Ritual as Inter-Action with Non-Humans: Pre-Hispanic Mountain Pass Shrines in the Southern Andes

Ethnographic and ethnohistorical studies support the notion that Andean peoples share an animistic ontology (cf. Descola 2013), that is, they believe the world is inhabited by countless non-human agents and interpret numer- ous phenomena that we (Moderns) attribute to natural mechanisms as efects of their intentional actions. hese sentient beings can be a variety of things, including plants, celestial bodies, rocks, artifacts, places, or relatively abstract but omnipresent entities, such as Pachamama.

Depending on the region and period, travel rituals reported in the literature may engage diferent kinds of non- humans, including ancestors and accompanying spirits, Pachamama, moun- tains, outcrops, springs, archaeological sites (chullpas), special objects (e.g., igurines, amulets), pack animals (if they are used), and the road itself (Lecoq 1987; Mariscotti de Görlitz 1978; Nielsen 1997; Pimentel 2009; West 1981, among others).

In 1995, a caravan we traveled with from the southern altiplano to the Tarija Valley carried two bulky bundles containing ritual paraphernalia to perform the necessary rituals along the journey, including eight kichiras (dried llama hearts stufed with clippings from diferent parts of the bodies of sacri- iced animals), kowa (an aromatic shrub commonly burned in ritual contexts) incense, lard and cornmeal to shape llama igurines (virauñas), miniature bags illed with maize kernels and cornmeal, lamingo feathers, unkuñas (ceremo- nial textiles for altars), red yarn to “dress the altars,” coca leaves, alcohol, and wine, among other elements (Nielsen 2011).

The most common ritual presently conducted at abras in the Andes involves adding rocks to the apachetas, cairns developed on the highest point of the trail by the repetition of this gesture over time.

The apacheta ritual was described in early colonial sources

This demonstrates that these practices—or some of them—are of pre-Hispanic origin, at least in the Central Andes.