Mummies and mortuary monuments
Editorial UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS
Espanya peninsular
- Editorial UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS
- ISBN13 9780292738706
- ISBN10 0292738706
- Tipus LLIBRE
- Pàgines 371
- Any Edició 1996
- Encuadernació Tela
Matèries
Antropologia. Temes GeneralsMummies and mortuary monuments
Editorial UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS
Espanya peninsular
Detalls del llibre
Since prehistoric times, Andean societies have been organized around the ayllu, a grouping of real or ceremonial kinspeople who share labor, resources, and ritual obligations. Many Andean scholars believe that the ayllu is as ancient as Andean culture itself, possibly dating back as far as 6000 B.C., and that is arose to alleviate the hardships of farming in the mountainous Andean environment. In this boldly revisionist book, however, William Isbell persuasively argues that the ayllu developed during the latter half of the Early Intermediate Period (around A.D. 200) as a means of resistance to the process of state formation. Drawing on archaeological evidence, as well as records of Inca life taken from the chroniclers, Isbell asserts that prehistoric ayllus were organized around the veneration of deceased ancestors, whose mummified bodies were housed in open sepulchers, or chullpas, where they could be visited by descendants seeking approval and favors. By charting the temporal and spatial distribution of chullpa ruins, Isbell offers a convincing new explanation of where, when, and why the ayllu developed. Sure to provoke lively debate in many quarters, this book will promote a serious revision of Andean prehistory. It holds broad ramifications for anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnohistorians, art and architectural historians, and geographers interested in the Andes.