
































Deciphering Wak’as: Exploring the Sacred from an Andean Perspective 

Review by Matthew Piscitelli

The Archaeology of Wak’as: Explorations of the Sacred in the Pre-Columbian Andes

by Tamara L. Bray (editor)

University Press of Colorado, 2015

Over the last twenty years, there has been a resurgence of interest in exploring the ideological aspects

of our past. Archaeologists have adopted nuanced and theoretically sophisticated approaches to religion

and symbolism. Most recently, many have participated in the so-called “ontological turn” (Henare et al.

2007: 7-12) whereby scholars move away from Cartesian dualism and instead embrace non-Western

ontologies.  As  Pauketat  (2012:  181)  relates,  “the  religions  of  ancient  America  were  based  on

relationship ontologies that lacked rigid distinctions between animate and inanimate powers or human

and non-human agencies.” This “return of animism,” or New Animism (Pauketat 2012: 181), parallels

theoretical trends in ethnography towards “ontological perspectivism” (Viveiros de Castro 2004). In the

edited volume entitled  The Archaeology of Wak’as, Tamara L. Bray brings together specialists from

archaeology,  art  history,  ethnography,  linguistics,  and  history  to  conduct  a  unique  study  of  pre-

Columbian conceptions  of  the sacred.  The authors use Andean  wak’as as  a point  of departure for

insightful discussions of materiality, agency, and personhood that are firmly grounded in cutting-edge

anthropological theory.

The Archaeology of Wak’as is a product of a session at the Society for American Archaeology

annual meetings as well as a colloquium at Dumbarton Oaks. However, this volume demonstrates a

particular theoretical coherence not always found within edited works that emerge from conference

symposia. The chapters are divided into five parts, which are presented like archaeological strata with

each section delving deeper into the past.

In Part I, Bray provides an introductory chapter that clearly orients the reader to the subject



matter—Andean  wak’as—and contextualizes the volume within broader anthropological discussions.

According to Bray,  wak’as can be referred to generally as “sacred things” ranging from miniature

figurines to features on the landscape. While each author defines  wak’as slightly differently, within

Andean communities wak’as are understood as non-human “persons” with communicative capabilities

that served vital roles in social interactions. As Bray carefully articulates, the volume seeks to identify

non-human  “persons”  archaeologically  in  order  to  understand  social  dynamics  in  human-wak’a

interactions.

Part  II  consists  of two chapters that adopt  a contemporary lens for their  studies of Andean

wak’as. In Chapter 2, Allen draws on her own extensive body of ethnographic fieldwork to emphasize

how wak’as were animated objects with “capacities, moods, and appetites” (p. 24). She resurrects the

term “animism” while arguing for a broader application of the Amerindian concept. Allen recognizes

the temporal salience of  wak’as and adopts a perspectivist approach to demonstrate their importance

within Inka culture. In Chapter 3, Mannheim and Salas conduct a sophisticated linguistic analysis of

the  term  wak’a that  also  engages  ethnographic  and  historical  data.  They  provide  an  exceptional

explanation of the complexities of the term and emphasize close relationship with food circulation and

cohabitation, which are both foundations of Quechua sociality. Together, these chapters serve as an

excellent starting point for the archaeological studies that follow.

Part III deals with the subject of wak’as in the time of the Inkas. Chase’s contribution (Chapter

4) provides a smooth transition from the ethnographic focus of Part II by arguing that definitions of

wak’a are historically and regionally contextual. In Chapter 5, Makowski compares two archaeological

sites in the Lurin Valley to demonstrate how the Inka used wak’as and the built environment as part of

their political strategy. By constructing a new sacred geography the Inka legitimized their rule and

reformed the Lurin Valley into a “pantry” for imperial ceremonial facilities. In Chapter 6, Kosiba shifts

focus to the Inka heartland by using evidence from Ollantaytambo to investigate the social practices

and environmental transformations through which the Inka assembled their capital in Cuzco. Kosiba

artfully demonstrates that Inka political strategy encompassed more than capturing natural resources;

rather, the Inka attempted to dominate nature itself.

Chapters 7-9 deviate from the landscape perspective and instead focus on specific  types of

wak’as. In Chapter 7, Dean provides one of the most convincing examples of non-human personhood

by focusing on wank’as (or huancas), which are stone features that Andean communities perceived as

guardians watching over the people and land within their viewsheds. The final two chapters of Part III

by Meddens and McEwan incorporate archaeological and ethnohistoric data to illustrate how the Inka

projected imperial social order and power through ceremonial architecture and portable objects.



Part IV probes the “deeper histories” of the Andean past as the authors take on the perilous task

of identifying and interpreting pre-Inka  wak’as.  Nevertheless, both Cook (Chapter 10) and Janusek

(Chapter 11) cautiously proceed through the available archaeological evidence.  Cook traces a long

history of temple architecture that culminated in the D-shaped shrines found at several sites attributed

to the Wari  culture.  Archaeologists  studying the Wari  frequently make comparisons  with the Inka,

particularly with regards to antecedents, but Cook’s contribution is unique for her convincing argument

that buildings also possess personhood and have subjectivity. In Chapter 11, Janusek uses recent data

from  the  contemporary  Tiwanaku  site  of  Khonkho  Wankane  to  describe  richly  decorated  stone

monoliths that he suggests are “proto-wak’as.” Janusek adopts a materiality approach to emphasize the

importance of stone to political action and ritual practice in the Andes.

Part  V consists  of  a  concluding chapter  by John R.  Topic.  Despite  the title  of  this  section

(Concluding Thoughts), Topic’s contribution does not serve as a summary of the preceding chapters.

Instead,  he  expands the  discussion  with  his  own research  focused at  a  wak’a known as  Catequil.

Although his analysis  articulates  much of the common ground among the other  Andeanists  in  the

volume, a true concluding chapter would have better stimulated further thought.

The  Archaeology  of  Wak’as offers  the  most  clear  and  insightful  exploration  of  Andean

ontologies  and  notions  of  the  sacred  that  I  have  read  thus  far.  The  edited  volume is  masterfully

organized and exemplifies current theoretical trends in anthropology. Although there was potential to

incorporate additional examples from outside the Andes (or even the ancient Americas) in many of the

chapters,  such  broad  cross-cultural  comparisons  may  not  have  been  the  intention  of  the  authors.

Nevertheless, this book belongs on the shelves of any scholar interested in pre-Columbian religion and

symbolism.

References Cited

Henare, Amiria, Martin Holdraad, and Sari Wastell (editors)

2007. Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically. London: Routledge.

Pauketat, Timothy R.

2012.  An Archaeology of the Cosmos: Rethinking Agency and Religion in Ancient America. London:

Routledge.

Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo

2004. Exchanging Perspectives: The transformation of Objects into Subjects in Amerindian Ontologies.



Common Knowledge 10(3): 463-484.

Matthew Piscitelli (Ph.D.,  University  of  Illinois  at  Chicago)  is  a  Research Associate  at  the Field

Museum in Chicago, Illinois. His research is focused on the role of religion in the development of

complex societies. Matthew's current project explores early ceremonial architecture along the north

central  coast  of  Peru:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caballete-Archaeological-Research-

Project/904840589573610 

© 2015 Matthew Piscitelli

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caballete-Archaeological-Research-Project/904840589573610
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caballete-Archaeological-Research-Project/904840589573610

