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188 _ chapter seven Discussion of the Anthropomorphic Statuettes The themes of human sacrifice, state bureaucracy, and political power relate to another type of artifact that has been found on El Plomo and elsewhere: the anthropomorphic statuette. Such pieces are usually of gold, silver, or Spondylus; the metal figurines can be either hollow or solid. Statuettes having the form of males and females are known, there never being a question as to their sex because they always have conspicuous genitalia (see photos 5.20 and 5.23). They conform to a highly standardized design,1 and almost always have the same pose: standing with feet apart, head erect, eyes staring ahead, arms bent, and hands resting on their chests. The pieces depicting women have long hair that is parted in the middle and divided into two equal tresses, each of which is tied off in back. The figurines representing men have pierced ears with lobes that are stretched from the use of large earplugs, and numerous rings that circle the tops of their heads. Said rings can be interpreted as llawt’us that have been wrapped multiple times around their crowns. Sometimes a masculine piece will have a small lump in one cheek, which indicates that the individual is chewing a coca quid. Many features of the statuettes—not only the men’s large earlobes and their headgear, but the women’s hairstyle—are signs of high status. Their pose, which I believe is an attitude of veneration, combined with the fact that some of the male pieces are depicted consuming coca—which was an important part of many rites—probably means that they are worshipping . Each figurine may be adoring an important waqa, perhaps the very one to which it was offered. The extreme homogeneousness of the pieces is a good indication that they were produced by Inka artisans in the core of the empire. Discussion of the Anthropomorphic Statuettes 189 Several ethnohistoric authors mention that the Cuzqueños made oblations of statuettes. Cobo and Polo assert that on a sacred hill near the capital, called Chuquipalta, the lords of Cuzco left miniature children that were fashioned from gold.2 Said sources tell us that Llulpacturo, another knoll in the vicinity of Cuzco, received similar pieces, executed in gold and silver.3 It should be noted that both peaks were offered real boys and girls along with the figurines. Cobo and Polo also assert that diminutive pieces representing men and women, which were made of gold and silver, served as oblations for Catonge, a venerated stone.4 Molina states that the Inkas distributed sacrificial materials, including gold and silver statuettes depicting people, to the major waqas in the provinces, many of which were hills and mountains.5 As I state in chapter 5, figurines have been discovered in a variety of archaeological contexts: on high peaks, both with the bodies of victims,6 and alone;7 on the crests of lower hills;8 and at other types of sites.9 As far as I have been able to ascertain, they have always turned up in ritual contexts, usually having been interred as oblations for prominent waqas; I am not aware of a single case where one has been recovered from a burial, which means that if a statuette is unearthed with a corpse, it is very likely that the individual was immolated.10 Finally, pieces representing men have only been found in association with male victims,11 while female figurines have been discovered exclusively with girls and young women.12 With respect to the eight-year-old from El Plomo, Mostny is certain that when he was exhumed, the feminine statuette was not situated next to him;13 rather, it was discovered in some other part of the Enterratorio. The significance of the figurines has been interpreted by scholars in four principal ways. First, they could be deities.14 But which ones? The lords of Cuzco had a whole pantheon of supernatural beings that they venerated. Some Andeanists have argued that the statuettes are images of the supreme gods, in which case the female pieces would depict Mama Killa,15 or Pacha Mama,16 while the male ones would portray Inti,17 or Illapa.18 Other researchers have theorized that the figurines are symbolic of the waqas near which they were interred, which means that the pieces left at lofty sites would connote mountain-deities.19 A summit could be of either gender or could embody both sexes at...

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