Since prehistoric times, Andean societies have been organized around theayllu,a grouping of real or ceremonial kinspeople who share labor, resources, and ritual obligations. Many Andean scholars believe that theaylluis as ancient as Andean culture itself, possibly dating back as far as 6000 B.C., and that it arose to alleviate the hardships of farming in the mountainous Andean environment.
In this boldly revisionist book, however, William Isbell persuasively argues that theaylludeveloped 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 prehistoricaylluswere organized around the veneration of deceased ancestors, whose mummified bodies were housed in open sepulchers, orchallups, where they could be visited by descendants seeking approval and favors. By charting the temporal and spatial distribution ofchullparuins, Isbell offers a convincing new explanation of where, when, and why theaylludeveloped.
A boldly revisionist view of the organization of the ayllu, ancient Andean kinship groups.
William H. Isbell is Professor and Chair of Anthropology at the State University of New York, Binghamton.
- Acknowledgments
- I. On Knowing the Past
- II. Royal Mummies of Inca Cuzco
- III. Ancestor Mummies in Huarochirí
- IV. Competing Theories ofAylluOrigins
- V. The Open Sepulcher
- VI. Distribution of Open Sepulcher Monuments
- VII. The Open Sepulchers of Chota-Cutervo
- VIII. Origin of theAylluand the Andean Past
- Bibliography
- Indexes
![Mummies and Mortuary Monuments: A Postprocessual Prehistory of Central Andean Social Organization [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/6/9/3/2_6314291.jpg "Mummies and Mortuary Monuments: A Postprocessual Prehistory of Central Andean Social Organization [Paperback]")