The astronomy of Peruvian Huacas

Abstract

The Incas honored and venerated many features of both natural and man- made landscapes that they felt to be endowed with superhuman powers. In Quechua these shrines were known as huacas, and at the time of the Spanish conquest there were thousands of them. Soon after invading the Incan homeland the Spaniards began a campaign against the indigenous religion that included a systematic eradication of huacas. Shrines that were large carved stones and outcroppings survived, however, and form part of our study. A number of these were found to have astronomical meaning, marking events such as solstices and equinoxes. Water channels are associated with the majority of astronomical huacas. Ritual stairways are also common features, symbolizing shamanic movement between the three worlds of Incan cosmology. The Incas built as many as 16 pillars on the horizons of Cusco to mark the positions of the rising or setting Sun on significant dates of the year. All were destroyed. Two pillars above the modern village of Urubamba that escaped the Spanish purge mark the rising Sun at June solstice as viewed from a large granite boulder in the center of the courtyard of the palace of Huayna Capac. Viewed also from the boulder, in the direction of the December solstice sunrise we have located stone structures on the distant summit of Cerro Unoraqui. The major axis of the courtyard of the palace is oriented approximately toward Cerro Unoraqui.