CAN THE INCA SITE OF CHOQEK’IRAW BE CONSIDERED

AN AGRO-PASTORAL CALENDAR?

Patrice Lecoq

Situated in the heart of the Vilcabamba cordillera in Peru, some 150 km northwest of Cuzco, the ancient Inca state
capital, Choqek’iraw or Choquequirao (“the golden cradle” in Quechua), is one of the most beautiful achievements of
Inca architecture, and one of the very few pre-Hispanic sites displaying large wall mosaics, the only one known from
Inca times. This article will attempt to demonstrate that the figures represented on the walls convey cosmological signifi-
cance and are laid out following textile principles. After describing the site and its geo-cultural setting, the mosaics’ main
characteristics will be examined in detail, in an attempt to grasp their meaning. Finally, the author suggests that some of
the scenes depicted could have been inspired by pre-Columbian myths and could be linked to astronomical concepts.

Ubicado en el corazón de la cordillera de Vilcabamba, a unos 150 kilómetros de Cuzco, la antigua capital del estado
inca, Choqek’iraw o Choquequirao (la cuna del oro en quechua), es uno de los logros más hermosos de la arquitectura
Inca y el único sitio de época inca, con un gran mosaico mural. En este trabajo se intentará demostrar que las figuras
representadas en las paredes podrían transmitir significado cosmológico y se distribuyen siguiendo principios textiles.
Asimismo, después de hacer una breve descripción del sitio, ubicándolo en sus contextos geográfico y cultural, se
analizarán las principales decoraciones que allí se encuentran para tratar de entenderlas. Los temas representados
podrían referirse a antiguos mitos andinos y concepciones de orden astronómicos.

C onsidered to be one of the leading sites of

the Inca culture, Choqek’iraw was built at
3,200 m above sea level on the crests and abrupt
slopes of a spur of the mountain which bears the
same name. It includes countless architectural
remains—terraces, platforms, ceremonial spaces,
temples, warehouses, fountains, and canals—
connected by extensive stairways and a complex
network of pathways (Figure 1). The site is dominated
to the northwest by the great massif of the
Qoriwayrachina (“the oven for melting gold”),
also named “Yanaqucha” (“black lagoon”) or
again “Markani” (town or village), and surrounded
by numerous snowy peaks, such as the cerros

Patrice Lecoq, Université de Paris 1, UMR 8096 CNRS, Archéologie des Amériques, Paris, France, patricelecoq@free.fr

Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology, Volume 33, Number 1, pp. 43–69. Copyright # 2013 Institute of Andean Studies. All rights reserved.

43
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 1. Map of the Choqek’iraw area.
Pumasillo and Choqetakarpu to the north,
Wiraquchan to the northwest, Ampay to the south,
and Salkantay to the northeast, which the inhabitants
of the neighboring villages consider to be sacred
places where the souls of their ancestors, the Apu,
reside (Reinhard 1983, 1985, 2002; Scanu 1987).
In order to avoid confusion, it is important to note
that Choqek’iraw is not the only site to bear this name
in the Cuzco region. As Zuidema (1974–1976:
212–214) and Bauer (2000) have remarked,
Choquequirao or Chuquiquirao is also the name of
a sacred mountain (wak’a) situated northeast of
Cuzco in the Antisuyu, whose topography resembles
the site discussed in this article (Lecoq and Saintenoy
2013). In the Inca period, a spring called
Chuquiquirao puquio emerged from the entrails of
the earth, and llamas and textiles were sacrificed to
pay homage to it. This wak’a, located on the
fourth ceque of the Antisuyu, was one element in
the cosmological system that then characterized the
socio-political and ritual organization of Cuzco, as
has been established, especially from the data
44
Volume 33, Number 1
collected by Cobo (1964 [1653]) and Polo de
Ondegardo (1906 [1567]); for additional discussion,
see Bauer 2000; Zuidema 1974–1976, 1978). As
with other ceremonial centers in the Cuzco region
recently studied by Bauer (2000: 178), it is possible
that the site of Choqek’iraw in the valley of the
Apurimac was conceived as a more or less idealized
projection of this other wak’a associated with sun
worship and the Inca, although this cannot be
proven given current archaeological data.
General Description of Choqek’iraw
Given the limited published data available for the site
of Choqek’iraw and its context (Alencastre 2006;
Echevarría López 2005, 2008; Echevarría López
and Valencia García 2009; Lecoq 2008, 2010;
Lecoq and Duffait 2004; Lee 1997, 2010;
Lumbreras et al. 2001; Ravines 2006; Samanez
2006; Samanez and Zapata 1995, 1999), a short
description seems necessary. Choqek’iraw is a vast
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
architectural complex spread over nearly 100 ha. Its
numerous edifices are located in several quarters,
both central and outlying, which today are divided
into 13 sectors and several sub-sectors; some are still
covered by vegetation and have not been mapped.
The most abundant and best-preserved buildings are
located in the urban nucleus covering nearly 11 ha.
Like the former Inca capital, Cuzco, Choqek’iraw is
organized into two districts—hanan (upper) and
hurin (lower) (Figure 2).
The upper district includes diverse edifices and
fountains grouped around a square, as well as public
halls called kallanka (Gasparini and Margolies
1977) and three two-story buildings—the
qollqa—that were used as warehouses (Zapata
2005). Sixteen short terraces irrigated by a network
of canals were also built there.
Figure 2. Map of the central part of Choqek’iraw (redrawn from
the original plan prepared by COPESCO in 2003 and Echevarría
López 2008).
45
As in the upper district, the lower district contains
several buildings and kallanka surrounding a vast
square. At the side of this plaza, a group of three
large two-story buildings and small constructions
may have formed an elite residence. A monument
stands to the south; its façade is pierced with trapezoi-
dal double-jamb doorways, and its door opens onto
the southern sector and leads to a truncated hill,
called an ushnu (Lecoq and Saintenoy 2013). A
large fountain occupies the western part of the
square. Like all the other water sources, it is fed by
a long canal that originates several kilometers uphill
in the Quebrada Chunchumayu, the source of the
streams flowing down from the glaciers of the
nevado that crown the mountain of Choqek’iraw.
This principal canal crosses the site from north to
south and forms its main division (Samanez and
Zapata 1999). The most distant part of
Choqek’iraw’s southern slope includes several con-
structions: an enclosure, a fountain, and a group of
two large buildings facing each other called the
“House of the Priests.” Most of the buildings of
this site are oriented to either the cardinal directions
or towards surrounding mountains such as the
Cerro Wiraquchan to the northwest, which may
have played an important part in the ritual aspect of
this site (Lecoq 2007, 2008; see Figure 3). On the
eastern slope of the site, residential areas and various
workshops—including weaving and gold-working,
according to Echevarría López (2005) and Gallegos
(2005)—form groups of structures with rectangular
and circular plans (Lecoq 2008).
Large complexes of terraces, probably for agricul-
ture, rise in tiers on both sides of Choqek’iraw. The
most spectacular terraces—which are visible from
afar—are on the eastern slope, grouped in four sets
over three levels that give the site its identity
(Figure 2, sector 7). Each terrace is bordered above
and below by a meticulously constructed retaining
wall. Three stairways allow passage from one terrace
to another, and flagstones inserted in the wall also
serve as steps. Below these terraces, another complex
of narrower terraces spreads out below (Figure 2,
sector 8), in the center of which stands a single-
roomed building on two levels called “the House of
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 3. Sketch of the main peaks visible from the ushnu,
which shows the checkerboard structures newly excavated in this
area and the position of the sun during the solstices. (1a) June
solstice sunrise; (1b) June solstice sunset; (2a) December solstice
sunrise; (2b) December solstice sunset; (3) Anti-zenith sunset
around April 23 and August 18.
the Waterfall” in reference to the waterfall to the
northeast that drains the waters of the Quebrada
Chunchumayu. Countless miniscule terraces are also
constructed on the site’s western slope. Twenty-five
of them are decorated with mosaics containing 28
motifs. They display geometric designs, camelids,
and an anthropomorphic figure (Echevarría López
2008; Echevarría López and Valencia García 2009;
Valencia García et al. 2005), which are described
and analyzed below.
A Few Accounts Relating to the History of
Choqek’iraw
Historical sources indicate that the Spaniards knew of
Choqek’iraw and its district from their arrival in Peru
in the sixteenth century. Duffait (2005, 2007:
214–226) suggests that Choqek’iraw was a royal
domain of the Inca Tupa Yupanki, one of several
sovereign domains created by Inca rulers in the cordil-
lera of Vilcabamba (Saintenoy 2011). Such domains
46
Volume 33, Number 1
had multiple functions, including an undeniable reli-
gious dimension (Niles 1987–1989). The fact that
Choqek’iraw actually was a royal residence could
explain the exceptional character of the terraces and
constructions erected on this site. Like other material
expressions of Inca culture—such as ceramics, textiles,
and gold work—these constructions demonstrated
the sovereign’s power in his lifetime (Bray 2008), per-
petuated his memory after his death, and provided for
the needs of the members of his lineage or panaca
(Duffait 2007: 2).
During the nineteenth century, several explorers—
including Angrand (1972), Sartiges (de Lavandais
1851), and Wiener (1983 [1880])—visited the site
or mentioned it in their writings. In 1909,
Bingham (1910) carried out excavations in the
central quarters and on the summit of the truncated
hill known as ushnu (Zapata 2005: 121), where he
found small stones, arranged in a checkerboard
pattern, oriented to the northwest and northeast as
well as towards the principal regional massifs, which
may well be evidence of the ceremonial importance
of the plaza, although its exact function is still to be
determined (Figure 3). The presence on its summit
of those checkerboard motifs suggests that this hill
was used as an observatory and place of worship
(Lecoq and Saintenoy 2013).
More recent excavations carried out by Samanez
and Zapata (1995, 1999), and the restoration work
undertaken by the archaeologists of Copesco (the
organization responsible for managing the site),
suggest that Choqek’iraw was planned under
Pachakuti and enlarged by Tupa Yupanki. The
mosaics seem to date from this period, although it
is difficult to determine whether Pachakuti or his suc-
cessor Tupa Yupanki founded Choqek’iraw given
current archaeological knowledge. The excavations
I carried out, with my Peruvian colleagues and my
students from the Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne, in
two sectors containing a few domestic dwelling
structures, revealed Choqek’iraw was already
occupied in the Late Intermediate Period (during
the twelfth century), or perhaps as early as the
Middle Horizon, between A.D. 600 and 1000
(Lecoq 2004, 2008).1
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
The Mosaics of Choqek’iraw
Choqek’iraw was more than a center for Inca agricul-
tural and textile production as Echevarría López
(2005) and Gallegos (2005) imply, but also had a
ritual role, as suggested by the mosaics discovered
in various sectors. For example, in 2002, the archae-
ologist Paz Flores encountered some mosaics depict-
ing llamas on the upper western slope close to the
central square; this discovery was made public in
September 2004 (Paz Flores 2007). Subsequently,
several other mosaics decorated with geometric,
anthropomorphic, and zoomorphic motifs have
been excavated, in particular by the archaeologist
Valencia García while cleaning the high slopes of
sector 8 (sub-sector D); these mosaics were later
restored. The terraces decorated in this way are
located below the central square of the lower half,
beneath the edifice defined as a temple (hurin) and
the fountains constructed nearby (Figure 4). A
small, more or less dried-up, spring emerges at this
location. These terraces rise in tiers from 2,766 to
3,010 m in altitude and cover nearly 185,700 m2.
Each terrace measures nearly 80-m long by 1.50-m
wide, but only the currently exposed part is decorated.
In fact, the entire western slope of Choqek’iraw was
covered by terraces whose organization and symbolism
47
recall those of the terraces of Yucay in the valley of
Anta east of Choqek’iraw (Molinié 1996).
However, the stone mosaics found at Choqek’iraw
apparently continue a long tradition of mural art
going back to the Initial period (1800–1500/900
B.C.) that continued and evolved into the Late
Horizon (A.D. 1440–1539) and thereafter. As the
late Duccio Bonavia argued, “this artistic expression
is closely associated with religious practices and man-
ifested itself above all in the decoration of the temples
and palaces where it was linked to the beliefs of the
various cultures that developed throughout the pre-
Hispanic epoch” (1990: 155 [translation by author]).
In many cases, the painted mural motifs were inspired
by—and, in some cases, more or less reproduced—tex-
tile motifs (Bonavia 1974: 145). This seems to have
been the case at Choqek’iraw where the motifs and
their arrangements were inspired by textile patterns as
I have argued elsewhere (Lecoq 2010).
Organization and Arrangement of the
Motifs
The Choqek’iraw mosaics comprise 28 motifs in stone
corresponding to five types: lines, broken lines, checker-
boards, stylized llamas, and an anthropomorphic figure
(Echevarría López 2008; Echevarría López and
Figure 4. Simplified view of the western
slope of Choqek’iraw (top ridge and sector
8), showing the location of the decorated
terraces (adapted from Echevarría López
2008: 67).
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 33, Number 1

Figure 5. Overview of the mosaics localized on the western slope of sector 8 (sub-area D) of Choqek’iraw, showing the textile-inspired
motifs. The arrangement of the stones forming the figures evokes the weft of a textile chain.

Valencia García 2009; see Figure 5). The llamas and the
figure are displayed on 19 terraces forming the arc of a
circle. Collectively, the terraces form a large mural,
which can be seen as a whole only from afar, overhan-
ging the Río Apurimac which flows westward in a
deep canyon below before reaching the Amazonian
piedmont. The terraces are oriented towards the west
and northwest as well as towards the three peaks of the
already-mentioned Cerro Wiraquchan. At precise
moments throughout the year, Cerro Wiraquchan may
have played a decisive role at Choqek’iraw—perhaps in
connection with the movements of the sun at the
solstices or equinoxes, with lunar phases, or with
the appearance of certain constellations (such as the
Pleiades)—a topic for future research. Because the
motifs face the setting sun, Zapata (2005) gave them
the evocative but rather arbitrary name “the Llamas of
the Sun,” although there is no evidence to suggest this
was the Inca name for these motifs.
The Upper Terraces
To make the study of these mosaics easier, the
Copesco archaeologists divided the slope into six

48
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
sub-sectors designated A to F (see Figures 2 and 4).
Two sub-sectors—D and F—have decorations,
which were catalogued and numbered 1–28 by
Echevarría López (2008), a designation I have partly
followed. These sub-sectors are located on the upper
and middle part, respectively, of the western slope
and form two distinct, but complementary, units.
The first sub-sector—F—corresponds to the upper
terraces, and its decorative motifs are essentially
linear and geometric. On the first terrace, a zigzag
line (motif 26 according to Echevarría López 2005:
209 and Echevarria López and Valencia García
2009) is formed of 12 units, with a point on top
(Figure 5). Each motif is made from stones of
whitish schistose limestone arranged vertically or hori-
zontally. These stones stand out from the others,
which are slightly smaller and positioned horizontally,
Figure 6. Overview of the main part of the mosaics localized on the western slope of sector 8 (sub-area D) of Choqek’iraw.
49
that form the outer facing of the terrace, the height of
which fluctuates between 1.80 and 2 m.
A second terrace, some 10 m below, shows a set of
12 checkerboards extending underneath the debris
(Figure 5). A few meters from there, these motifs
are replaced by a more complex design made up of
a series of undulating lines coming out of a sort of
big rectangle evoking what could be an altar or an
ushnu (not illustrated).
Terraces Decorated with Camelids
Sub-sector D corresponds to the lower terraces, and is a
section of the site of particular interest. Located at about
2,900 m above sea level, these terraces display a set of 24
llamas varying in size and posture (Figures 6 and 7)
accompanied by a small anthropomorphic figure
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 33, Number 1

Figure 7. The main figures, on the same scale, represented on the terraces of the western slope (sector 8) of Choqek’iraw (drawings made
from slides and digital images, including several telephotos). The number of figures resumes the nomenclature used by COPESCO, as
presented in Echevarría López (2008).

shown with arms stretching outwards and towards the
sky (Figures 6 and 7, no. 25). The llamas are shown
in profile going towards the left, i.e. to the north for
an observer in front of the panel. Small blocks of off-
white schistose limestone are arranged to form the
head, the body, and the limbs of each animal, and in
some cases incised lines define the eye and the mouth
(Figure 7, nos 9, 17, and 18). The stones in the
façades of these terraces are also arranged vertically, in
contrast to other terraces where the stones are laid hori-
zontally (Figures 7 and 8).
The llama motifs fall into two size categories, prob-
ably representing adults and juveniles, as discussed
further below. Each adult llama is 1.70-m tall from
its forelimbs to the top of its ears, and 1.30-m long
from the front of its chest to its tail, but certain
figures are smaller. The motif appears vertically in the
center of the terrace wall, 15 cm off the ground and
about 30 cm from the top, arranged on the top part
of the sub-sector (Figures 5, 6, and 7). The smaller
llamas are 1.0-m tall and 0.75-m long (Paz Flores
2007). In addition to their differences in size, the
llama motifs can be divided into two groups: (1) rela-
tively stylized motifs (the most numerous) in which
the various parts of the body consist of a single
course of stone (Figure 7, nos 1, 2, 6–11, 16, 17, 19,
23, and 24); and (2) motifs in which the body is
made of two or more courses of stone, placed one
beside the other (Figure 7, nos 3–5, 12–15, 18, and
20–22).

50
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
Figure 8. Detailed view of llama 7. The arrangement of stones
forming the sets evokes the weft of a textile chain.
The variations among the motifs have been inter-
preted in different ways. Valencia García, who
carried out a meticulous stylistic analysis of the
Choqek’iraw motifs, comparing them to similar
figures found on rock art at the site of Negruyoc,
near Yanama on the road to Vitcos or Machu
Picchu (Figure 1), suggests that the Negruyoc
images depict young llamas, small llamas with their
mothers, llamas with loads, and even scenes of copu-
lation (Valencia García 2004, 2005; Valencia García
et al. 2005). Alternatively, Paz Flores (2007),
Echevarría López (2008), and Echevarría López
and Valencia García (2009) have suggested a differ-
ent interpretation, noting that these animals are all
different: some stand straight with their chests
slightly thrown out, others lean forward, while
others seem to walk slowly, their tails folded down-
wards or erect, as they do when in caravans (Flores
Ochoa et al. 1995; Lecoq 1987; West 1979).
Their ears can be erect, turned forward—as if they
are listening to the shepherd guiding them—or
folded backwards (Figure 7, nos 3 and 4). Lastly,
while one wears a collar from which seems to hang
a bronze bell (Figure 7, no. 15), others carry more
51
or less voluminous packs (Figure 7, nos. 3, 4, 6,
7, 13, and 18). These different characteristics—pre-
viously observed by Valencia García (2004)—suggest
that what is shown is one or two strings of llamas
travelling towards the enclosures situated close to
the central square of Choqek’iraw or towards the
high pastures near the communities of Yamana,
one or two days’ march from the site, at the foot
of the Cerro Corihuayrachina, where archaeological
vestiges of a pastoral nature (such as corrals,
houses, and prehistoric camps) have been found
(Valencia García 2004). At the end of their
journey lay the grazing lands where the camelids
would rest and reproduce. This Corihuayrachina
massif probably was an extremely significant refer-
ence point in the landscape surrounding
Choqek’iraw, as its glacier provides the water which
supplies the site’s fountains, and it is also the
point where the sun rises in the June solstice
(Lecoq and Saintenoy 2013; Saintenoy 2011).
The detailed study of each llama and its position
within its group suggests that they depict two distinct
caravans—one in which the animals are herded
together, and another where the animals are more
scattered—consisting of animals of different sizes
possibly representing different ages. On the lower ter-
races, the first caravan is led by a llama (no. 15) and
consists of nine animals including one that is loaded
(no. 18); the second caravan is formed by three
animals. The group of llamas located on the upper
terraces (nos 1–6) consists of eight animals and two
female llamas accompanied by their young
(Figure 6, nos 5 and 6). The artists who decorated
the latter terraces may have had other objectives
than simply depicting a llama caravan in motion,
and probably were expressing additional meanings
perhaps connected to animal fertility as is often the
case with similar motifs in rock art (Berenguer
1999: 34–39; Flores Ochoa et al. 1995: 37–44).
The Pictorial Organization
Additional analysis of the organization of the
Choqek’iraw motifs of the animals’ distribution on
these terraces reveals several significant details about
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
the pictorial space. To make things clearer, I have sep-
arated these terraces into three major zones—upper,
middle, and lower (Figure 6)—and defined each
decorative element as a motif. I have then grouped
the motifs into units for interpretation (designated
A–J in Figure 6), and each motif is cross-referenced
with the number assigned by the Copesco
archaeologists during terrace restoration (Echevarría
López 2008; Echevarría Lopéz and Valencia García
2009). (On the second-highest terrace, llama 24 was
given this number because it was discovered after
most of the other motifs had been found and
recorded.)
Beginning with the upper terraces, the artists
shifted each of the motifs towards the right along an
oblique north–south axis, which gives a sense of
movement to the whole panel and the impression of
being oriented from northeast to southwest owing
to the perspective. The four upper terraces in the
top zone include eight llamas that could be adult
males because of their size and bulk and the
burdens they carry; they are more or less similar,
arranged next to one another on four levels, each of
which is treated as an interpretation unit. One of
these llamas—llama 1—is on a projecting panel
that makes it stand out; it is oriented towards the
west. Another llama—llama 24—is placed just
above. Then, on the next two terraces (nos 4 and
5), there are two adult llamas, probably females as
they are accompanied by their young (Echevarría
López 2008: 39; Paz Flores 2007). I consider that
these four, more or less similar, motifs form a unit
of interpretation.
As discussed above, the motifs on the 12 terraces
(numbered 7–18) in the middle and bottom zones
show two caravans of adult llamas, probably males.
Although each llama is found on a single terrace
face, they appear to form groups of three, set apart
by features that interrupt the caravan’s progress.
Three animals, for example, are seen in the caravan
in the top on the right (on terraces 7–9) and three
other llamas are placed on the left side (on terraces
10–12). These are separated by a rocky outcrop
(white in color here again) and placed exactly in
the center of the mural. Continuing downwards
52
Volume 33, Number 1
from the boulder, there are three other animals
limited by the stairs (terraces 13–15), below which
there are three llamas between the staircase and a
rock on the right (terraces 16–18). A small
figure, which may be the herder leading the caravan
of llamas, is depicted at the end of the lowest
terrace numbered 19 (Figure 7, no. 4). Facing
northwest, he forms a new unit of interpretation by
himself.
Thus, and in spite of their apparent cohesion, the
mosaics of Choqek’iraw seem to form distinct pictor-
ial groups: adult llamas, probably males, on the top
four terraces; female llamas, accompanied by their
young on the two terraces just below; and two cara-
vans in motion, probably composed of male llamas,
mostly young, ascending the slope of the mountain
from the Río Apurimac. These caravans consist of
four groups of three llamas each: the first at the top
on the right (unit F), the second below on the left
(unit G), the third in the center continuing the one
before it (unit H), and the fourth right at the
bottom on the right (unit I).
The placement of the motifs on the mountain’s
slope is unlikely to be by chance, and it may indicate
a specific code with which to “read” the motifs.
Apart from the terraces at the very top (nos 1 and
2), which only have a single motif, a decreasing
order is observable in the number of motifs on
each panel from top to bottom: from three on ter-
races 3 and 4, the number decreases to two for ter-
races 5 and 6, and to one for all the terraces in the
middle and bottom parts (7–19). Curiously, the
number of terraces of which the motifs form a
unit, based on my analysis—follows an inverse
organization. Thus, while each of the four upper-
most units corresponds to a single terrace, the fol-
lowing unit is depicted on two terraces (E), the
next three units are composed on three terraces,
while the last (unit J) is found on a single terrace
(no. 19). Thus, the number of motifs per terrace
could be summarized as follows: 1, 1, 3, 3, 2, 2,
and then 1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 1, 1
(Figure 6, on the left).2
Urton (2003) has shown that the numbers two,
three, four, and six generally have strong symbolic
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?

power in the Andes. Even numbers are associated

with the dualism of the Andes, particularly evident
in the institutions and ceremonies of the Inca
period. Thus, in our terraces, we find an opposition
between the probably male llamas of the upper ter-
races and female llamas just below. Number three is
considered to be “that of plenitude and the most
complete” (Urton 2003: 54). In fact, the tripartite
division seems to have played a very important
role for the Incas, especially in the spatial organiz-
ation of the ceques of the Cuzco valley (Pärssinen
1992: 155–169, 179–192; Zuidema 1974–1976,
1978, 1995). In the Inca capital, the ceques were
distributed inside each suyu in three groups of
three. Only one suyu did not follow this rule since
the 14 ceques it contained were assembled in three
groups divided, respectively, into four, four, and
six ceques.
The way in which the motifs are arranged in units
of three also recalls the Inca agricultural calendar, as
reconstructed by Zuidema (1992, 2011), which was
organized in four seasons of three months or three
seasons of four months, with a complementary
period of a few days—in which the llamas played
an important role—a role which I will discuss
further below. The tripartite organization seems to
be particularly present at Choqek’iraw where one
comes across the number three not only in the way
the llamas are grouped in units in the middle and
lower parts of the decorative complex, but also in
the number of terraces on the eastern slope
which are also organized in four units of three,
totaling 12. Three is also the number of niches
and windows that adorn the “house of the priests,”
in the southern slope of the ushnu, the number of
peaks crowning the Cerro Wiracochan it faces
at 310 degrees northwest, and the number of
summits of the Cerro Lindicruz and Cerro
Sojospata opposite it, which dominate the pre-Inca
site of the hill of San Cristobal, to which I will
refer further below.
The way in which the motifs are arranged on the
central panel follows other precise rules. Here, the
12 animals forming the two caravans are distributed
along several imaginary converging lines which, on a
Figure 9. Sketch of Choqek’iraw’s western slope showing the
progression of the llama caravan to the Cerro Qoriwayrachina, the
position of the sunrise on June 21, and, further northeast, the
Milky Way and the Yacana—the constellation of the celestial
Llama.
local scale, evoke those of the ceques. Climbing the
mountain from the river Apurimac below, they head
for the high western slope of Choqek’iraw following
a south/north axis or—under the effect of the per-
spective—southwest/northeast. It is possible—as
Valencia García (2004; Valencia García et al. 2005)
and Paz Flores (2007) suggest—that the caravan is
heading for the villages of the agro-pastoral commu-
nities near Choqek’iraw and, beyond, to the Cerro
Corihuayrachina to the northeast (see also Axis
A–A’ of Figure 2 and Figure 9).
The Pictorial Representations of
Choqek’iraw: Interpretations
As a royal residence, Choqek’iraw reflected the sover-
eign’s power to local subjects as well as to pilgrims
who came to the site for agricultural and astronomical
ceremonies marking the important dates in the year,
as is still the case today in other parts of the Andes
(Bauer and Stanish 2003; Bray 2008; Karsten 1957:
206; Poole 1982). The splendor and complexity of
the various edifices and the large terraces on the
western and eastern slopes were concrete symbols of
the Inca empire (Williams 2008). The residents or

53
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
visitors probably understood the symbolism of the
iconographic motifs they saw—especially the
mosaics of the western slope—since they had seen
them represented in other media such as textiles, cer-
amics, wood, gold, or rock art. Furthermore, llamas
had an essential role for most Incas. As they had no
knowledge of writing, the artists gave the designs
and colors symbolic values that any member of the
Inca culture could understand (Bray 2008).
The Camelid Motifs
The choice of llamas as the principal motif and their
position on the western slope overhanging the conflu-
ence of the Apurimac and the Yamana do not seem
accidental, but rather result from concerns of a
ritual nature. For example, camelids are associated
with fertility due to their sacred origins. According
to Flores Ochoa (1974–1976), llamas and alpacas
came out of the depths of the earth, passing
through springs, lagoons, pools, rivers, and the sea
itself, Mama Cocha. These streams and bodies of
water are pacarina or places of origin (Duviols
1974–1976: 283, 292). The father creator,
Mañasqa Uywa, loaned the camelids to man, to
help him survive in the puna, which is why they
must be honored in ceremonies held at certain
times of the year. It is precisely from a more or less
dried-up spring, as mentioned above, that the
llamas comprising the Choqek’iraw caravan seem to
emerge (Paz Flores 2007). On the other hand, the
animals at the top of the first two terraces
(Figure 6) seem to incarnate the half-wild camelids
destined to fertilize the females and live in the high
pastures next to the tutelary rustic divinities (Flores
Ochoa 1998). They seem to be more or less associated
with meteorological phenomena, especially thunder,
which was once incarnated by Wiracocha; however,
in Choqek’iraw, Wiracocha seems to be evoked by
the massif of the same name towards which the
llama mosaics and the openings of the “house of
the priests” are oriented. This is the fertilizing force,
anqa or kamac, that the llamas and alpacas have,
which explains why they are frequently shown in a
54
Volume 33, Number 1
ceremonial and sacred attitude in the form of illa or
conopa (Flores Ochoa 1974–1976). So, it is possible
that the purpose of the mosaic llamas was to extol fer-
tility by manifesting the camelids’ reproductive
power. The two llamas with their young on terraces
5 and 6 may symbolically represent the reproduction
of the livestock. Even today, young animals are used
to embody the future generation.
There is no reason to be surprised that the llama
should have become a sacred animal connecting
mankind to divinities. Even today, during certain
agrarian rites or at carnival time, the people of the
Andes sacrifice llamas or offer their fetuses to the divi-
nities to invoke their benevolence—I will discuss this
further below—it was also frequently the custom,
when an important personage died, to sacrifice a
llama so that it could carry the deceased to the under-
world (Goepfert 2011).
Llamas are recurrent elements in Inca-style cer-
amics where they are used to decorate plates or
dishes. They are generally painted in black on a
red carmine, finely polished, slipped surface
and arranged in files bordered above and below by
a broken white line (Baca Cosio 1989; see
also Figures 10a and 10b). Very similar to the
Choqek’iraw motifs, scenes of lines of llamas climb-
ing a slope are found on many other objects, includ-
ing several coca bags or Inca traditional chuspas,
woven and embroidered in wool and cotton, which
were discovered on the south coast of Peru
(d’Harcourt 2002 [1934]: Plate 31b; Lavallée and
Lumbreras 1985; Lumbreras 1977; Stone-Miller
1992: Plate 66; see Figure 11). Today, these pieces
are displayed in several museums, including Peru’s
National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology,
and History, the Inca Museum in Cusco (Lecoq
2010: 37–38), and the British Museum ( piece no.
Am1954, 05.584).
As I have discussed previously (Lecoq 2010), the
manner in which the motifs are arranged in relation
to one another on the terraces of Choqek’iraw
suggests that the mosaics were conceived according
to the methods used to make fabric, specifically a
tapestry (Sophie Desrosiers, personal communication,
April 2008). D’Harcourt (2002 [1959]: 17–21; 2008
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
Figure 10. (a) and (b) Figures of camelids, similar to
Choqek’iraw, represented on Inca ceramics (adapted from Baca
Cosio 1989: 113 and 102).
[1934]: 22–30) points out that tapestry making is a
technique derived from the weft-faced weave,
achieved by the use of discontinuous weft threads
that only partially cross the width of the loom. A
Figure 11. Coca bag from Inca culture made of cotton and
wool, tapestry and embroidery (43°—25 cm, strip: 28 cm). The
figures and their arrangement evoke those of Choqek’iraw, with
the starts on the upper part. Courtesy of National Museum of
Archaeology and 34 Anthropology, Pueblo Libre, Lima (modified
from Lumbreras 1979).
55
weft-faced weave is a structure derived from the
plain weave, which is obtained by increasing the
density of the weft threads, hiding the warp threads
beneath them, and producing a ribbed effect on the
verticals. Once it is woven, the textile also can be
turned, putting the warp threads horizontally. This
seems to be the case in Choqek’iraw, where, just
like the yarns of a textile’s weft, the stones forming
the facings of the terrace walls are positioned vertically
(see Figures 8 and 12) and so seem to reproduce a
gigantic tapestry, and maybe an unku, which would
be woven according to the technique of “turned wrap-
ping wefts” (Desrosiers 1992, 2010; Emery 1980;
Rowe 1973, 1978).
Along the Peruvian coast, the wall panels that
adorned Moche, Chimú, or Inca edifices often were
inspired by textile motifs. As Lumbreras (1977: 16)
points out: “A large part of the artistic process of the
Andes has a former textile character.” This is the case
in Chavín, where the representation of the pantheon,
on various support items (pottery, plates, or golden
slabs) is only the adaptation of textile designs
(Lavallée and Lumbreras 1985: 31). Bonavia (1974,
1990: 31) demonstrates this was also the case at
Moche sites (Huaca de la Luna, El Brujo) and other
archaeological complexes, such as Chan Chan,
Pachacamac, and Huadca, near Lima. Later, the Inca
“reinforced this trend, including their own design,
which were inspired by textiles” (Lumbreras 1977:
122 [translation by author]). In Bolivia, the chullpas
of Macaya in the Caranga region, studied by Gisbert
et al. (1994), and those of Palca, in Peru, near the
Bolivian border, cited and illustrated by Squier (1974
[1877]: 131), are painted with textile motifs directly
inspired by the unku (Figure 13). In covering the
upper slope of Choqek’iraw with a metaphorical
textile, the artists who constructed the terraces may
have sought to assimilate the mountain of
Choqek’iraw with a regional wak’a (Classen 1993),
thereby expressing its sacred character or the emanation
of the wak’a of the same name located northeast of
Cuzco, as mentioned by Zuidema (1974–1976,
1978) and Bauer (2000: 178).
Such an interpretation is supported by a famous
painting by the mestizo painter, González Holguín,
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 12. Detail of a small llama woven in tapestry technique. The thick weft threads used to reproduce the patterns completely hide
the warp threads. This woollen figure evokes those of Choqek’iraw made of white stones.
now conserved in the Casa de la Moneda, in which
the Cerro Rico, the great silver mine of Potosi, is
depicted as a virgin dressed in a sumptuous robe
that replaced the pre-Columbian unku she could
have worn (Gisbert et al., 1987: 318, Figure 1).
Even today, during the celebrations in honor of the
Virgin Mary, it is customary in Peru to clothe the
statues of the Virgin and dress the crosses on May 2
during the Fiesta de Las Cruces. Phipps writes that
“some of the sacred clothes worn by Christian
images were made with the remains of the old Inca
tunic” (2005: 90 [translation by author]). In
Figure 13. (a) Chullpa or “sepulchral tower” painted in white
and red, in the region of Palca (Bolivia), according to Squier
(1974 [1877]: 133); (b) Façade of the chullpa from the site of
Churi Patilla (Department of Oruro, Bolivia), decorated with
geometric designs painted in red and white (according to Gisbert
et al. 1996: 49 and 50); (c) Tunic or Inca unku, with geometric
decoration (diameter: 0.950 m). Munich Staatliches Museum für
Völkkunde (redrawn after Lumbreras and Lavallée 1985: 382).
56
Volume 33, Number 1
Bolivia, members of the Coroma’s community still
worship some of those old sacred textiles, called
q’epi, and, among them, unku (Bubba 1997). This
hypothesis could explain Choqek’iraw’s magnifi-
cence, as well as various monuments that were
erected with the aim of proclaiming the symbolic
force of state power throughout the Inca empire
(Bray 2008). We now know that the roles of
Andean textiles are complex and that they have mul-
tiple meanings (Cereceda 1978; Desrosiers 1992,
1997, 2010; Frame 1994; 2007; Franquemont
et al. 1992; Murra 1975; Zorn 1987). For example,
certain ceremonial clothes were associated with real
geographical maps (Platt et al. 2006: 73–74) or
even calendars (Zuidema 2008a, 2008b, 2009). For
example, today on the island of Taquile in Lake
Titicaca, men still make belts in which each of the
motifs shown corresponds to months in the agricul-
tural calendar (INC 2006).
A Pastoral Calendar at Choqek’iraw?
The choice of camelid motifs and their organization
on the terraces at Choqek’iraw may suggest that the
artists sought to illustrate the annual cycle of regional
pastoral activities and the vertical barter circuits
between the various ecological levels (Figure 14). In
the central Andes, the high pastures above 4,000 m
are the places where the camelids could rest and repro-
duce during the rainy season from October to
February (Custred 1974; Flores Ochoa 1974–1976,
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
Figure 14. A possible representation of the inter-ecological barter system of the Choqek’iraw area.
1975; Flores Ochoa et al. 1995; West 1979). These
highlands are where breeding llama males are found
and where the females give birth; I think the upper
terraces of the Choqek’iraw mural panel directly
allude to them, since loaded males and females with
their young appear on it. But, in this case, the three
llamas placed just above could be interpreted as the
representation of the transhumance between the
regions close to the highlands and the middle
valleys during March to May, and then from
September to October. As for the nine llamas and
little shepherd comprising the caravan on the lower
terraces, they could evoke the great barter caravans tra-
veling between the high plateau and the eastern low-
lands of the Amazonian piedmont in the dry period
from May to the end of August when the paths are
dry and the journey is practicable (Brougère 1984,
1988; Browman 1988; Lecoq 1987; Merlino and
Rabey 1983; West 1979).3
In the Andes, Aliaga (1989) and Ziólkowski (1989)
emphasize that the observations of the sun made in
the regional administrative centers allowed the Incas to
establish a system for programing activities, mainly agri-
cultural, according to the different regions. Choqek’iraw
mosaics could be an illustration of this practice.
57
Mythic Narratives and Decorative Motifs
One of the basic Andean myths also illustrates very
well the primordial role of the llama for the ancient
stockbreeders of the high Andean plateau, which
could partly explain why this animal is shown at
Choqek’iraw. This myth is recounted in the anon-
ymous Quechua manuscript from the end of the six-
teenth century Rites and Traditions of Huarochiri,
collected by the Spanish priest Francisco de Avila
shortly after the conquest in the principality of
Huarochiri, as transcribed by Taylor (1974–1976:
241; 1980: 253), and translated and commented on
by Salomon and Urioste (1991: 132–133). It
reveals the conceptual linkages between camelids,
the Milky Way, and the waters. According to this
manuscript:
They say the Yacana, which is the animator
(Cámac) of the llamas, moves through the
middle of the sky. The Yacana moves
inside the Milky Way. It’s big, really big.
It becomes blacker as it approaches
through the sky, with two eyes and a very
large neck. This, we know, is what native
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
people call the Yacana. They say if a man
were in luck and fortunate, the Yacana
would fall right on top of him while it
drank water from some spring. As its
woolly bulk pressed down upon him,
someone else would pluck out some of its
wool.
That apparition would occur at night. In
the morning, at daybreak, the man would
look at the wool he’d plucked out.
Examining it he’d see the wool to be
blue, white, black, and brown, of every
hue, thickly matted together. If he has no
llamas, he’d worship at the place where he
has seen the apparition and plucked the
wool, and trade for some llamas right
away. After worshiping, he’d trade for a
female and a male llama. Just from the
two he’d bought, two or three thousand
llamas would soon come. In old times the
Yacana revealed itself this way to a whole
lot of people all over this province. In the
middle of the night, when nobody is
aware of it, the Yacana drinks all the
water out of the ocean. If the Yacana
failed to drink it, the waters quickly
drown the whole world.
A small dark spot goes before the
Yacana, and as we know, people call it
Tinamou. This Yacana, they say, has a
calf. It looks just as if the calf were suck-
ling. Also, we know there are three stars
in a straight line. They call these the
Condor, the Vulture, and the Falcon.
Next are the ones we call the Pleiades; if
they come out (crossed out [very]) at their
biggest, people say, “This year we’ll have
plenty.” But if they come out at their smal-
lest, people say, “We’re in for a very hard
time.”
Certain other stars always appear very
large? People give them the names Poco
Huarac, Willca Huarac, and Cancho
Huarac. In the old times, people, or at
least some few of them, reportedly used
58
Volume 33, Number 1
to worship them, saying, “These are the
animators, the makers.” The rest still wor-
shipped these stars as they were rising,
spending the appropriate nights in sleepless
vigil, but said, “We’ll hold the other huacas
in higher honor. This is all we know.”
The meaning of this myth and its relation to the
Andean cosmology, water, sources, animal and
human fertility, and the wealth and symbolism of
wool have been the subject of numerous analyses
and commentaries (Pucher de Kroll 1950; Zuidema
1992; Zuidema and Urton 1976). Each of the
animals that the myth describes was formed by dark
patches in the Milky Way consisting of clouds of
interstellar dust and this negative zodiac was used to
determine the agricultural phases, such as times for
sowing and harvesting, or to guide shepherds and
caravan drivers in their journeys across the mountain
(Bauer and Dearborn 1998; de Bock and Zuidema
1990; Loza-Balsa 1995; Urton 2006; Zuidema
1978, 1992, 2009; Zuidema and Urton 1976). So,
we may wonder, to what extent did the
Choqek’iraw llama mosaics refer to this celestial divi-
nity connected to the snow-covered mountains, ferti-
lity, sources, and rivers? Choqek’iraw is well suited to
observing these heavenly bodies, especially from the
truncated hill (the ushnu) dominating the southern
sectors and the Apurimac valley (Lecoq and
Saintenoy 2013). When night falls, the stars in the
constellation of the Southern Cross are the first to
appear in the cold months of May to August just
before the beginning of the farming year. A few
moments later and 10–12 degrees further north, the
stars of the Southern Cross are followed by two par-
ticularly brilliant stars identified in the European
zodiac as Alpha and Beta Centauri and in the
Andes as the eyes of the celestial Llama, the Llamas
Ñawi (Pucher de Kroll 1950: 198–201; Urton
2006: 202; Zuidema 2011; Zuidema and Urton
1976). If at night one stands facing the mosaics, the
caravan depicted on the terraces appears to climb
the western slope of Choqek’iraw following a route
going from right to left and from southwest to north-
east on an axis comparable to the Milky Way’s at the
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
moment of the June northern solstice (Urton 2006).
At this time, from 10 p.m. to midnight, the Milky
Way is more or less directly above the site. The celes-
tial Llama’s eyes seem to dominate the truncated hill
and, in August, its head extends above the Cerro
Ampay and its body over the mountain of
Corihuayrachina, thereby symbolically uniting two
of the most important massifs of the region
(Figures 1 and 9). At the beginning of the rainy
season in October, on the other hand, the Yacana dis-
appears from the night sky only to reappear six
months later, marking the rhythm of the seasons.
Zuidema and Urton (1976; see also Zuidema 2011:
669, 795–796) have shown that the pastoralists of
the high Andean plateau thought the Yacana took
advantage of this period to retire to the other side
of the Earth where it absorbed the water from the
Figure 15. Outline of the Andean agro-pastoral calendar, in the Choqek’iraw area.
59
precipitations, thereby preventing the deluge and
allowing the subsequent renewal of the land and flow-
ering of the plants (see Figure 15).4 The Llama con-
stellation therefore played a determining role in the
Andean agricultural calendar, which is perhaps why
llamas were so important in the calendar rituals of
Cuzco.
The Camelids in the Andean Agro-pastoral
Calendar
Based on his analysis of the texts of colonial chroni-
clers, Zuidema (1989: 424–429; 1992: 63–65,
2011: 668–669, 795; see Figure 16) identifies an
interesting relationship between llamas and the calen-
dar, which could perhaps be applied to Choqek’iraw
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 33, Number 1

Figure 16. The Inca calendrical organization according to Zuidema (1992: 64 and 66). (a) The Inca calendar with four periods of three
months each and one other month; (a1) The black llama weeping for rain before the four-month period (Guaman Poma de Ayala 1936
[1615]: 256–257); (a2) The sacrifice of 100 black llamas after the four-month period (Guaman Poma de Ayala 1936 [1615]: 242–243);
(a3) The white llama ritual, half a year after the black llama ritual (Guaman Poma de Ayala 1936 [1615]: 320–321); (b) The Inca
calendar, with three periods of four months each and one other month.

and so is worth studying in more detail. Zuidema
writes:
Most systematic information is concerned
with llama sacrifice, as organized by calendar
rituals of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca state.
Llamas were selected according to breed,
color, sex, age, hierarchy of purpose, and dis-
tributions like fertility/sterility and wild/
domesticated … The most basic system of
sacrifice in Cuzco involved the killing of
100 llamas at the beginning of each month,
selecting llamas of a different color for each
of the four seasons … During the season of
planting, roughly around September, and
November, the llamas with long white hair
were chosen in order to reinforce the sun’s
heat and its capacity to send rain. During
the season of harvest, that is, from about
the March equinox to the beginning of
June, the llamas of different colors were
sacrificed and dedicated to the Thunder.
Although no reason for this choice is given
and although more than two colors were
involved, binary color distinctions were
associated with the Thunder. During the
intermediate seasons, including the dates of
the solstices, when little or no agricultural
activities were carried out, guanacos (wild
llamas), or llamas like guanacos with brown
hair, were sacrificed. They were dedicated
to the god Viracocha whom the Spaniards
called the “Creator” … The distinctions
were thus: domesticity of the Sun and the
Thunder as opposed to the non-domesticity
of Viracocha, and, within this distinction,
a strengthening of the Sun with a con-
comitant weakening of the Thunder
during planting in contrast to a weakening
of the Sun and the strengthening of the
Thunder during harvest (Zuidema 1992:
63–65).

60
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
Additionally, Zuidema observes: “Old and black
llamas played an important role in relation to the
four-month period organized symmetrically around
the December solstice, that is, during the same
time that the young initiates of the Cuzco nobility
were brought in contact with their ancestors”
(Zuidema 1992: 65 citing Molina 1989 [1574]:
98–110). Zuidema also highlights that: “In the
month before the four-month period mentioned, a
black llama was tied to a pole in the plaza of
Cuzco and made to ‘weep for rain’ (Polo de
Ondegardo 1906 [1567]; Guaman Poma de Ayala
1936 [1615]: 256–257). It was not killed.” While
the first black llama ritual, “weeping for rain,” had
a place in relation to the four-month period, it
also had a role in the organization of the four
seasons of three months each. Around October,
when the black llama had to weep for rain, the
black cloud constellation of the Llama, found in
the Milky Way near the Southern Cross, disap-
peared from the night sky (Zuidema and Urton
1976). Half a year later, a similar ritual was held
in the plaza with a white llama. It did not weep,
but with its feet pushed aside a vessel of corn
beer, thus announcing the dry season (Cobo 1964
[1653]: 214). It was the time of the culmination
at midnight of the Llama constellation. A llama of
this specific breed represented the king himself; it
was never killed and it was buried with pomp
when it died from natural causes. In another
article on the same subject, Zuidema clarifies his
interpretation of the original text on the white
llama by writing: “In April, a white llama, tied to
the same or similar pole (?), was given chicha
(corn beer) to drink as thanks for carrying the
harvest into town (Cobo 1964 [1653]: 244–245,
256–267, 320–321) … During these two transi-
tional months, llamas and agricultural produce
were brought together” (Zuidema 2009: 93).
The description of the sacrifices of differently
colored llamas at Cuzco, as markers of the agricultural
year, is potentially rich in meaning for a site such as
Choqek’iraw, which may have been the scene for
rituals similar to those in the Inca capital, but on a
regional level, particularly if it was the private
61
domain of the Inca Tupac Yupanqui. Thus, the
white color of the llamas shown on the mosaics of
Choqek’iraw may reflect the white llama that the
Incas chose in April, announcing the dry season
when the Yacana reappeared in the sky above
Choqek’iraw. The orientation of the mosaics
towards the Cerro Wiraquchan also seems to have
played a decisive role along these lines. As Itier
(2008) points out, Spanish colonial accounts docu-
ment that Wiraqucha was the name given to a divinity
presiding over agriculture and irrigation, “of which
the existence depended on the abundant supply of
water to the springs and lakes feeding the canals”
(Itier 2008: 121). Itier further writes:
In ancient times [Wiraqucha] travelled
about the world to create the fields to be cul-
tivated, the walls that delimited them, and
the irrigation systems, dividing these
resources between the various ayllu and
teaching men the agricultural techniques.
In fact, one of the principal epithets the
Incas gave to Wiraqucha was pacha
Yachaqchiq, “he who lays out the land.”
This expression refers both to the primor-
dial act of creating the agricultural infra-
structures and to the god’s constant
intervention in the yearly production
cycles (Itier 2008: 121 [translation by
author]).
If the name “Choqek’iraw” is derived from the word
choqe, meaning “gold” or “brilliance,” and by exten-
sion from choqella, meaning “lightning” (González
Holguín 1989 [1608]: 117), it is surprising to
find in the same region and a few kilometers apart
two of the principal cosmic divinities in the Inca
pantheon—Wiraqucha and Choqella—under two
different forms, but both associated with moun-
tains. One is to the northwest, materialized as a
three-pointed summit, and the other is to the
southeast, represented by the mountain of
Choqek’iraw, with both being positioned along a
southeast/northwest axis similar to that followed
by the Río Apurimac. But, as Itier again makes
clear:
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
Whereas Wiraqucha was the god of the
underworld and of the waters rising up
from it through the springs and lakes, the
Lightning was the god of the sky, the atmos-
pheric phenomena, and the rain. … The
dyad presiding over the Andean pantheon
thus defined a cosmic opposition between
lower and upper waters. It also embodied
two principles that governed the alternating
seasons: the wet heat of the period of the
rains, manifestation of Wari/Wiraqucha, and
the dry heat of the low-water months, of
which the master was the lightning … This
fundamental dualism was based on the
social and economic principle of opposition
and complementarity that existed within
each local society between the ayllu exploit-
ing the temperate valleys, the domain of
agriculture and irrigation, and the ayllu prac-
ticing stock raising and tuber cultivation in
the puna. Wari/Wiraqucha, who presided
over irrigated agriculture, was the tutelary
god of the inhabitants of the valleys, while
those of the high steppes considered them-
selves to be “sons of lightning” … The light-
ning was also the one who conferred their
powers on the curer-shamans, whose thera-
peutic arsenal essentially came from the
wild flora above 3,800 meters. At this
upper level of the Andean pantheon, a sort
of contract was established by exchanging
gods between maize cultivators and pastoral-
ists: Wari/Wiraqucha’s protégés periodically
worshipped the tutelary god of the sons of
the Lightning and reciprocally. So, the cult
of Wari/Wiraqucha and the Lightning
sealed the relationship of opposition and
complementarity existing between the
inhabitants of each of the two mountain eco-
logical stages (Itier 2008: 122 [translation by
author]).
Thus, it seems reasonable to suggest that the oppo-
sition of the two massifs and the placement of the
llama on the high occidental slopes of Choqek’iraw
62
Volume 33, Number 1
represent this symbolic complementarity and it is
possible the site of Choqek’iraw was dedicated to
one of these divinities. Thus, while the mosaics are
oriented to the northwest towards the three peaks of
the Cerro Wiracochan and the setting sun that
marks the dry season, at the same time, the animals
forming the caravan are heading for the northeast
and the rising sun at the moment of the June solstice.
At night, they seem to be joining the constellation of
the Llama directly above the site in an ascending
movement taking them from the canyon of the
Apurimac to the Milky Way, and thereby uniting
the two extremes.5
The Choqek’iraw Mosaics as a
Possible Ritual Calendar
The hypothesis that the artists who designed the
Choqek’iraw mosaics were inspired by the Milky
Way is plausible, as we know that ancient Andean
peoples carefully observed the stars and planets and
other celestial phenomena to determine the calendar
for agricultural activities (Urton 2006 [1986];
Zuidema 1992, 2011; Zuidema and Urton 1976).
According to Reinhard (2002: 32), even today the
inhabitants of the region near Salkantay and around
Abancay, not far from Choqek’iraw, consider the
figure of the celestial Llama to be a protective divinity
connected to the camelids’ reproduction. It appears
therefore that, despite five centuries of European pres-
ence, the ways in which contemporary Andeans think
about and relate to their environment exhibit some
continuity with pre-Columbian cosmologies. There
are further reasons to suggest that the Choqek’iraw
mosaics served as an agro-pastoral calendar for the
purposes of organizing the activity of the regional
communities all year round, as at other administrative
and religious sites in the territories conquered by the
Incas (Ziólkowski 1989: 148). Furthermore, it is
possible that the mosaic motifs stylistically and con-
ceptually on textiles encode calendric information.
For example, on the island of Taquile, large woven
belts called “calendars” incorporate symbols depicting
the annual cycle, various aspects of agricultural life,
 Lecoq: Can the Inca site of Choqek’iraw be considered an agro-pastoral calendar?
and the festive calendar of the community (Bellenger
2007: 114; INC 2006: 44–58). These modern textile
calendars recall the Nazca 2 “Paracas Textile” held by
the Brooklyn Museum (accession 38.121), which, it
has been suggested, displays elements of a lunar calen-
dar (d’Harcourt 2008 [1934]: Plates LXXX–XCVI).
Zuidema has suggested that the Wari tunics in the
Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian
Art at Dumbarton Oaks also had a calendric function:
“particularly important for understanding the Wari
concepts of political organization and the calendar”
(Zuidema 2008b, 2009: 95–96). On the basis of ico-
nographic analogies with the Inca culture, Zuidema
proposes that: “The calendar, as it is represented on
these ‘royal tunics,’ was probably organized around
festivals similar to the Capac raymi that marked the
end of the December solstice” (Zuidema 2009: 96).
In a broadly similar manner, I suggest the hypothesis
that, at Choqek’iraw, the 12 llamas forming the two
caravans and the other 12 camelids depicted on the
upper terraces played a role analogous to the geo-
metric and zoomorphic motifs on the Wari tunics.
It is also possible that, like the woven “calendars” of
Taquile, the individual llama motifs represented a
specific month of the year and perhaps each terrace
was associated with a specific community or social
group responsible for taking care of this ceremonial
site, following a rotating system for providing services
of ayni or minka type, a mutual aid system still used to
maintain communal works such as irrigation canals,
terraces, and roads. The timing of these efforts may
have been marked by the mosaics of Choqek’iraw,
especially when lit up by the setting sun at the June
solstice.
Summary and Conclusion
The archaeological evidence demonstrates that
Choqek’iraw was a complex establishment, apparently
ritual in nature, probably built to extol the sovereign’s
power and perpetuate his memory with his panaca
after his death. The site’s position appears to have
been chosen and planned with care, taking full advan-
tage of the landscape features such as the Apurimac
63
and the surrounding mountains and glaciers,
perhaps expressing the relationship between water
and fertility. This symbolic relationship also may be
demonstrated by the orientations of most of the edi-
fices and the two great complexes of terraces on the
eastern and western slopes, which are oriented
towards the main regional summits, and also by the
specific positions of fountains and networks of
feeder canals. The site also reflects Andean dualism,
in which everything seems to be skillfully arranged
according to a game of mirrors and multiple opposi-
tions evoking the notion of yanantin (Platt 1978).
The same type of opposition is found in the arrange-
ment of the camelid motifs on the terraces of the
western slope of Choqek’iraw. Thus, the caravan
seems to ascend from the depths of the valley of the
Río Apurimac to the southwest, to the peak of
the Cerro Corihuayrachina to the northeast, while
the mural panel is oriented towards the three
summits of the Cerro Wiracochan to the northwest.
The number three also appears to have played an
important role on this site, as it can be discerned
both in the number of peaks crowning the two
massifs I have just mentioned and in the number of
terraces on the western slope: the 12 terraces are
grouped in four units of three levels. Twelve is also
the number of llamas comprising the two caravans
in the mosaics, which, again, are grouped in four
units of three. It would be tempting to compare
this figure with the number of months in a year,
which would tend again to confer on Choqek’iraw
the role of a great calendar linked to the cycle of the
seasons.
The presence directly above the site of the constel-
lation of the Llama or Yacana from April to October
may be connected to the calendar function I am pro-
posing for Choqek’iraw, as represented by the appear-
ance and number of camelid motifs in the mosaics.
The appearance of the Milky Way in the regional
sky and the white color used to depict the llamas
may be associated with the great agricultural festivals
at Cuzco, particularly the Capac Raimi in
December and the Inti Raimi in June. The vertical
arrangement of the stones used to assemble the
mosaics of the terraces on the western slope evokes
 Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology
the weft threads of a textile—maybe an unku, which
was the tunic generally used by members of the
Inca nobility. As these rich fabrics were also used to
clothe the sacred objects (Classen 1993; Phipps
2005), one could propose that the artists who deco-
rated the terraces sought to assimilate the mountain
of Choqek’iraw with a great regional wak’a. As dis-
cussed above, the hypothesis is bolstered by the
calendrical information contained in ancient texti-
les—such as elite Wari-Tiwanaku tunics—or
modern textiles woven by present-day Andean com-
munities. In conclusion, I have outlined a number
of subjects for future research, but there can be scar-
cely any doubt today that the site of Choqek’iraw was
an important regional wak’a, probably connected to
the cycle of the seasons within which the llama was
a motivating force.
Acknowledgments
This article is dedicated to the memory of Percy Paz
Flores, who introduced me to the secrets of
Choqek’iraw. The author wishes to thank Timothy
Seller for translating into English the original
French version, Sophie Desrosiers for her communi-
cations about textiles techniques, and Eric Taladoire
and Hervé Lecoq for reviewing the text.
Notes
1. These excavations were sponsored by the French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. The arrangement of motifs in different units of one,
two, and three evokes the so-called Inca “counting
board” of pebble stones in the khipu texts, presented
by Guaman Poma de Ayala (1936 [1615]: 360) in
one of his drawings and discussed by Ascher
(1986: 264–266), Locke (1932), and Pärssinen
(1992: 48).
3. The hypothesis that the mosaics of Choqek’iraw
comprise a representation of the various agricultural
zones and the principal activities that took place in
them during the year is hardly astonishing.
Guaman Poma de Ayala (1936 [1615]:
1131–1175) uses the same method to give an
account of the agrarian activities for each of the 12
months of the Andean agricultural year.
64
Volume 33, Number 1
4. This figure, drawn from data collected by Bouysse
Cassagne (1987), Ziólkowski (1989), Zuidema
(1989 [1980] and 2011), and Zuidema and Urton
(1976), is a theoretical scheme to clarify the approxi-
mate dates of the major astronomical phenomena,
such as the solstice and equinoxes, or the appearance
or disappearance of the constellation of the Pleiades
or the Llama, as they could be observed from the
Choqek’iraw site. It is, in any case, a reconstruction
of an Inca calendar. Only a detailed astronomical
study, during a year of the appearance of the sun
and other celestial bodies viewed from the site, will
provide an understanding of the role it would have
played.
5. As Ziólkowski (1989: 137 and note 28) notes, this
socioeconomic opposition between pastoralists and
farmers, animals, and plants, evokes the division of
the year into two opposite and complementary
periods, according to the solstices and the passage
of the sun at the zenith and anti-zenith.
Schematically, the first period, which begins in
February, is related to pastoralism, and the
payment of tribute in the form of craft production
by women; the second, which begins with the agri-
cultural cycle in August, is linked to agriculture.
This antagonism also refers to other, more-complex
ideas, like the opposition between the spatial move-
ment of the sun, inside and outside of the earth,
which is also the movement of the constellation of
the Llama already discussed above.
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