BlO—ljncaster Farming, Saturday, May 12,1984
Incas worshipped Gods from mouirtointops
WASHINGTON - More than 20
Inca sites on mountamtops in the
Andes have been discovered in the
last four years by Johan G.
Reinhard, an American an
thropologist and mountain clim
ber.
Reinhard thinks he has at last
solved the mystery of why the
Incas labored up mountains, some
higher than 20,000 feet, to build
their elaborate stone structures
and platforms. They were wor
shiping the mountains and the gods
that supposedly dwelled in and on
them, he believes.
At least 50 such mountaintop
sites with Inca ruins, remains, and
relics have now been found on
peaks from southern Peru to
central Chile. In the course of his
work, Remhard and some com
panions set the world’s high
altitude scuba-diving record while
looking for artifacts in a 19,200-
foot-high lake near one of the
summits.
Gods Determined Lifestyle
“The Incas and even peoples of
the Andes before them thought the
mountain gods determined the
weather and controlled the
springs, rivers, and underground
water sources vital to their har
vests and animals,” says
Reinhard.
“Offerings and sacrifices
sometimes human made in the
sacred places on the peaks were
attempts to assure good weather,
adequate rainfall, and abundance
of crops and herds.”
Mountain deity worship also
affected the famous Inca legacy of
Machu Picchu. The anthropologist
things the city was built on an
8,000-foot-high mountainside for
strategic reasons, but also because
the location was perfect for wor
ship. All the peaks in view were
considered sacred by the Incas and
are still worshiped by their
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The sacred inti huatana stone,
long thought to be a type of sundial,
stands in the center of the complex
surrounded by four sacred
mountains.
“I believe the stone had little to
do with the sun,” says Reinhard.
“It probably represented, and was
worshiped as, a major mountain
deity in the region.”
Sacrifice To Deities
Present-day offerings to the
mountain gods are made far
beyond Machu Picchu. The an
thropologist estimates that 2 to 3
million people in the andes still
sacrifice such things as coca
leaves, grain, textiles, and llamas
to the deities.
Just as in Inca times,
ceremonies include ritual drinking
and communal meals, followed by
dancing and singing. Llama is a
popular main course when it’s used
as part of the offering.
Human sacrifices may also still
take place. In 1942 and 1945,
children reportedly were
sacrificed in Peru to prevent a
drought. Villagers in the central
part of the country still talk about
human sacrifices from time to
time, especially when a major
tunnel or road that might anger the
gods is being built.
One of the most dramatic
examples of human sacrifice from
the days of the Incas was found in
1954 by treasure hunters on El
Plomo, a peak in Chile the
amazingly well-preserved remains
of an Inca boy sacrificed to the
gods 500 years ago. Attended by
figurines of llamas and a silver
goddess found nearby, his body
now rests inside a freezer
showcase in a Santiago museum.
When Remhard heard reports of
a similarly well-preserved Inca
body buried in the ice on the
summit of Quehuar, a 20,106-foot
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peak in northwest Argentina, he
scaled it in 1981 only to find that
looters had beaten him to the site.
They had dynamited the place,
probably to get at the artifacts
accompanying the remains, and
all he found was an ear, a few
pieces of cranium, and some
textiles plastered against a wall.
Later analysis indicated that the
ear belonged to a teen-age child.
On various summits, Reinhard
has found grain, textiles, and coca
leaves used in Inca rituals. But the
most unusual things he found were
small human-like statues
fashioned from Pacific Ocean sea
shells and outfitted with perfectly
woven textile clothing.
The Incas valued the red and
white spondylus shells more than
gold and considered them in
dispensable in ceremonies calling
for rain.
Most impressive, however, were
the ruins of buildings and altar
platforms on many of the peaks,
some with walls five feet thick and
16 feet long.
On Chile’s Uullaillaco, at 22,057
feet one of the highest volcanoes
and archeological sites on Earth,
Reinhard and fellow climber
Robert Blatherwick found stone
buildings, collapsed roofing, bits of
ceramics, pieces of textile,
firewood, and a sacrificial altar.
To build the altar on top of Las
Tortolas in Chile, Reinhard
estimates that at least 4,000
baskets of gravel had to be carted
1,500 feet.
Priests and their assistants were
probably responsible for the
building and maintenance of the
lofty sites. They regularly scaled
peaks more than 20,000 feet high in
leather sandals.
Climbing the Andes today, even
with modern equipment, can be
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READERS FROM THE STAFF.
risky business. Reinhard has been
menaced by blizzards and near
misses from lightning that stood
Airville Community 4-H Club
The Airville Community 4-H
Club met on April 17 at the Lower
Chanceford Community Building.
Sandy Barton and Bill Cleaves
joined the club.
his hair on end and made his
climbing ax and metal crampons
buzz like angry bees.
Rural Lite Sunday is scheduled
for Sunday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at
the Chanceford Presbyterian
Church. The group is planning a
trip to the Philadelphia Zoo.
7