Huaca

In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind.

The Quechua people traditionally believed every object has a physical presence and two camaquen (spirits), one to create it and another to animate it.

A huaca could be built along a processional ceremonial line or route, as was done for the enactment of sacred ritual within the capital at Cusco.

The work of Tom Zuidema and Brian Bauer (UT-Austin) explores the range of debate over their usage and significance.

Both Andean and Inca ideologies considered huacas as manifestations of both the natural and the supernatural world such as springs, stones, hills and mountains, temples, caves, roads, or trees (D‟Altroy 2002:163)."

In the Cusco ceque system, most, if not all, of the huacas facilitated communication with the supernatural world or had some connection with chthonic powers that were thought to have shaped certain aspects of the region's people.

It was a stone shaped like a falcon which Inca Yupanqui said had appeared to him in a quarry, and he ordered that it be placed on this ceque and that sacrifices be made to it."

[4] Other huacas were physical aspects of the landscape, such as mountains or large boulders that still held religious and cultural significance.

Interviews with local village officials helped researchers ensure that the huacas found on the ceques were legitimate.

Special compounds were erected at certain huacas where priests composed elaborate rituals and religious ceremonial culture.

In this instance, huacas and pacarinas became significant centers of shared worship and a point of unification of ethnically and linguistically diverse peoples.