Inka Human Sacrifice and Mountain Worship

Strategies for Empire Unification

Nonfiction, History, Americas, South America, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Archaeology
Cover of the book Inka Human Sacrifice and Mountain Worship by Thomas Besom, University of New Mexico Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas Besom ISBN: 9780826353085
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press Publication: April 15, 2013
Imprint: University of New Mexico Press Language: English
Author: Thomas Besom
ISBN: 9780826353085
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Publication: April 15, 2013
Imprint: University of New Mexico Press
Language: English

The Inka empire was the largest pre-Columbian polity in the New World. Its vast expanse, its ethnic diversity, and the fact that the empire may have been consolidated in less than a century have prompted much scholarly interest in its creation. In this study, Besom explores the ritual practices of human sacrifice and the worship of mountains, attested in both archaeological investigations and ethnohistorical sources, as tools in the establishment and preservation of political power.

Besom examines the relationship between symbols, ideology, ritual, and power to demonstrate how the Cuzqueños could have used rituals to manipulate common Andean symbols to uphold their authority over subjugated peoples. He considers ethnohistoric accounts of the categories of human sacrifice to gain insights into related rituals and motives, and reviews the ethnohistoric evidence of mountain worship to predict locations as well as motives. He also analyzes specific archaeological sites and assemblages, theorizing that they were the locations of sacrifices designed to assimilate subject peoples, bind conquered lands to the state, and/or justify the extraction of local resources.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Inka empire was the largest pre-Columbian polity in the New World. Its vast expanse, its ethnic diversity, and the fact that the empire may have been consolidated in less than a century have prompted much scholarly interest in its creation. In this study, Besom explores the ritual practices of human sacrifice and the worship of mountains, attested in both archaeological investigations and ethnohistorical sources, as tools in the establishment and preservation of political power.

Besom examines the relationship between symbols, ideology, ritual, and power to demonstrate how the Cuzqueños could have used rituals to manipulate common Andean symbols to uphold their authority over subjugated peoples. He considers ethnohistoric accounts of the categories of human sacrifice to gain insights into related rituals and motives, and reviews the ethnohistoric evidence of mountain worship to predict locations as well as motives. He also analyzes specific archaeological sites and assemblages, theorizing that they were the locations of sacrifices designed to assimilate subject peoples, bind conquered lands to the state, and/or justify the extraction of local resources.

More books from University of New Mexico Press

Cover of the book The Road to Ruins by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book The Big Range by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book The Lynching of Mexicans in the Texas Borderlands by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Mexico City, 1808 by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Everyday Life and Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book The Memory of Stone by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book King Tiger by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Anasazi America by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book The Writer's Portable Mentor by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book First Blood and Other Stories by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Fire by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book New Mexico Economy in 2050 by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Fray Angélico Chávez: Poet, Priest, and Artist by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Tortillas, Tiswin, and T-Bones by Thomas Besom
Cover of the book Come Up and Get Me by Thomas Besom
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy