In the Inca Empire the ushnu (other spelling usnu, sometimes usñu) was an altar for cults to the deities, a throne for the Sapa Inca (emperor), an elevated place for judgment and a reviewing stand of military command.Hyslop, John (1990). Inka Settlement Planning - University of Texas Press - Austin In several cases the ushnu may have been used as a solar observatory. Ushnus mark the center of plazas (main squares) of the Inca administrative centers all along the highland path of the Inca road system.
The ushnu had also the function of a basin with a drain for libations. During the most important Inca festivals such as the Situa in Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire, the emperor poured chicha (fermented maize beverage) into the top basin as an offer to his father the Sun god and those who attended the ceremonies could drink it at a lower outlet. Sacrifices were also held in proximity of or at the ushnu.Gasparini, Graziano; Margolies, Luise (1977). Arquitectura inka - Centro de Investigaciones Históricas y Estéticas, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo Universidad Central de Venezuela - Caracas While in the capital the ushnu was the axis of the Inca ceremonies, in the provinces of the empire they represented the central power and had a public role and were generally quite large structures, bigger than the ushnu in Cusco.
The shape of the ushnu varied in the vast extension of the Inca conquered territory. The one in Cusco, considered to be the center of the whole empire,Christie, Jessica Joyce (2007). Did The Inka Copy Cusco? An Answer Derived From an Architectural-Sculptural Model. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, Vol. 12, No.1, pp. 164–199 - was a sugarloaf-shaped stone pillar, covered with gold. In the administrative centers, the ushnus had the shape of elevated platforms or truncated pyramids with one or more superposed platforms and a stairway climbing to the top. Some ushnus, which have been the object of archaeological excavations, showed the existence of basins with drainage systems.
It has been suggested by some scholarsMeyers, Albert (1998). Las Campañas Arqueológicas en Samaipata, 1994–1996. Segundo Informe de Trabajo - Sociedad de Investigacion del Arte Rupestre de Bolivia (SIARB) - Boletin 12:59–86. La PazZuidema, R.Tom (1980). El Ushnu. In Revista de la universidad complutense n. 28 - pages 317-362- SpainCavero Palomino, Yuri Igor (2015) Ushnus en la provincia de Vilcashuamán - in Peruvian archaeology volume 2, 2015 - Yamagata University institute of Nasca that Intihuatanas (solar observatories), such as those found in Inca royal estates of Pisac and Tipón, and carved stones in Machu Picchu (Funerary stone), Chincero (PumaQaqa) and Sacsayhuamán (Throne of the Inca) could have been ushnus, due their use as seats and altars for religious cults.
As a social marker the ushnu provided an elevated position for the high level Inca nobility while common and non-Inca people stayed in a lower position in the plaza.
Notable ushnus are found in Vilcashuamán, Huánuco Pampa, Chinchero the three of them in Peru and Samaipata in Bolivia and Shincal de Quimivil in northern Argentina.
History
The truncated pyramids and the circular pillar with a basin−pit system found during the archaeological surveys in Caral date back to the Andean preceramic period (8000 to 1800 BCE) and represent mountain and water cult symbols. After passing through the Chavín culture in the Early Horizon (1000 to 200 BCE) and the Tiwanaku culture in the Middle Horizon (600 to 1000 CE) they might have become the Inca ushnu. According to the chronicle of Guamán Poma de Ayala it was the Inca emperor Pachacuti Inca Yupanquy (before 1438 – 1471) who ordered the construction of a throne for him in every district of his empire.
Ushnus are mentioned by the chroniclers who described the Inca empire in the 16th century, among them Francisco Xerez,Jeréz, Francisco de (2017 ). Verdadera relación de la Conquista del Perú y Provincia del Cuzco. In Crónicas tempranas del siglo XVI Tomo I Estrategia hispana: La invasión del Tawantinsuyu en la época de Huáscar y Atahualpa (1530-1533) edited by Carlos Velaochaga Dam, Alejandro Herrera Villagra, Rafael Warthon Calero - Ministerio de Cultura Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de Cusco Pedro Cieza de León,Cieza de León, Pedro (2005 ). Crónica del Perú - El señorío de los Incas - edited by Franklin Pease G.Y. - Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho - Caracas - Venezuela Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala and Juan de Betanzos.Betanzos, Juan de (2004 [c.1551]). Suma y Narración de los Incas Edición, introducción y notas: María del Carmen Martín Rubio - Ediciones Polifemo - Madrid, 2004
According to the chronicle of Francisco de Xerez in 1532 Francisco Pizarro, reached Cajamarca, where the Inca emperor Atahualpa was quartered with his troops. There, in the middle of the city plaza (main square), Pizarro saw what he called a fortress. He climbed it and could spot a multitude of Incan soldier in the fields, thus he ordered his four small cannons to be hidden on the top of the fortress to get ready for the attack. Then an Indian (native American) came, in the name of Atahualpa, telling the Spanish soldiers to settle where they wished except at the fortress, which was their sacred ushnu. They disobeyed and the first shots to the Inca's men, that started the Battle of Cajamarca, were shot from the top of the ushnu. Unfortunately that ushnu no longer exists.Meddens, Frank M.; McEwan, Colin; Vivanco Pomacanchari, Cirilo (2010). Inca "Stone Ancestors" in context at a high-altitude usnu platform. Latin American Antiquity 21(2), 2010, pp. 173–194
The earliest depictions of ushnus are found in the drawing by Guamán Poma de Ayala (1615)Guamán Poma de Ayala, Felipe (1980 ) Nueva corónica y buen gobierno. Tomo I - Franklin Pease García, editor - Colección Librería Ayacucho. Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho - Caracas at folios 240, 242, 386 and 400. They are found in Cajamarca, Cusco and Vilcashuamán and he calls them usno while representing them as truncated step pyramids.
Other images of ushnu platforms are found in the drawings and books by 19th century explorers such as Léonce Angrand (1874)Angrand, Léonce (1972). Imagen del Perú en el siglo XIX - Colección Perú artístico - Carlos Milla Batres, 1972 Ephraim George Squier (1877),Squier, Ephraim George (1877). Peru: Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas - Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York and Charles Wiener (1880).Wiener, Charles (1880). Pérou et Bolivie. Récit de voyage, suivi d’études archéologiques et ethnographiques et de notes sur l’écriture et les langues des populations indiennes - Paris, Hachette
Origin of the name Little is known of the Quechua root of the term ushnu. The Quechua−Spanish dictionaries were produced since a few years after the conquest by the Spaniards and they include the word ushnu although written with obsolete spelling.References to the dictionaries are given by Cavero Palomino The first of them was produced by Domingo de Santo Tomás in 1560.Santo Tomás, Domingo de (2003 ) Lexicon o vocabulario de la lengua general del Perú - Diccionario Quechua - Castellano Castellano - Quechua - Instituto Nacional de Cultura - Lima 2003 It includes the term ozño with the meaning of «altar for sacrifices where they sacrifice» The dictionary by Diego González Holguín was published in 1609 and gives the translation of vsnu (u and v were written with the same character) in two different ways, underlining two possible uses: «Judge's Court [made of] stone stuck in the ground» and «Cairn when it is a large stuck stone»González Holguín, Diego (2007). Vocabulario de la Lengva General de todo el Perv llamada Lengva Qquichua o del Inca. Lima, imprenta de Francisco del Canto, 1608. Digitalizado por Runasimipi Qespisqa Software, 2007 In 1612 the Aymara dictionary by Ludovico Bertonio describes the tern hushnu as «an altar as it is seen in the punas»Bertonio, Lvdovico (1612). Vocabvlario de la lengva aymara, Impresso en la casa de la Compañía de Iesús de Iuli Pueblo en la Prouincia de Chucuito por Francisco del Canto The priest Cristóbal de Albornoz at the end of the 16th centuryAlbornoz, Cristobal de (1967 [end of 16th century]). La instrucción para descubrir todas las guacas del Piru y sus camayos y haziendas, ed. Pierre Duviols. Joumal de la Societe des Americanistes, Vol. 5 51 No. 11 Paris. in his instructions for discovering idolatry describes the ushnu as follows: «there is another waka (sacred place/shrine) called usno on royal roads and in the squares of the settlements» According to Catherine Allen, professor emeritus of Anthropology at the George Washington UniversityAllen, Catherine J. (2014). Ushnus and Interiority - Chapter 6 in Inca Sacred Space: Landscape, Site and Symbol in the Andes edited by Frank Meddens, Katie Willis, Colin McEwan and Nicholas Branch - Archetype Publication, London and to R. Tom Zuidema, late anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the current use of the Quechua word usnu seems to be related to the word suck, in Spanish. Pino Matos, Peruvian archaeologist,Pino Matos, José Luis (2004). El ushnu Inka y la organización del espacio en los principales Tampus de los Wamani de la sierra central del Chinchaysuyu. Chungará (Arica) 36 (2) states that in the Department of Ancash the contemporary word ushnu refers to «a place made of stones where water can filter» to the ground. This meaning was then extended to «a place where liquids were offered or place of libations». Moreover, Pino Matos statesPino Matos, José Luis (2013). El Ushnu de Huánuco Pampa: Una plataforma ceremonial Inca como lugar de libaciones y eje de planificación de un centro administrativo-religioso en los Andes centrales- in Arqueología y Sociedad 26, 2013: 249-264 that the name ushnu was first proposed in 1965 by the Peruvian anthropologist Manuel Chávez Ballón during a project carried out by the Institute of Andean Researchwebsite of the Institute of Andean Research and directed by John Victor Murra. He suggested that the ceremonial platform in the center of the Huánuco Pampa plaza had to be called ushnu according to the local Quechua pronunciation. Then starting from the 1970s the term was currently used by the archaeologist to name altars and platforms existing in the Inca settlements.
The ushnu existing in Cusco used to be a place of ceremonial offers, where the liquid poured as an offer into an upper container could drain down to avoid spilling: this way the deity to whom the liquids were offered appeared to be drinking. When the ushnus were built in the new conquered areas, where they adopted the physical form of platforms or pyramids, a drainage was emplaced together with a stairway and in some cases a seat on the top.
Uses of the ushnu
The different uses of the ushnus can be summarized as follows