Las saywas del inka en el desierto de atacama: ¿Una inscripción del calendario en el qhapaq ñan?

Abstract

The Inka saywas of the Qhapaq Ñan from the Atacama Desert (Region of Antofagasta, Chile) are presented and analyzed here from an ethnohistorical and archeoastronomical perspective. From two very different cases (Lasana and Tocomar), it is argued that these columns or “tupus” were closely linked to the state-sanctioned cult of the sun, and to certain dates of the Inka calendar. Diverse methodologies are applied here complemen-tarily, proving that the saywas –which are homonymous to the astronomical columns of Cuzco– were also used for measuring time, by indicating the sunrise during highly relevant calendrical marks such as the solstice, although not this time in strategic points of the capital of the Empire, but in the Inka Trail itself.