Rethinking Apacheta

Bibliographic Data

ID7535577
AuthorsChristopher Dean (0000-0002-0780-6918, University of California, Santa Cruz, corresponding author), Carolyn Dean
Year2006
Volume28
Issue1
Pages93-108
Publication date2006-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueÑawpa Pacha (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0077-6297 • E-ISSN: 2051-6207
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1179/naw.2006.28.1.006
OpenAlexW4246549501
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited3

Apacheta are traditionally thought of as accumulations of small stones piled by travelers at high mountain passes, places of precarious crossing, or otherwise significant parts of a journey, such as crossroads. Two sixteenth-century watercolor depictions of apacheta, featured in a late sixteenth-century manuscript by the Mercedarian friar Martin de Murúa, suggest, however, that prehispanic apacheta may have varied greatly in appearance. This paper explores some of the implications of the Murúa images, including the possibility that the piles of rock are not themselves the apacheta, but rather are the offerings made to apacheta. It also considers apacheta as the miniature embodiments of Andean topography designed to secure the aid of the sacred landscape for a traveler’s journey

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Visual arts · Archaeology and Natural History · Historical Studies on Spain · History · Latin American history and culture

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