Abstract

Although the ceremonial center of Vilcanota was called the third most important temple in the Inca empire in the sixteenth century, its exact location and meaning has remained a matter of conjecture. In this article historical and archaeological information is examined which demonstrates that the temple was located at the pass of La Raya. Ecological and ethnographic data from the region supports the conclusion that it was built at La Raya due to its association with sacred rivers and mountains which were in turn linked with fertility concepts, the birth of the sun, and an ecological/political boundary. Together these factors made the place of special significance to Inca religion.

Conclusions

It seems clear from the foregoing discussion that the temple of Vilcanota became important to the Inca for several reasons. Chief among them was its location at the dividing point for waters flowing east to the sacred lake of Titicaca, the Incas’ mythological place of origin, and west to pass through the sacred valley where so many important Inca sites were located. The Vilcanota River received its waters from the sacred mountains of Chimbolla and Ausangate (important for the fertility of livestock and fields), and the river’s flow was in turn associated with the sun’s origin and passage and the route of a major Inca deity, Viracocha. The place may also have marked the conceptual dividing line between agriculture to the west and pastoralism to the east, as modern myths suggest. Taken together, the data suggests it was its ecological and sacred geographical situation that made the place, and thus the temple, a site of particular importance in the Inca religion.

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