Module+Assignments


 * Module 6 Assignment:**


 * Related Wikis:**
 * [|Inca Religion]**
 * [|Sacred Sites]**
 * Controversial Wikis:**
 * [|Abortion]**
 * [|Capital Punishment]**


 * Module 7 Assignment:**

Potential Wiki Topics:

sacrifice rituals and why were children so important for this? guacas Religious ceremonies and Festivals pilgrimage to Cuzco

I have listed above a few topics I'm interested in discussing on this wiki project; however one in which I'm most interested in discussing is sacrifice particularly child sacrifice and the importance this ritual played in their religious beliefs. I also want to discuss how this ties in with mummification, was it only sacrificed children that were mummified in the cold Andean mountaintops? or did they mummify rulers and the elite as well? how did they choose certain children to be sacrificed and why?...I should have all these questions answered upon completion of this project.

neat article: [|http://books.google.com/books?id=h1K-niH-89AC&lpg=PA2&ots=AIq1nv_uOU&dq=quariwarmi&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=quariwarmi&f=false]

//For example, the festivals of Inti Raymi and Capac Raymi occurred near the June and December solstices respectively, astronomically significant times when the sun's motion on the horizon seems to stop and then change direction// (Bauer and Dearborn 1995:22). //In Cuzco, the time to begin planting corn, August, and the time of its harvest, April, were also marked by major festivals during which the sun was observed. These rituals reflect how intimately related agriculture, the sun, and the ruler were in Inca ideology.//(Bauer 1996:333)

//Kerma: The Rise of an African Civilization//
 * Module 8 Assignment:**

The floodplains along the Nile constitute an important but as yet little utilized series of laboratories for the comparative study of the origins and interaction of ancient civilizations.

//Human Bodies as Objects of Dedication at Inca Mountain Shrines (North-Western Argentina)// Constanza Ceruti World Archaeology Vol. 36, No. 1, The Object of Dedication (Mar., 2004), pp. 103-122 Published by: [|Taylor & Francis, Ltd.] Article Stable URL: []
 * Module 9 Assignment:**

The Incas climbed many of the highest peaks of the Andes to deposit offerings on their summits. They established places of worship above 6000 metres that would be reached again only four centuries later. The offerings at the high-altitude shrines were dedicated to state deities and local mountain gods and involved a broad range of objects, ranging from gold and silver figurines, shell necklaces and high-quality textiles to pottery and food items. Human sacrifices were also performed on some of the more important peaks. Although Spanish chroniclers wrote about these offerings and the capacocha ceremonies during which they were consecrated, their accounts were based on second-hand sources, and the only direct evidence of them comes from archaeological excavations. The most thoroughly documented of these cult assemblages were recovered on high mountain summits in Peru and Argentina, where the material evidence was exceptionally well preserved. In this study we shall discuss the offering assemblages from mountaintop sites in Argentina. By comparing the archaeological evidence with the chroniclers' accounts, interpretations will be presented regarding the social use, political purpose and symbolic meanings attributed to the objects of dedication, which moved the Incas to ascend the highest Andean mountains in search of power and eternity.

**Module 12 Assignment** Google Earth map found showing the location of Llullaillaco, which houses the world's highest archaeological site, a burial complex found on the summit of this mountaintop at an altitude of 6715m (Ceruti 2000). //maps prove to be very useful in this wiki, as there is no better way to demonstrate the expansion of the Inca empire and how their beliefs are intertwined with their need for power over this region.//

Legitimization of the State in Inca Myth and Ritual //Brian S. Bauer///University of Illinois At Chicago //American Anthropologist// Vol. 98, No. 2 June 1996 (pp. 328-336)
 * Module 13 Assignment:**

Bauer explains how the role of ideology helps comprise what we now now to be the "development of state"; more specifically he goes into detail explaining how certain rituals help rulers promote their elite status, by //establishing access to the supernatural in the mythical past and repeating this in the present through rituals (//Bauer 328). He explains that if the development of a ritual system that of which supports the ruling elite's claim to power, is an important factor in building a successful chiefdom and state craft. The article also depicts the maize ritual the Incas performed as they cultivated this staple crop of theirs; and Bauer relates agriculture to warfare as he states "//For the Inca, agriculture was war, and the original battle between humankind and nature took place between the first Incas and the primeval occupants of the Cuzco Valley"//[referring to the myth of Manco Capac and Mama Huaco, the first Incas to reach Cuzco Valley and plant maize, by defeating the Hualla, the original people of the Cuzco Valley].Using this myth as a metaphor, Bauer analyzes the corn rituals performed and aligns them with the importance of warfare, as these rituals were performed with the elite wearing their warfare tunics as they "broke the earth" to cultivate their crop; all while singing cheerful agriculture and warfare songs.

Bray, T. L., Minc, L. D., Ceruti, M., Chávez, J., Perea, R., & Reinhard, J. (2005). A compositional analysis of pottery vessels associated with the Inca ritual of capacocha. //Journal Of Anthropological Archaeology//, //24//(1), 82-100. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2004.11.001
 * Module 14 Assignment:**

Using different pottery assemblages, anthropologists and other scientists piece together the essence of the Capacocha ceremonies and what they meant to the Incas. Many burials were found on the summits of the Andes, such locations proved to be sufficiently inaccessible and that is why many sites have been preserved for so long.