). Not just in terms of their formal resemblance, but because of the qualities embodied in the materiality of stones, it would not be a banal exercise to start thinking of the intentional arrangement or accumulation of stones as an effective means of confining the harmful dead as well as a material metaphor of the journey to be achieved.

  Figure 10: Tomb from Anfama, La Ciénega. Taken from Quiroga (1921:22).

  The ‘suitability’ of stones as materials for guarding off the dead could also be indicated by its use in other defined ways. Certainly, if the very materiality of stones was deemed effective to this purpose, its use may not have be dependent on building an ‘enclosed’ structure, as other particular uses might have had the same outcomes. For example, the recurrent use of single flat stones placed over the sepulchres of the dead seems to have been especially recurrent. As Boman (1908:328) early noticed:

  “…in many South American villages, both ancient and modern, we found the custom of placing a stone or another more or less flat object over the sepulchres, on top of the head of the cadavers…” (Boman 1908:328, my translation).

  Interestingly, this practice is not restricted to any particular form of burial but found in association to different ways of internment. Among many examples, we may cite some emblematic cases like that of an adult covered by an “almost squared” flat stone in Pampa Grande, as well as one Late Period urn most graphically covered by another flat stone (Ambrosetti 1906:33, 76; Figures 11, 12).

  Figures 11 and 12: Adult burial and Santamariana funerary urn from Pampa Grande. Taken from Ambrosetti (1906:33, 76)

  In the Cajon Valley, at the Campo del Fraile cemetery (Late Period) there are several examples of the use of flat stones as covers for the different types of graves (Arena 1975; Figure13).

  Figure 13: Tombs from Campo del Fraile cemetery. Taken from Arena (1975:70,72 according to Weiser).

  Of the various Formative sites excavated by Rydén at La Candelaria, some suggestive examples are those of Santa Barbara and Unquillo (Rydén 1936:64, 130

  Figure 14). Similar findings are mentioned at Dique el Cadillal (Berberian et al. 1977:36).

  Figure 14: Urns from Santa Barbara and Unquillo (La Candelaria). Taken from Rydén (1936:64,130)

  Also near this area, at Tafí del Valle-La Bolsa site, the several Formative tombs excavated comply with a characteristic ‘vaulted roof’ shape and they also exhibit various flat stones horizontally placed in the filling of the grave -from the skeleton up to the roof- “in the manner of successive lids” (Berberián and Nielsen 1988:95). At El Bañado in the Santa Maria Valley as well in other sites of the region the burial of infants was made inside big vessels placed between two flat stones, one as base and one as lid (Pelissero and Difrieri 1981:61).

  The reiterative use of flat stones in the context of burials may become further significant if we consider that frequently these stones were intentionally shaped in such manner. At Tebenquiche in the Puna region for example all the excavated cists were entirely constructed using flat stones, even the small stones used to block the empty spaces left by the principal stones were flat; rounded stones on the other side, were used only when “their size did not allow them to be moved” (Krapovickas 1955:13). It seems likely then, that the particular choice of flat stones or their purposeful shaping into plane The reiterative use of flat stones in the context of burials may become further significant if we consider that frequently these stones were intentionally shaped in such manner. At Tebenquiche in the Puna region for example all the excavated cists were entirely constructed using flat stones, even the small stones used to block the empty spaces left by the principal stones were flat; rounded stones on the other side, were used only when “their size did not allow them to be moved” (Krapovickas 1955:13). It seems likely then, that the particular choice of flat stones or their purposeful shaping into plane

  5, 6). Interestingly, in other parts of the Bolivian Andes offering rituals make use of the so called “earth shrines” described as

  “natural openings or small holes dug into the ground. They are covered with rocks, except during ritual feedings. Alongside the hole is usually a rock pile, where Indians place their coca quids before fresh leaves are put inside the hole. Earth shrines are found near passes, waterholes, knobs and rocks” (Bastien 1978:57)

  The formal resemblance of this description as well as the one we have made for present-day Pachamama rituals provides some insights on the conceptual implications that digging the earth to place a body and covering it with stones must have had for ancient communities. The covering of these ‘holes in the ground’ seems to have entailed

  a fundamental symbolic value. The traditional perception that sick persons were made to pass over a newly opened grave in the belief that the journeying dead would take their a fundamental symbolic value. The traditional perception that sick persons were made to pass over a newly opened grave in the belief that the journeying dead would take their

  Not less important is the fact that flat stones are sometimes placed as second lids, transmitting the sense of a double cover possibly aimed at ‘reassuring’ the first lids and ultimately to reaffirm the separation of what remains inside and outside -of things that are apparently not supposed to share the same spatialities. The placing of single and double lids is in fact a recurrent trait that shows great variation in terms of the kinds of objects used. In some cases, such as in El Algarrobal small flat stones were used to block the “uncovered spaces” left by the ceramic fragments employed as principal covers (Heredia 1971:29). In others, stones seem to be ‘holding in place’ the ceramic bowls that cover the urn’s apertures (e.g. Figure 15).The effective blocking of the open spaces is particularly significant as it speaks of a will of providing ‘hermetic’ confinement, perhaps to avoid the soul of the deceased escaping or even re-entering. As discussed in the previous chapter, blocking ‘holes’ is an activity inherent to the days following burial and this is explicitly related to the dreadful consequences that the soul of the dead may cause to the living if not properly sealed.

  Figure 15: Urns from Campo del Fraile cemetery (Cajón Valley). Taken from Arena

  (1975:71 according to Weiser)

  A particularly striking case is that of an anthropomorphic urn recovered at

  Villavil which was found accompanying the burial of two adults and an infant. The urn contained various implements and objects and was covered with two ceramic lids (Figure 16). Interestingly, a feather collar was placed in-between to “cover the hole left between the urn and the lids”; according to the original report, this was intended to provide “a more effective closure” to the vessel (Schreiter 1936:7).

  Figure 16: Funerary urn from Villavil. Taken from Schreiter (1936:lámina VII)

  Mud or clay sealing are also frequently reported throughout NW Argentina. For example, at Cueva del Pilón, all the urns were covered with a layer of fine mud which was placed with so much care that the interior of the urn was completely free of soil or dirt (Aparicio 1941). Also, a layer of fine mud kneaded with straw was placed upon several individuals that were lying on the natural rocky floor of the cave (Aparicio op. cit.). At Las Pirguas, urns were found closed by stone lids, big pottery fragments, mud and even moss (Baldini and Baffi 1996:10). Not very far from this site, at Dique El Cadillal the urn of an adult was sealed with an “mud ring of 12 cm thick and surrounded by some flat stones and milling hands stuck in a vertical position” (Berberián et al.1977:33). In the valley area as well, the practice of clay sealing is recorded at the Campo Colorado (Tarragó 1980:39). The urn dated to the Late Period recovered at Rio Chaquiago (Andalgalá) deserves a special mention: here, the lid was secured with a mud ring of 12 cm thick and some phalanges of the buried individual were imprinted in the mud, indicating that this was still soft when the lid was pressed over the hand of the buried man (Berberián 1969:15; Figure 17).

  Figure 17: Funerary urn with mud sealing from Río Chaquiago (Andalgalá). Taken from Berberián (1969:lámina III)

  Yet, as previously discussed, to exert a confining influence over the dead did not always depend on providing a hermetically enclosing structure. Certainly, other subtle forms could have produced same effects. If the body of the deceased was indeed considered the source of harmful powers, the protective measures could in fact be directed towards confining or restringing certain parts of the body. From some accounts we learn that the head is believed to be a particularly powerful part of the dead body (Allen 1988:63), and also that some kind of connection exists between the head, the objects placed upon it (such as caps) and the soul of the individual (see Bastien 1978:153, Carter 1968:261). In this regard, several accounts that record the practice of covering the head of the individuals with up-turned pots or other objects may become significant. For example, in Cerrillos-Los Campitos, Weiser reported founding the tomb of a child whose head had been placed inside an ordinary vessel while the body laid outside it surrounded by some stones (Weiser 1920-29, Scattolin Ms). Also, in Zarzo he found another tomb of a child whose head had been covered by a shallow bowl. Further interesting is to notice that in his drawings, almost every tomb is depicted with the objects surrounding or placed very close to the head of the buried individuals. Similar finds are reported from Aguada contexts in Hualfin (Sempé and Baldini 2005:75), Las Pirguas (Baldini y Baffi 1996:8), Pampa Grande (Ambrosetti 1906:34), La Toma (Campanella 1936:19), Sillisque-Tilián (Escobar 1996:35), Arroyo Seco in the San Francisco river area (Nordenskiold 1903) and Rupachico were again, the head of a child again appeared to have been “pressed” inside the vessel while the remaining parts of the body laid outside it (Heredia 1968:112). Although located outside the area of study, not less interesting is the find depicted by Nordenskiöld in the southern part of Bolivia. An individual was buried in flexed sitting posture with three vessels upturned on his head.

  Significantly, the vessels had small clay balls inside their hollow borders that acted as a “rattle” perhaps to alert if they were lifted from their place? (Nordenskiöld 1915:40; Figure 18).

  Figure18: Burial from south-eastern Bolivia. Taken from Nordenskiöld (1915:40)

  Placing upturned objects on top of the head of the deceased could have been effective not just in terms of an action of ‘covering’ any specific part of the body but also by the fact that these were arranged in an inverted position. As already discussed, the rituals performed in occasion of death usually involve the inversion of habitual actions. Doing things backwards or different from the ‘normal’ reaffirms the separation between the realms of life and death (Parker Pearson 1999:26). However, the fact that these cases may constitute a minority in the whole range of revised descriptions makes one wonder if these individuals deserved ‘differential’ treatment for any particular reason. Yet it is worth noticing that the vast majority of urn burials are composed of two Placing upturned objects on top of the head of the deceased could have been effective not just in terms of an action of ‘covering’ any specific part of the body but also by the fact that these were arranged in an inverted position. As already discussed, the rituals performed in occasion of death usually involve the inversion of habitual actions. Doing things backwards or different from the ‘normal’ reaffirms the separation between the realms of life and death (Parker Pearson 1999:26). However, the fact that these cases may constitute a minority in the whole range of revised descriptions makes one wonder if these individuals deserved ‘differential’ treatment for any particular reason. Yet it is worth noticing that the vast majority of urn burials are composed of two

  Urn burials clearly constitute a big proportion of the funerary remains found in NW Argentina. In very general terms we may say that during Formative times, ceramic vessels seem to have been restricted to subadult burials throughout Valleys, acquiring great standardization especially during the Late Period. In the eastern Yungas however, the practice of burying adults in urns is recorded along the Formative and Late periods, and it is only during this last chronological moment that such practice appears -although rarely- in some valley areas (e.g. Berberian 1969). To delve into the meanings of the ceramic vessels as graves is a complex and multisided issue that demands detailed knowledge of the associations of styles, technologies and socio-historical processes. Yet, here I would like to call the attention over certain features of the materiality of the urns themselves as repositories for the dead.

  In the line of thought that we have been exposing here, and as many of the aforementioned accounts describe, it is not inappropriate to think of the urns in terms of the protection that they may have provided against the potentially harmful dead. In this regard, however, a complex interplay is set forth between the conceptually opposed ‘fragility’ of the urn and its importance as container of a ‘dangerous’ matter (the dead). Indeed, even when we have seen these urns being sealed by single and double lids, reassured or blocked by stones, the fact that the interred urns may become extremely fragile under the pressure of the soil does not seem to posit any contradictory feelings. There are some Late Period cemeteries in the Santa Maria Valley where the urns appeared to be further protected by an enclosing flat-stone structure (Scheriter 1919:5; Figure 19), however these correspond to a minority. Such as ‘breakage’ might be a In the line of thought that we have been exposing here, and as many of the aforementioned accounts describe, it is not inappropriate to think of the urns in terms of the protection that they may have provided against the potentially harmful dead. In this regard, however, a complex interplay is set forth between the conceptually opposed ‘fragility’ of the urn and its importance as container of a ‘dangerous’ matter (the dead). Indeed, even when we have seen these urns being sealed by single and double lids, reassured or blocked by stones, the fact that the interred urns may become extremely fragile under the pressure of the soil does not seem to posit any contradictory feelings. There are some Late Period cemeteries in the Santa Maria Valley where the urns appeared to be further protected by an enclosing flat-stone structure (Scheriter 1919:5; Figure 19), however these correspond to a minority. Such as ‘breakage’ might be a

  Figure 19: Funerary urn from the Santa María Valley. Taken from

  Schreiter (1919:5)

  Not less significant is the fact that the urn sealed with lid inaugurates an ‘aperture’ in the Earth but precludes any direct contact between the deceased and the earth. It would be relevant to enquire why that contact is avoided. Perhaps, it is the complex interplay between wet, dried, cooked and raw substances and their conceptual implications to human bodies what precludes physical contact. As already discussed, the consumption of ‘well cooked food’ in funerals is one of the many prescriptions followed at the time of death (see Chapter II). As in the rites observed during the Pachamama ritual -when only cooked maize floor must be offered to the Mother Earth- so too perhaps infants must be offered in a proper, ‘cooked’ container. If they were conceptually associated to ‘raw’ matter, perhaps they wouldn’t be directly ‘mixed’ with Not less significant is the fact that the urn sealed with lid inaugurates an ‘aperture’ in the Earth but precludes any direct contact between the deceased and the earth. It would be relevant to enquire why that contact is avoided. Perhaps, it is the complex interplay between wet, dried, cooked and raw substances and their conceptual implications to human bodies what precludes physical contact. As already discussed, the consumption of ‘well cooked food’ in funerals is one of the many prescriptions followed at the time of death (see Chapter II). As in the rites observed during the Pachamama ritual -when only cooked maize floor must be offered to the Mother Earth- so too perhaps infants must be offered in a proper, ‘cooked’ container. If they were conceptually associated to ‘raw’ matter, perhaps they wouldn’t be directly ‘mixed’ with

  As previously outlined, the association of the dead to fire and burnt matter is all pervasive in the etnohistorical and ethnographical accounts (see Chapter II). In NW Argentina, the occurrence of pre-Hispanic burials associated to ashes, charcoals or burnt deposits has been frequently recorded (e.g. Willey 1946:672, Baldini and Baffi 2003, 2007, Ortiz 2003, Cortés 2005). Habitual examples of such practice include the placing of charcoal fragments inside the funerary urns mixed with the remains of the buried individuals. In Arroyo del Medio, small pieces of charcoal were found inside the infant urn burials (Boman 1903); the bones of the individuals as well as part of their offerings showed signs of exposure to a source of heat, indicating that the charcoals were lighted when placed inside the urns (Nordenskiöld 1903:25). Analogous findings were registered at El Algarrobal (Heredia 1971:30) and Dique El Cadillal (Berberián et al. 1977). Carbonized maize grains were found inside a big urn burial at the near site of La Aguadita (Heredia 1971:28). The remains of a woman buried at Lampacito showed clear signs of burning in different degrees throughout the skeleton however in this case the causes of the combustion remain unclear (Scattolin et al. 2005). During the Late Period this practice is reported at La Paya (Ambrosetti, cited in Baldini and Baffi 2003:48) and Ruiz de los Llanos, where a vessel containing the remains of an infant was found containing fragments of charcoal, a layer of ashes as well as some carbonized vegetable remains (Baffi et al. 2001). As in the case of charcoals, the evidences of ashes suggest As previously outlined, the association of the dead to fire and burnt matter is all pervasive in the etnohistorical and ethnographical accounts (see Chapter II). In NW Argentina, the occurrence of pre-Hispanic burials associated to ashes, charcoals or burnt deposits has been frequently recorded (e.g. Willey 1946:672, Baldini and Baffi 2003, 2007, Ortiz 2003, Cortés 2005). Habitual examples of such practice include the placing of charcoal fragments inside the funerary urns mixed with the remains of the buried individuals. In Arroyo del Medio, small pieces of charcoal were found inside the infant urn burials (Boman 1903); the bones of the individuals as well as part of their offerings showed signs of exposure to a source of heat, indicating that the charcoals were lighted when placed inside the urns (Nordenskiöld 1903:25). Analogous findings were registered at El Algarrobal (Heredia 1971:30) and Dique El Cadillal (Berberián et al. 1977). Carbonized maize grains were found inside a big urn burial at the near site of La Aguadita (Heredia 1971:28). The remains of a woman buried at Lampacito showed clear signs of burning in different degrees throughout the skeleton however in this case the causes of the combustion remain unclear (Scattolin et al. 2005). During the Late Period this practice is reported at La Paya (Ambrosetti, cited in Baldini and Baffi 2003:48) and Ruiz de los Llanos, where a vessel containing the remains of an infant was found containing fragments of charcoal, a layer of ashes as well as some carbonized vegetable remains (Baffi et al. 2001). As in the case of charcoals, the evidences of ashes suggest

  At Cueva del Pilón the first levels of the cave were purposefully filled with two layers of sand and ashes alternated, beneath which several burials where found lying on the natural rocky floor of the cave (Aparicio 1941). One of the excavated urns further contained an adult mommy sitting on a bed of ashes. A similarly interesting context was described at the site of Bajo Los Cardones: the careful study of a cist structure revealed several consecutive events of deposition of ashes placed both beneath and over two buried bodies as well as in a small circular stone structure found adjacent to the cist (Chiappe Sánchez 2007:95-97). Interestingly, the placing of each body is chronologically separated and a new layer of ashes was deposited each time. According to the report, the cist was filled with the results of a combustion process that took place in a different location. Further significant is the fact that the cist was built on top of a fine layer of sand (Chiappe Sánchez 2007:95, see below).

  Boman explicitly states that the inclusion of charcoals was intended to provide the deceased with fire in its other life (Boman 1908:272-273) and that fire was to be Boman explicitly states that the inclusion of charcoals was intended to provide the deceased with fire in its other life (Boman 1908:272-273) and that fire was to be

  The presence of layers of sand in the above deposits further advanced related thoughts about particular materials and their significances in the context of death. As in the above mentioned cases, there are many other contexts where burials appear to be directly associated to sand. In Casabindo, Von Rosen (1957:87) describes the presence of burial caves where the floor was covered by a layer of sand of one meter deep and that special care was taken for the bodies to be entirely covered by it. Also a stone defense was built in front of the burial site to avoid the wind blowing away the sand (Von Rosen op. cit.). Further south at La Apacheta cemetery, the funerary mounds were formed by the superposition of various layers of clay and boulders as well as sand “brought from some distance away” (Quiroga 1912:155-156). At Río Chaquiago, a layer of sand was deposited surrounding the funerary vessel and four inverted vessels placed around it (Berberián 1969:15). In his journey across the western slope of the Aconquija mountain range, Weiser found several Formative cemeteries and isolated tombs whose location is recurrently described as in “médanos” or “arenales” (Spanish for ‘sand dunes’). For example, sixteen tombs were placed in a sand dune near Tesoro Alto while the same is reported for the four burials excavated at Cerrillos-Los Campitos, twenty four tombs in Ingenio del Arenal and other six tombs to the west of the Arenal river.

  Also, twenty graves were located in a sand dune at Las Conchas and other four placed in the sand dunes located further south (Weiser 1920-1929, Scattolin Ms). In the adjacent Santa Maria Valley, according to Weiser’s neat field notes the stratified deposit of one burial appears to have included a thick layer of “fine sand” (arena fina) (Figure 20, arrow).

  Figure 20: Formative burial in the Santa María Valley. Taken from Scattolin et al. (2005:37, redrawn from Weiser 1920-29)

  Near the area travelled by Weiser, at the sites of Cardonal and Bordo Marcial in the Cajón Valley, the same pattern for the placing of the dead is observed. Although these sites are still under study, three formal areas of internment were detected within geomorphologically-distinct natural formations. These are natural sandy grounds whose texture and whitish colour stand in vivid contrast with the adjacent rocky landscape. Of the three burial sites, the ‘Vazquez cemetery’ is particularly striking as it is located in a sub-circular sand dune which neatly detaches itself from the surroundings (Figure 21).

  For the Late Period in the same Cajón Valley, Schreiter (1919:5) has reported the presence of two Santa Maria infant cemeteries located in the sandy soils at the bottom of the Famabalasto mountains.

  Figure 21: Vazquez cemetery (Cajón Valley, Argentina)

  Van de Guchte (1999:154) translates an original account from the Jesuit Bernabé Cobo who describes that ancient Peruvians displayed ritual gestures

  “to any natural things that were found to differ somewhat from others of the same kind because of some oddity or extraordinary quality found in them (...) They also worshiped springs, rivers, lakes, and hills which were different in shape or substance from those nearby, being formed of earth “to any natural things that were found to differ somewhat from others of the same kind because of some oddity or extraordinary quality found in them (...) They also worshiped springs, rivers, lakes, and hills which were different in shape or substance from those nearby, being formed of earth

  As in this account, the placement of the cemetery areas within the Formative villages of Cardonal and Bordo Marcial not only sized natural discontinuities in the perceived landscape but also made use of sandy soils. Cobo also made explicit reference to the ancient Peruvians building the sepulchers of their dead “in the fields or in the sand dunes” (Cobo, cited in Balducci 1984). Significantly, like in the aforementioned cases, sand appears to have been particularly meaningful for the placing of the dead even to the extent to have been ‘transported’ or ‘built into’ specific sites of internment. In relation to what has been already discussed, we may advance that the significance of sand dunes as appropriate locations for the dead resides in this being a ‘dried’ and ‘heat’ landscapes par excellence. This would be further concordant to the antithetical nature of souls and water (Harris 1982:59) as well as to the many accounts describing the land of the dead as places of ‘imagined’ heat (Harris 1982:62) and actual dryness (Gose 1994:129).

  Together with the intricate symbolism of water, heat and death, the remarkable absence of cremation practices throughout NW Argentina and the Andean region in general (Gose 1994:130, but see Baldini and Baffi 1996:9) forwards particular conceptual perceptions associated to the bodies of the deceased. Indeed, numerous accounts have highlighted the fundamental character of the ancestors’ bodily remains to Andean cosmologies (e.g. Harris 1982:46). In this respect, it is necessary to start untangling the importance that the material remains of the dead -the integrity of their bodies preserved- might have had in the Andean past. As in contemporary communities, Together with the intricate symbolism of water, heat and death, the remarkable absence of cremation practices throughout NW Argentina and the Andean region in general (Gose 1994:130, but see Baldini and Baffi 1996:9) forwards particular conceptual perceptions associated to the bodies of the deceased. Indeed, numerous accounts have highlighted the fundamental character of the ancestors’ bodily remains to Andean cosmologies (e.g. Harris 1982:46). In this respect, it is necessary to start untangling the importance that the material remains of the dead -the integrity of their bodies preserved- might have had in the Andean past. As in contemporary communities,

  

  de Ayala, who clearly specified that the punishment suffered by different kinds of sinners and criminals during Inca rule was that their bodies were left without internment, in the open fields for the animals and birds to eat their flesh and disperse their bones (Guaman Poma de Ayala 1615:309, 313). By contrast, the propper practice of burial in the ‘Ande suyos’ region of the Inca kingdom included the removal and eating the deceased’s flesh “leaving just the bones”, and among the “Yungas” (lowland groups) after the removal of the flesh, the bones were wrapped in textiles for burial (Guaman Poma de Ayala 1615:294, 299). Although we cannot today observe these processes of prescribed decomposition -which could certainly have implied the use of perishable structures (e.g. Figure 21) or the actual obliteration of the remains- the material record of past funerary practices does allow the recognition of the frequent will of preserving the deceased’s remains -bones and flesh- in various specific ways.

  Indeed, the natural process of decomposition and decay can be ‘controlled’ by disposing the body in particular ways to impede its disintegration in a ‘natural’ (i.e. uncontrolled) fashion (sensu Bloch and Parry 1982:15). The disposition of the body, whether inside an urn, a stone enclosure or even in a hole in the ground is thus making a statement about the permanence of the corpse (or even its decomposition) in a specific, culturally determined way. The important point to highlight is that the constitutive parts of the body are preserved perhaps to comply with the idea that the reciprocal power of the ancestors is embodied in their desiccated physical remains (Harris 1988:59). Cremation, by contrast would have entailed the blurring of the body’s physicality -a most feared punishment during the times of the ‘extirpators of idolatries’ (Arriaga 1621).

  Figure 21: ‘Aerial sepulcher’ placed in a tree from the Chaco salteño in NW Argentina. Taken from Palavecino (1944: lámina I). Once the body decomposed, the bones were usually taken to be

  interred in other location (Palavecino op. cit:88)

  The preservation of the body’s integrity becomes further relevant from the perspective of ‘gestures’ as it is in this action that the ability to communicate through meaningful postures was also preserved. In this respect, and just to advance some thoughts, it is worth noticing that throughout NW Argentina the dead have been most frequently placed in a flexed position. Although extended burials as well as groups of mixed individuals do occur, a very vast proportion of the buried individuals -whether mummified or skeletonized- exhibit a tightly flexed posture. Sometimes, the structures of burial could be externally aiding in the constrained posture of the bodies (as in the case of an urn), however in many other instances were the structures of burial are not inherently constrictive the bodies ‘comply’ with vertical or horizontal crouched gesture.

  In many occasions, these ‘tight funerary packages’ were argued to be functional to their transport and movement. However, this wouldn’t have to be strictly the case. Among present day communities in the Cajón Valley area, in the event of a death occurring in the highland isolated mountains a special device called ‘lamillejo’ is built to accommodate the body of the deceased in a horse’s back and transport it to the corresponding cemetery area. Significantly, this device takes the form of a stretcher so that the body is properly placed in extended position. This modern practice makes one wonder whether the transportation of an outstretched body by horse responds to any ‘functional convenience’ or if in fact, this is made to comply with the ordinary style of Christian burial. Maybe because in Western cultures consciousness tends to be equated with ‘up’ (standing, sitting) and unconsciousness with ‘down’ (lying down) (Lakoff and Johnson, cited in Tilley 2004) it would be certainly disturbing to give the body an up- right, sitting posture however easier this may be to its transport. What is clear though, is that other regulations were in play within many Andean past communities. Perhaps, as Harris (1982:53) has documented for present-day Andean communities, the tight flexure of the bodies responded to particular ways of restraining its prejudicial influences. At this point, however, this is just a possibility that needs to be further explored. What we might however advance is that the posture given to the body seems to have been imperative throughout the Andean region: certainly, the evocative squatting posture of a Peruvian mummy placed next to a classic exemplar of a ‘supplicant’ sculpture argued to

  be “the stone duplicate of the ancestors” (see Pérez Gollán 2000:46) as well as one of the various flexed bodies buried at Alamito forwards unmistakable thoughts regarding the importance and the effectiveness of a ‘gesture’ as to be immortalized in stone, bone and flesh (Figures 23, 24, 25).

  Figure 23 and 24: mummy from the north-central coast of Peru. Taken from Pérez Gollán (2000:29, photo

  by J.M.Vreeland Jr.) and stone ‘supplicant’. Taken from Pérez Gollán (2000:25). Both pictures are published by Pérez Gollán (2000) in his discussion of the humanlike qualities of the Supplicants.

  Figure 25: Burial from Alamito (site C-0, Recinto 1, Entierro 1). Taken from Nuñez Regueiro (1998:102)