The early Nasca pilgrimage center of Cahuachi and the Nazca lines: anthropological and archaeological perspectives

Silverman, Helaine

essay

The early Nasca pilgrimage center of Cahuachi and the Nazca lines: anthropological and archaeological perspectives

lines of nazca • 183 • Published In 1990 • Pages: 207-244

By: Silverman, Helaine.

Abstract
The author makes a case that the site of Cahuachi was a sacred place or a pilgrimage site, and that the geoglyphs or Nazca lines on the adjacent plain can be directly associated with it. Findings from excavations at Cahuachi are presented first, most pertaining to the middle Nazca phases (circa AD 1-600). The site contains only minor domestic remains and there are large open areas between the multiple mounds that are modifications of existing hill. Expectations for what a pilgrimage site ought to look like, archaeologically, are developed through study of the modern pilgrimage destination of Yauca del Rosario in the Ica Valley, consisting of little more than a church and plaza. Prior to the annual festival people come to sweep the plaza clean. The day before the festival the area fills up with pilgrims, and there is a market that continues the day of the festival. Afterward the area empties out again. The site is not cleaned immediately, and refuse is blown about by the winds; three months later the festival area is largely devoid of surface refuse. This is compared to the pattern of material remains at Cahuachi, along with comparisons to the coastal pilgrimage site of Pachacamac near Lima that reached its peak in subsequent pre-Columbian periods, and to early historical accounts of Andean pilgrimages.

Experimental data

Comparative evidence

Miscellaneous facilities

Visual arts

Social relationships and groups

Lineages

Sacred objects and places

Ritual

Organized ceremonial

Nazca

HRAF PubDate

2015