The sacred landscape of the Inca
Subtitle: the Cusco ceque system
By: Brian S. Bauer.
Edition: 1st University of Texas Press ed.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Austin
Language: eng
Number of pages: 249
Subjects: Incas -- Religion; Sacred space -- Peru -- Cuzco; Indians of South America -- Andes Region -- Religion; Incas -- Social life and customs; Indians of South America -- Andes Region -- Social life and customs; Cuzco (Peru) -- Antiquities
Description: The ceque system of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca empire, was perhaps the most complex indigenous ritual system in the pre-Columbian Americas. From a center known as the Coricancha (Golden Enclosure) or the Temple of the Sun, a system of 328 huacas (shrines) arranged along 42 ceques (lines) radiated out toward the mountains surrounding the city.

This elaborate network, maintained by ayllus (kin groups) that made offerings to the shrines in their area, organized the city both temporally and spiritually.

From 1990 to 1995, Brian Bauer directed a major project to document the ceque system of Cusco. In this book, he synthesizes extensive archaeological survey work with archival research into the Inca social groups of the Cusco region, their land holdings, and the positions of the shrines to offer a comprehensive, empirical description of the ceque system.

Moving well beyond previous interpretations, Bauer constructs a convincing model of the system's physical form and its relation to the social, political, and territorial organization of Cusco.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-239) and indexes.