essay
Urco and uma: Aymara concepts of space
anthropological history of andean politics • Cambridge {Cambridgeshire} • Published In 1986 • Pages: 201-227
By: Bouysse-Cassagne, Therese.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The author explores the concepts behind two subdivisions within the southern quarter, or Collasuyu, of the Inkan Empire. The Collasuyu was divided into two suyus: the Urcosuyu and the Umasuyu. These two terms are Aymaran terms and define more than geographical space (i.e., Urco could also mean high, right, masculine, etc., and Uma could also mean feminine, left, low, etc.). The terms also help us to understand part of the Aymaran world view. The author examines these concepts by using writings from the time of the Spanish conquest and projects these ideas back to the time when the Aymara ruled the altiplano and the highest part of the puna around Lake Titicaca. The author also hypothesizes how these concepts and the Aymara changed through time with the Inkan and then the Spanish conquests.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ethnogeography
- Location
- Ethos
- Territorial hierarchy
- External relations
- Identification
- Topography and geology
- Ethnosociology
- Ethnophysiology
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Aymara Kingdoms
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Andes
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Unknown
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- NotesAdditional notes
- Thérèse Bouysse-Cassagne
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 85010976
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of South America--Antiquities