Los centros de peregrinaje como mecanismos de integración política en sociedades complejas del altiplano del Titicaca

Abstract

Centers of Pilgrimage as Mechanisms of Political Integration in Complex Societies in Titicaca´s Altiplano

Pilgrimages to sacred places were a common practice in many prehispanic Andean societies. For example, the islands of the Sun and the Moon, located in southern Lake Titicaca, formed one of the most important pilgrimage routes imposed by the Inca state as part of its politics of state domain. Similarly, the mortuary centers of Cutimbo and Sillustani, belonging respectively to the Lupaqa and Colla chiefdoms, received annual pilgrimages as part of cult ceremonies dedicated to the ancestors.

Using ethnohistorical documentation and archaeological information with regard to such pilgrimage centers, we discuss the hypothesis that the pilgrimages served as ideological mechanisms of social and political control on the part of complex societies.