Ushnu
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In the
Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
the ushnu (other spelling ''usnu'', sometimes ''usñu'') was an altar for cults to the deities, a throne for the
Sapa Inca The Sapa Inca (from ; ) was the monarch of the Inca Empire (''Tawantinsuyu'' "the region of the four rovinces), as well as ruler of the earlier Kingdom of Cusco and the later Neo-Inca State at Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba. While the origins ...
(emperor), an elevated place for judgment and a reviewing stand of military command.Hyslop, John (1990). Inka Settlement Planning - University of Texas Press - Austin In several cases the ushnu may have been used as a solar observatory. Ushnus mark the center of ''plazas'' (main squares) of the Inca administrative centers all along the highland path of the
Inca road system The Inca road system (also spelled Inka road system and known as ''Qhapaq Ñan''Qhapaq=rich, powerful, opulent, wealthy, privileged; ñan=road, way, path, route. Source "Diccionario quechua - español - quechua" Gobierno Regional Cusco - Cusco ...
. The ushnu had also the function of a basin with a drain for libations. During the most important Inca festivals such as the
Situa The situa or citua (in Quechuan languages, Quechua ) was the health and ritual purification festival in the Inca Empire. It was held in Cusco, the capital of the empire, during the month of September on the day of the first moon after the spring e ...
in
Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...
, the capital of the Inca empire, the emperor poured
chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...
(fermented maize beverage) into the top basin as an offer to his father the Sun god and those who attended the ceremonies could drink it at a lower outlet. Sacrifices were also held in proximity of or at the ushnu.Gasparini, Graziano; Margolies, Luise (1977). Arquitectura inka - Centro de Investigaciones Históricas y Estéticas, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo Universidad Central de Venezuela - Caracas While in the capital the ushnu was the ''axis'' of the Inca ceremonies, in the provinces of the empire they represented the central power and had a public role and were generally quite large structures, bigger than the ushnu in Cusco. The shape of the ushnu varied in the vast extension of the Inca conquered territory. The one in Cusco, considered to be the center of the whole empire,Christie, Jessica Joyce (2007). Did The Inka Copy Cusco? An Answer Derived From an Architectural-Sculptural Model. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, Vol. 12, No.1, pp. 164–199 - was a sugarloaf-shaped stone pillar, covered with gold. In the administrative centers, the ushnus had the shape of elevated platforms or truncated pyramids with one or more superposed platforms and a stairway climbing to the top. Some ushnus, which have been the object of archaeological excavations, showed the existence of basins with drainage systems. The Pumaqaqa carved stone in Chinchero was an elevated throne and ushnu standing on the side of the plaza It has been suggested by some scholarsMeyers, Albert (1998). Las Campañas Arqueológicas en Samaipata, 1994–1996. Segundo Informe de Trabajo - Sociedad de Investigacion del Arte Rupestre de Bolivia (SIARB) - Boletin 12:59–86. La PazZuidema, R.Tom (1980). El Ushnu. In Revista de la universidad complutense n. 28 - pages 317-362- SpainCavero Palomino, Yuri Igor (2015) Ushnus en la provincia de Vilcashuamán - in Peruvian archaeology volume 2, 2015 - Yamagata University institute of Nasca that
Intihuatana Intihuatana is a ritual stone in South America associated with the astronomic clock or calendar of the Inca. Its name is derived from the local Quechua language. The most notable Intihuantana is an archaeological site located at Machu Picchu in ...
s (solar observatories), such as those found in Inca royal estates of Pisac and Tipón, and carved stones in
Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...
(Funerary stone), Chincero (PumaQaqa) and
Sacsayhuamán Sacsayhuamán ( ; ) or Saksaywaman (from Quechuan languages, Quechua , , ) is a citadel on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, Peru, the historic capital of the Inca Empire. The site is at an altitude of . The complex was built by t ...
(Throne of the Inca) could have been ushnus, due their use as seats and altars for religious cults. As a ''social marker'' the ushnu provided an elevated position for the high level Inca nobility while common and non-Inca people stayed in a lower position in the plaza. Notable ushnus are found in
Vilcashuamán Vilcashuamán or Vilcasguaman (from Quechua language, Quechua Willka Waman, "sacred hawk") is the capital of Vilcas Huamán Province, Ayacucho region, Peru. It is located at an altitude of 3,490 m on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It is located ...
,
Huánuco Pampa Huánuco Pampa, Huánuco Marka (also spelled ''Huánuco Marca'') or Huánuco Viejo, Wanako Pampa, Wanuku Pampa or simply Huánuco is a large archaeological site in Peru in the Huánuco Region, Dos de Mayo Province, La Unión District. The rui ...
, Chinchero the three of them in
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and Samaipata in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
and Shincal de Quimivil in northern
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.


History

The truncated pyramids and the circular pillar with a basin−pit system found during the archaeological surveys in
Caral The Sacred City of Caral-Supe, or simply Caral, is an archaeological site in Peru where the remains of the main city of the Caral civilization are found. It is located in the Supe valley of Peru, near the current town of Caral, 182 kilometers n ...
date back to the
Andean preceramic The Andean preceramic refers to the early period of human occupation in the Andes, Andean area of History of South America, South America that preceded the introduction of ceramics. This period is also called pre-ceramic or aceramic. Earliest hu ...
period (8000 to 1800 BCE) and represent mountain and water cult symbols. After passing through the
Chavín culture The Chavín culture was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian civilization, developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru around 900 BCE, ending around 250 BCE. It extended its influence to other civilizations along the Peruvian coast.Burger, R ...
in the
Early Horizon This is a chart of cultural periods of Peru and the Andean Region developed by John Rowe and Edward Lanning and used by some archaeologists studying the area. An alternative dating system was developed by Luis Lumbreras and provides different ...
(1000 to 200 BCE) and the
Tiwanaku culture The Tiwanaku polity ( or ) was a Pre-Columbian polity in western Bolivia based in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin. Tiwanaku was one of the most significant Andean civilizations. Its influence extended into present-day Peru and Chile and lasted f ...
in the
Middle Horizon Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...
(600 to 1000 CE) they might have become the Inca ushnu. According to the chronicle of Guamán Poma de Ayala it was the Inca emperor Pachacuti Inca Yupanquy (before 1438 – 1471) who ordered the construction of a ''throne'' for him in every district of his empire. Ushnus are mentioned by the chroniclers who described the Inca empire in the 16th century, among them
Francisco Xerez Francisco Xerez, Francisco de Jerez, or Francisco de Xerxes (1495–1565?) was a Spanish explorer-turned-historian, the personal secretary of conquistador Francisco Pizarro. He participated in the conquest of Peru during the first two unsucces ...
,Jeréz, Francisco de (2017
534 __NOTOC__ Year 534 ( DXXXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus and Paulinus (or, less frequently, year 1287 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
. Verdadera relación de la Conquista del Perú y Provincia del Cuzco. In Crónicas tempranas del siglo XVI Tomo I Estrategia hispana: La invasión del Tawantinsuyu en la época de Huáscar y Atahualpa (1530-1533) edited by Carlos Velaochaga Dam, Alejandro Herrera Villagra, Rafael Warthon Calero - Ministerio de Cultura Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de Cusco
Pedro Cieza de León Pedro Cieza de León ( Llerena, Spain c. 1518 or 1520 – Seville, Spain July 2, 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru and Popayán. He is known primarily for his extensive work, ''Crónicas del Perú'' (The Chronicle of Peru), ...
,Cieza de León, Pedro (2005
553 __NOTOC__ Year 553 ( DLIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 553 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...
. Crónica del Perú - El señorío de los Incas - edited by Franklin Pease G.Y. - Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho - Caracas - Venezuela
Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala (Fane, 165after 1616), also known as Huamán Poma or Waman Poma, was a Quechua nobleman known for chronicling and denouncing the ill treatment of the natives of the Andes by the Spanish Empire after their conquest of ...
and
Juan de Betanzos ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Phili ...
. According to the chronicle of Francisco de Xerez in 1532
Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...
, reached
Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...
, where the Inca emperor
Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...
was quartered with his troops. There, in the middle of the city ''plaza'' (main square), Pizarro saw what he called a ''fortress''. He climbed it and could spot a multitude of Incan soldier in the fields, thus he ordered his four small cannons to be hidden on the top of the fortress to get ready for the attack. Then an ''Indian'' (native American) came, in the name of Atahualpa, telling the Spanish soldiers to settle where they wished except at the fortress, which was their sacred ushnu. They disobeyed and the first shots to the Inca's men, that started the
Battle of Cajamarca The Battle of Cajamarca, also spelled Cajamalca (though many contemporary scholars prefer to call it the Cajamarca massacre), was the ambush and seizure of the Incan ruler Atahualpa by a small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro, on November ...
, were shot from the top of the ushnu. Unfortunately that ushnu no longer exists.Meddens, Frank M.; McEwan, Colin; Vivanco Pomacanchari, Cirilo (2010). Inca “Stone Ancestors” in context at a high-altitude usnu platform. Latin American Antiquity 21(2), 2010, pp. 173–194 The earliest depictions of ushnus are found in the drawing by Guamán Poma de Ayala (1615)Guamán Poma de Ayala, Felipe (1980 615] Nueva corónica y buen gobierno. Tomo I - Franklin Pease García, editor - Colección Librería Ayacucho. Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho - Caracas at folios 240, 242, 386 and 400. They are found in
Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...
, Cusco and
Vilcashuamán Vilcashuamán or Vilcasguaman (from Quechua language, Quechua Willka Waman, "sacred hawk") is the capital of Vilcas Huamán Province, Ayacucho region, Peru. It is located at an altitude of 3,490 m on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It is located ...
and he calls them ''usno'' while representing them as truncated
step pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids – typically large and made of several la ...
s. Other images of ushnu platforms are found in the drawings and books by 19th century explorers such as Léonce Angrand (1874)Angrand, Léonce (1972). Imagen del Perú en el siglo XIX - Colección Perú artístico - Carlos Milla Batres, 1972
Ephraim George Squier Ephraim George Squier (June 17, 1821 – April 17, 1888), usually cited as E. G. Squier, was an American archaeologist, history writer, painter and newspaper editor. Biography Squier was born in Bethlehem, New York, the son of a minister, Joel S ...
(1877),Squier, Ephraim George (1877). Peru: Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas - Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York and
Charles Wiener Charles Wiener (1851–1913) was an Austrian-French scientist-explorer. Born in Vienna, he is perhaps best known as the explorer who traveled extensively in Peru, climbed the Illimani and came close to re-discovering Machu Picchu. Biography Hi ...
(1880).Wiener, Charles (1880). Pérou et Bolivie. Récit de voyage, suivi d’études archéologiques et ethnographiques et de notes sur l’écriture et les langues des populations indiennes - Paris, Hachette file:Ushnu of Huanuco Viejo by Charles Wiener (1880).jpg, Ushnu of Huanuco Viejo (Húanuco Pampa) by
Charles Wiener Charles Wiener (1851–1913) was an Austrian-French scientist-explorer. Born in Vienna, he is perhaps best known as the explorer who traveled extensively in Peru, climbed the Illimani and came close to re-discovering Machu Picchu. Biography Hi ...
(1880) file:Ushnu of Vilcashaman_Leonce Angrand (1847).jpg, Ushnu of Vilcashuamán by Léonce Angrand (1847)


Origin of the name

Little is known of the Quechua language, Quechua root of the term ushnu. The Quechua−Spanish dictionaries were produced since a few years after the conquest by the Spaniards and they include the word ushnu although written with obsolete spelling. * The first of them was produced by Domingo de Santo Tomás in 1560. It includes the term ''ozño'' with the meaning of «altar for sacrifices where they sacrifice» * The dictionary by Diego González Holguín was published in 1609 and gives the translation of ''vsnu'' (''u'' and ''v'' were written with the same character) in two different ways, underlining two possible uses: «Judge's Court ade ofstone stuck in the ground» and «Cairn when it is a large stuck stone»González Holguín, Diego (2007 608. Vocabulario de la Lengva General de todo el Perv llamada Lengva Qquichua o del Inca. Lima, imprenta de Francisco del Canto, 1608. Digitalizado por Runasimipi Qespisqa Software, 2007 * In 1612 the Aymara dictionary by Ludovico Bertonio describes the tern ''hushnu'' as «an altar as it is seen in the punaBertonio, Lvdovico (1612). Vocabvlario de la lengva aymara, Impresso en la casa de la Compañía de Iesús de Iuli Pueblo en la Prouincia de Chucuito por Francisco del Canto * The priest Cristóbal de Albornoz at the end of the 16th centuryAlbornoz, Cristobal de (1967 nd of 16th century. La instrucción para descubrir todas las guacas del Piru y sus camayos y haziendas, ed. Pierre Duviols. Joumal de la Societe des Americanistes, Vol. 5 51 No. 11 Paris. in his instructions for discovering idolatry describes the ushnu as follows: «there is another waka (sacred place/shrine) called ''usno'' on royal roads and in the squares of the settlements» * According to Catherine Allen, Professor emeritus of Anthropology at the
George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
Allen, Catherine J. (2014). Ushnus and Interiority - Chapter 6 in Inca Sacred Space: Landscape, Site and Symbol in the Andes edited by Frank Meddens, Katie Willis, Colin McEwan and Nicholas Branch - Archetype Publication, London and to
R. Tom Zuidema Reiner Tom Zuidema (May 24, 1927 – March 2, 2016) was professor of Anthropology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is well known for his seminal contributions on Inca social and political o ...
, late anthropologist at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
, the current use of the Quechua word ''usnu'' seems to be related to the word ''suck'', in Spanish. * Pino Matos, Peruvian archaeologist,Pino Matos, José Luis (2004). El ushnu Inka y la organización del espacio en los principales Tampus de los Wamani de la sierra central del Chinchaysuyu. Chungará (Arica) 36 (2) states that in the
Department of Ancash Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, a ...
the contemporary word ''ushnu'' refers to «a place made of stones where water can filter» to the ground. This meaning was then extended to «a place where liquids were offered or place of libations». * Moreover Pino Matos statesPino Matos, José Luis (2013). El Ushnu de Huánuco Pampa: Una plataforma ceremonial Inca como lugar de libaciones y eje de planificación de un centro administrativo-religioso en los Andes centrales- in Arqueología y Sociedad 26, 2013: 249-264 that the name ushnu was first proposed in 1965 by the Peruvian anthropologist Manuel Chávez Ballón during a project carried out by the Institute of Andean Research and directed by
John Victor Murra John Victor Murra (24 August 1916 – 16 October 2006) was a Ukrainian-American professor of anthropology and a researcher of the Inca Empire. Early life and education Born Isak Lipschitz in Odesa, Ukraine, Russian Empire, in 1916, Murra emi ...
. He suggested that the ceremonial platform in the center of the Huánuco Pampa plaza had to be called ''ushnu'' according to the local Quechua pronunciation. Then starting from the 1970s the term was currently used by the archaeologist to name altars and platforms existing in the Inca settlements. The ushnu existing in Cusco used to be a place of ceremonial offers, where the liquid poured as an offer into an upper container could drain down to avoid spilling: this way the deity to whom the liquids were offered appeared to be drinking. When the ushnus were built in the new conquered areas, where they adopted the physical form of platforms or pyramids, a drainage was emplaced together with a stairway and in some cases a seat on the top.


Uses of the ushnu

The different uses of the ushnus can be summarized as follows


Structure

Except the Cusco ushnu, which was never described by the chronicles as a platform, practically all the other masonry ushnus are platforms either stepped or in a truncated pyramid shape. On the contrary the natural carved stone may have very different shapes depending on the original rock outcrop, with one common point: the seat or throne on top of it. The structure of built ushnus is made of stone. Some of the masonry is well worked ''imperial Inca style'' with big blocks, but most of the ushnus have a rustic style, also known as ''pirca style'', with ''pirca'' meaning wall in Quechua. Different authors define the usnhu in different ways. * Morris states «ushnus are stone buildings in the shape of a platform or truncated pyramid».Morris, Craig, and Donald E. Thompson (1985). Huánuco Pampa: an Inca city and its hinterland. New York: Thames and Hudson * Bauer says it is «a platform as a truncated pyramid with an access or a stairway to reach its top where a seat or a stone block may exist». * Cavero Palomino gives a more detailed definition: «an architectural structure with rectangular plan having up to four over-posed platforms that have an access in the frontal part and had different functions according to the place in which they were built». * Gasparini & Margolies define the ushnu form the architectural point of view as «The Usñu heir spellingwas a five-tiered pyramid or simply a rectangular elevation where the Inca —in other cases the governor—sat to govern and judge. It seems that the Usñu was the symbol of power and government of the Incas in the conquered towns» * Last but not least Zuidema tries to provide a different view, based on the function: the ushnu «is basin or fountain associated to a gnomon which can be considered the ''
axis mundi In astronomy, is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the is the axis of ...
'' (axis of the Earth) for the cult of ancestors, the wakas (shrines, scared places) and other deities of the Andean cosmic world»


World view and unification

For the Incas, the world was composed of three planes: * , the world above * , the world here and * , the world of the dead and of what lies beneath the surface of the ground. In Quechua the word ''pacha'' means both time and space. Thus the Sapa Inca or his representative, on top of the ushnu, was seating in a central position connecting all the sacred '' ceques'' directions. This represented a three-dimensional and a temporal connection between the world below and the surface, with an eye to the sky. Pino Matos, José Luis (2010). Yllapa usno: rituales de libación, culto a ancestros y la idea del ushnu en los Andes según los documentos coloniales de los siglos XVI-XVII - Arqueología y Sociedad, Nº 21, 2010 Hyslop states that the ushnus were a form to unite the Inca capital to the provincial and administrative centers of the empire. This strategy was working through the
Capacocha ''Capacocha'' or ''Qhapaq hucha'Of Summits and Sacrifice: An Ethnohistoric Study of Inka Religious Practices'', University of Texas Press, 2009 ( noble, solemn, principal, mighty, royal, crime, sin, guilt Hispanicized spellings , , , also ) wa ...
ceremonies (rites that might involve also the sacrifice of children) which took place on top of or beside the ushnus and «connected the point of sacrifice with the child's origin by straight routes». There was also a desire, through these representations during the Capacocha to symbolically connect the sacred sites of the conquered territories to those properly Inca, making this celebration probably the greatest of the ceremonies performed in the Inca empire.Duviols, Pierre (1976). La Capacocha, mecanismo y función del sacrificio humano, su proyección geométrica, su papel en la política integracionista y en la economía redistributiva del Tawantinsuyu. Allpanchis Phuturinqa 9:11-57 The ushnu as a well recognizable character of Inca architecture represented one of the main symbols of the central power in peripheral settlements and administrative centers. As a sort of ''theatricality of power'' the ushnu was intended to produce a uniform collective consciousness that allowed all person subjected to the Inca to feel connected to the astral deities and to the sacred places. This was primarily intended to ensure ideological domination over the multitudes of newly subjugated peoples in the recently conquered territories. With reference to Huánuco Pampa, Morris observes that the Inca ''state architecture'' which imposed central plazas dominated by an ushnu «can be compared in many ways to a huge stage to be used by the state for the integration of a fragmented interior area. In addition to providing housing for people and economic activities, the architecture provided a way through which divisions and combinations could be manipulated by the Inca. In part the architectural backdrop was symbolic, but a final effect in terms of architecture is that it really can and does shape human activities and relationships».Morris, C. 1987. "Arquitectura y Estructura del Espacio en Huanuco Pampa". ''Cuadernos'' 12:27-45.


Notable ushnus

There are hundreds of ushnu in the territory of the former Inca empire, many of them have been excavated and described in archaeological publication. Several have been restored and others are being considered for further research especially under the Qhapaq Ñan carried out by the (Ministry of Culture) in Peru.


Cusco

The main square of Cusco roughly corresponding to the modern and was divided by the river Saphi into two sub-squares called Haucaypata (Hawkaypata) or ''square of the rest and happiness''"Diccionario quechua - español - quechua" Gobierno Regional Cusco - Cusco – Second edition, 2005 and Cusipata (Kusipata) or ''square of the joy''. The river was canalized and covered to allow free transit between the two parts. This huge space marked the center and represented the power of the Empire. In fact the four roads to the four Suyus (provinces), into which the Tawantinsuyu (empire of four parts united) was divided, stemmed from this square. It was also the limit between ''hanan'' (upper) and ''hurin'' (lower) Cusco. It had an important ritual role and hosted the religious festivals held during the year. The ushnu was indeed somewhere in the middle of this square. Nevertheless nobody knows exactly where it stood. The description provided by the chroniclers are not consistent. Nevertheless the scholars agree that the ushnu was most probably standing almost in its middle, on top of the canalized Saphi river. In that position it allowed a direct access to the underworld through undergroud waterways.Angles Vargas, Victor (1988). Historia del Cusco Incaico. Vol. I and II. Lima: Industrial Gráfica S.A. This concept is underlined by Zuidema who considers the ushnu as a ''gate'' to the Earth that sucks in the rainwater and the offerings. The presence of the river just under the ushnu allowed this ''opening'' to function properly. In 1534 Pizarro, after conquering Cusco, decided to convert it into a Spanish colonial town, to this purpose he reserved areas to the east and the south of the square for the erection of the new cathedral and the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
' church. The original plaza was considered too big and it was divided into two smaller spaces by a row of colonial building. On the top of the steps existing in the square he ordered a gallows to be built. These steps were most probably the foundation of the Cusco ushnu and its destruction and substitution for a gibbet was a sign of the empowerment of the new governor and of the end of the Inca sacred ceremonies.MacCormack, Sabine (1991). Religion in the Andes - Vision and imagination in early colonial Peru - Princeton University Press - Princeton, New JerseyMorris, Craig; Covey, R. Alan; Stein, Pat (2011). The Huánuco Pampa archaeological project - Volume I: The plaza and palace complex. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History - Number 96, 234 pages, 230 figures, 35 tables - Issued November 2, 2011 In the 17th century the descriptions of the Cuzco ushnu differ enormously from the chronicles of the preceding century. Thus, Guamán Poma de Ayala draws the ushnu of Cuzco as superimposed platforms, like a truncated pyramid, on top of which
Manco Inca Yupanqui Manco Inca Yupanqui (1544) was the founder and first Sapa Inca of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba, although he was originally a Puppet government, puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. He was also known ...
(founder and monarch of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba) sits. His drawing is very similar to another that he makes of the Cajamarca ushnu.Monteverde Sotil, Luis Rodolfo (2011). La configuración arquitectónica de los ushnus como espacios de libaciones y ofrendas líquidas durante el Tahuantinsuyo. Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines - 40 (1) - 2011-

/ref> The ushnu also was also an observation point of the Sun. The chroniclers report that small stone towers or pillars marked the horizon on the east and west of Cusco and the main observation point could have been the ushnu in the main square, nevertheless the solar observation could be purely ritual and not as a way to fix a date for the calendar. In this respect calculations by Zuidema show that the Sun and the Moon, in four dates every year, stand precisely at the
zenith The zenith (, ) is the imaginary point on the celestial sphere directly "above" a particular location. "Above" means in the vertical direction (Vertical and horizontal, plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The z ...
and at the
nadir The nadir is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface. The direction opposite of the nadir is the zenith. Et ...
above and below Cusco, thus providing the ushnu with the role of the ''axis mundi'' or ritual axis of the Earth.


Relationship with the ceques

The organization of the spaces the Cuzco was based on the
ceque system The ''siq'i'' (Spanish: ''Ceque; Quechua: A stripe, stroke, line indicating a direction.)'', ) system was a series of ritual pathways leading outward from Cusco into the rest of the Inca Empire. The empire was divided into four sections called su ...
,Wachtel, N. 1973 Sociedad e Ideología, Ensayos de Historia y Antropología Andinas. IEP, Lima.Zuidema, R. Tom (1974). La imagen del Sol y la Huaca de Susurpuquio en el sistema astronómico de los Incas en el Cuzco. Journal de la Société des Américanistes 63: 199-230. whose center was the
Coricancha Coricancha, Curicancha, Koricancha, Qoricancha or Qorikancha (''"The Golden Temple,"'' from Quechua ''quri'' gold; ''kancha'' enclosure) was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, and was described by early Spanish colonialists. It is l ...
(temple of the Sun). This system was composed of a series of ritual imaginary pathways leading outward from Cusco into the territory of the Inca Empire. All along the ceque lines
huaca In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term ''huaca'' can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been asso ...
s (shrines, sacred places) were found corresponding to spots of ceremonial, ritual, or religious significance. The system was divided into four sectors towards the four provinces which composed the Inca empire and each province had a given number of lines. The first huaca of the fifth ceque of
Antisuyu Antisuyu ( , ; ) was the eastern part of the Inca Empire which bordered on the modern-day Upper Amazon region which the Asháninka, Anti inhabited. Along with Chinchaysuyu, it was part of the ''Inca Government#Organization of the empire, Hanan ...
was in the main square and was mentioned as ''usnu'' by
Polo de Ondegardo Polo Ondegardo (c. 1520 in Valladolid – 1575 in Ciudad Rica de La Plata) was a Spanish colonial jurist, civil servant, businessman and thinker who proposed an intellectual and political vision of profound influence in the earliest troubled stage ...
(Spanish colonial jurist, civil servant and thinker). According to Zuidema this was associated with astronomic specific phenomena.


Vilcashuamán

The Vilcashuamán ushnu is one of the best known and has been the object of studies and restoration. Its base is and its height is . Being the tallest known ushnu it has 4 platforms, but observed form the west side one can see 5 platforms. According to Cavero this may be due to restoration works carried out in the past. On the East side there is a double jamb entrance gate with a stairway leading to the top where a finely carved double seat monolith is found. According to the chronicles it was used by the Inca and his ''colla'' (or ''qoya'', the queen), to pray.


Huánuco Pampa

View of the ushnu in Huánuco Pampa published by E. Squier in 1877 The Huanuco Pampa plaza is a huge open space measuring . In its middle stands a platform built with ''imperial style'' stone masonry. It measures having a height of it is supported by a platform having a height of about . The base platform is built with rustic style masonry with an extension of . The total volume of this ushnu is approximately . The access to the top platform is through the south side where a stairway stands. It had originally 32 steps. The top platform is enclosed by a wall having a thickness of about and a height of . A small outward projection from the top of the wall produces a
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
around the top of the ushnu. This enclosure leaves two entrances, each one almost wide, that allow access from the stairway to the platform. The wall around the top of the ushnu contained 10 niches, 6 of which are still clearly visible. These niches had no toppings and could easily have served as seats. The space corresponding to the ushnu marked the center of the settlement and was designed as the base for the construction of the entire site. The ushnu was also linked to the most notable aspects of the surrounding landscape through the lines projected towards the main directions of the settlement. Notably the southern direction of its stairway was possibly oriented to the high, permanently snow-capped
Yerupajá Yerupajá is a mountain of the Huayhuash mountain range in west central Peru, part of the Andes. It is located at Áncash, Bolognesi Province, Lauricocha Province. At (other sources: ) it is the second-highest in Peru and the highest in the ...
, which was a very important apu (protective deity of the mountains). The ushnu of Huánuco Pampa served as the center of the public ceremonial activities that took place during the year. The public activities that were carried out around the ushnu of Huánuco Pampa constituted, possibly, a symbolic way of rewarding the attending people through the libation rituals. It was also a sign through which alliances for state purposes with local populations were achieved.


Samaipata

Located in the lowland of current Bolivia some from
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...
and known as
el Fuerte de Samaipata El Fuerte de Samaipata or Fort Samaipata, also known simply as "El Fuerte", is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Florida Province, Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is ...
or simply ''El Fuerte'' (the fort), a big rock outcrop is found. It measures approximately and emerges from the surrounding hills.Scholl, Jonathan (2015). At the limits of empire: Incas, Spaniards, and the Ava-Guaraní (Chiriguanaes) on the Charcas-Chiriguana frontier, southeastern Andes (1450s-1620s) - A dissertation presented to the Graduate school of The University of Florida It was finely carved to produce seats, niches, drainage channels, basins, and animal shapes. It is regarded as, possibly, the largest existing ushnu. The area was conquered by the Incas to gain access to the forested lowlands and the
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...
plantations, when they expanded their empire towards the east in the current
Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia) Santa Cruz () is the largest of the Departments of Bolivia, nine constituent departments of Bolivia, occupying about one-third (33.74%) of the country's territory. With an area of , it is slightly smaller than Japan or the United States, US st ...
. It has not yet been ascertained whether the Samaipata settlement was constructed during the rule of
Pachacuti Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, also called Pachacútec (), was the ninth Sapa Inca of the Chiefdom of Cusco, which he transformed into the Inca Empire (). Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an ...
,
Topa Inca Yupanqui Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui (), also Topa Inga Yupangui, erroneously translated as "noble Inca accountant" (before 14711493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–1493) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pac ...
, or
Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...
. It has a large plaza without any built ushnu, but the plaza is overlooked by the huge carved rock outcrop. The animal carvings may have been produced by the pre-Inca
Chané Chané is the collective name for the southernmost Arawakan-speaking peoples. They lived in the plains of the northern Gran Chaco and in the foothills of the Andes in Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina. The historical Chané are divided ...
culture (c. 800 CE) while the niches are typically Inca. In fact the south side of the outcrop shows five sculpted seats from which persons may have observed the events taking place in the plaza. This could have served as an ushnu for some high ranking individuals. Meyers has called the rock a ''giant ushnu''. This assumption is quite complex because the rock has seats and niches facing different cardinal points and only a few of them could have been used as ushnu for rituals to be kept in the plaza which remains quite far away.


Shincal de Quimivil

''El Shincal de Quimivil'' was most probably the capital of one of the districts of the
Collasuyu Qullasuyu ( Quechua and Aymara spelling, ; ''Collasuyu, Kholla Suyu''; ) was the southeastern provincial region of the Inca Empire. Qullasuyu is the region of the Qulla and related specifically to the native Qulla Quechuas who primarily resided ...
province of the Inca empire. The archaeological investigations, started in 1901, revealed ancient buildings, out of which about one hundred can be found today, that were part of the Inca settlement. The settlement had a ''plaza'', five kallankas (halls) a long aqueduct to provide fresh water, and about twenty collcas (warehouses). The Qhapaq ñan, in its main mountain trunk, crosses the settlement North to South , on the side of the plaza. The urban layout of the road inside El Shincal is completed with a scenic architectural component: two twin hills about high are located on both sides of the plaza, their tops were artificially flattened and walled with stones to a height of about . Both hills can be accessed through stone steps.Raffino, Rodolfo; et al. (1997). El ushnu de El Shincal de Quimivil - Tawantinsuyu, 3:22-39 In the south central part of the plaza stands the ushnu. Its shape is that of a single body slightly pyramidal truncated platform with a square plan and a height of . It has an access through the west side front, formed by a stone stairway with 9 steps, which leads to a trapezoidal opening placed in the center of the façade. A bench with stone walls filled with mortar and a seat made of flat slates can be observed on the northern sector of the platform. The construction process of the ushnu is part of an accurate planning of the plaza. Its walls are double with mud filling inside and their blocks were extracted and transported alternately from the nearby hill and river. Before their placement, the stones underwent rudimentary percussion work in order to adapt them to imitate the typical Cusco stonework. This ushnu appears to be the largest built to the South of Cusco. Its measures are a visible sign of the importance of this settlement. According to the Inka ideology, the ushnu was the conceptual scenario where power and alliances between leaders were assumed and consummated. According to Raffino and colleagues it is more than likely that about one hundred years after the end of the Inca empire, the members of the indigenous rebellion of 1630-1636 used El Shincal and specifically its ushnu to consolidate their power in search of a rehabilitation of indigenous rights. This tends to confirm that during the uprising, the symbolism of the Inca ushnu in the local ideology had not yet ended.


Further reading

* John Hyslop (1990). Inka Settlement Planning - University of Texas Press - Austin * (In Spanish) Graziano Gasparini; Luise Margolies (1977). Arquitectura inka - Centro de Investigaciones Históricas y Estéticas, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo Universidad Central de Venezuela - Caracas * Jessica Joyce Christie. (2007). Did The Inka Copy Cusco? An Answer Derived From an Architectural-Sculptural Model. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, Vol. 12, No.1, pp. 164–199 * Craig Morris; R. Alan Covey; Pat Stein (2011). The Huánuco Pampa Archaeological Project Volume I: The Plaza and Palace Complex - American Museum of Natural History Anthropological Papers, Number 96 (2011). * (In Spanish) Luis Rodolfo Monteverde Sotil (2011). La configuración arquitectónica de los ushnus como espacios de libaciones y ofrendas líquidas durante el Tahuantinsuyo. Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines - 40 (1) - 2011


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ushnu Aymara mythology Inca Empire Indigenous culture of the Andes Pre-Columbian architecture