The National Geographic magazine shared an article on the discovery of a 500-year-old Inca offering in
Lake Titicaca, noting that it sheds light on Inca religion and ritual.
According to the publication, during the inspection they recovered an offering box made of andesite, a local volcanic stone, which was lying on a reef some 18 feet below the surface of the lake.
The box measured around 14 by 10 by 6.5 inches and had a concave offering cavity, which was sealed by a round stone plug.
"Inside the box, the scientists found a tiny rolled cylinder of gold sheeting and a figurine of a llama made from Spondylus, the coral-hued shell of a spiny oyster that was rare and valuable," the publication read.
"The cylinder, the archaeologists believe, may be a miniature replica of a chipana, a type of bracelet that Inca noblemen wore on their right forearm. The llama represents the Inca's sturdy beast of burden," it added.
According to the National Geographic, various expeditions through the decades have found more than two dozen stone boxes of differing shapes on another reef, but the contents were preserved, in whole or in part, in only four.
"Those offerings were figurines of humans, male and female, as well as llamas, and they were made of rare and valuable materials —silver, gold, and Spondylus shells. Miniature golden tupus —pins to secure Inca shawls— were found with one of those boxes, suggesting that the human figurines were originally covered in traditional, brightly colored clothing that decayed as water infiltrated the offering cavity," it said.
"There were multiple, complementary meanings" of the offerings, ranging from large political statements to simple agricultural requests, said the paper's coauthor, Christophe Delaere, in an email. Delaere is the scientific director of the Université libre de Bruxelles' underwater archaeology projects at
Lake Titicaca.
For his part, National Geographic explorer Johan Reinhard, an archaeologist specializing in pre-Hispanic sacred landscapes, said that he suspects that there were a limited number of places that the Inca made offerings, and these were made for reasons that existed prior to their occupation.
"The Incas made offerings at places that already figured in the beliefs of the people before they came to Lake Titicaca," he stated.
(END) Natgeo/RMB/MVB
Publicado: 7/8/2020