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Jorge Pedraza Arpasi English version by Sarai Coteron Read this first, please:
The so-called 'Aymara altiplanico', or simply Aymara, is an Andean
language spoken by one million and six hundred thousand people round the area
that surrounds Lake Titicaca. More precisely, according to the last censuses
taken in Bolivia, Chile (1992) and Peru (1993), there are 1.237.658 Bolivian
speakers of Aymara, 296.465 Peruvian speakers, and 48.477 Chilean speakers of
the language. From the 19th. century onwards some researchers, such as
Antonio Raymondi, Sebastian Barranca and Julio C. Tello have come to believe
in the linguistic kinship between Jaqaru, Kawki (these two being
spoken at the time, in several of the high plateau regions round Lima) and the
Aymara spoken on the Titicaca plateau. It was the linguistic research carried
out by Marta J. Hardman during the 1960s that provided strong supporting
evidence for this hypothesis. Hardman was able to show that the Aymara spoken
on the Titicaca plateau, Jaqaru, and Kawki, belong to the same family of
languages, to which she gave the name Jaqi. Independently, Alfredo
Torero, came to name this family Aru. Recently, Rodolfo Cerron
Palomino, proposed that it be given the name Aymara. Cerron Palomino's
argument rests on the need to find a pattern of symmetry, regarding the
terminology applied to Aymara language and in relation to the Quechua family,
for which names such as simi were discarded as unacceptable. In these
first years of the 21st. century, according to information that we have, we
can say with great affliction, that Kawki might already be extinct; while
Jaqaru spoken round Tupe (Yauyos), by only a few thousand Tupi people, most of
whom are living in the city of Lima, faces the fate of its own agonising
death. This in turn makes us think, that within one or two generations Jaqaru,
daughter language in the Aymara family, will also come to be one of the
extinct languages of the world.
The theory that postulates that Aymara and Quechua share a common origin, that they spring from the same parent language is now losing validity. R. Cerron Palomino and M.J. Hardman among others point out that the fundamental error incurred in by supporters of Quechumara (Orr and Longacre), as is called this supposedly parent language, is that their arguments in support of this theory are based only, on the comparison between the Aymara spoken in the Andean plateau, and the variety of Bolivian-Cuzco Quechua, and not on the comparison and study of all languages that belong to these families. It would be reasonable to make the conjecture, that any theory put forth regarding the origin of these languages, must be the result of the in-depth and thorough study of both families of languages, such as could be the study of Quechua I (Huayhuash) and Quechua II (Huampuy); and of the study of all their sub-families scattered across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina; as well as the study of the Jaqi, also labelled the Aru or Aymara family, with its languages and dialects, namely: Plateau Aymara, Kawki and Jaqaru. This takes us to a hypothetical reconstruction of Proto-Quechua and Proto-Aymara, languages which seem far from sharing a common origin.
The Italian jesuit Ludovico Bertonio compiled the first grammatical and
lexical study of the Aymara language towards the end of the 16th. century,
while as a missionary in Juli (Chucuito, Puno). Bertonio conducted his study
of Aymara using Latin as his point of reference. During the four centuries
following Bertonio other studies of the Aymara language were carried out,
which continued taking Indo-European grammatical models as frame of reference.
The work of Ellen Ross in 1963, is considered to be the first study of the
Aymara language that applies concepts of modern linguistics, and is shaken of
the defects of previous studies. Following Ross, there appeared the team of
linguists of the School of Florida, under the guidance of M.J. Hardman. The
results of their studies are considered by all researchers of the Aymara
language to rank amongst the most important up to date.
The alphabetical representation of the Aymara language has attracted over thirty different proposed systems, beginning with that of Bertonio. A large part of these systems however, were inadequate in their representation of the phonemic framework of the Aymara language. In the 60s Bolivian professor Juan de Dios Yapita, speaker of Aymara and a member of the School of Florida, put forward the alphabet which was to be the basis for what is our present Unified Aymara alphabet or 'alfabeto unico'. This alphabet has been officially recognized by the Bolivian government, by decree of the Supreme Court (DS-20227), May 9th., 1984, an also by the Peruvian government, by Ministerial Ruling (RM-1218), November 18th., 1985. In Chile this alphabet is recognized as 'Grafemario Aymara'. This is a phonemic alphabet consisting of twenty-six consonants and three vowels. We make use of this alphabet in all documents that belong to this website, with the exception of some isolated instances. According to the traditional system of classification of languages, which divides them as inflecting, agglutinative and isolating languages, Aymara belongs to the agglutinative group, while within the modern classification which places languages within a continuum, ranging from analytical to synthetic languages, Aymara appears as synthetic, to the extent that it could be considered poly-synthetic, and the same could be said of Quechua. One other peculiarity shared by both Quechua and Aymara is the pattern of four grammatical persons, unlike Indo-European languages which have three persons. Aymara owes its agglutinative character to the inherent properties of its two basic morphological groups: roots, (nouns, verbs and adjectives) and suffixes. Verb roots and suffixes are morphological units devoid of lexical meaning, but combining these elements appropriately, we can express any range of ideas. Bolivian professor Ivan Guzman de Rojas believes that underlying the rules that govern this combination of roots and suffixes, there appear two independent structures: a logical and an algebraic structure. The logical structure is represented by the proposed 'estructura trivalente', put forth by J.Lukasiewicz during the first decades of the 20th. century. The algebraic structure is specifically the one labelled anillos de enteros modulo-3(Z3). It has been ascertained that Aymara has over two hundred suffixes, both, properly Aymara and borrowings. M.J. Hardman believes that the appropriate combination of roots and suffixes can give as much as 363.394.720 different verb-forms. Publications in Aymara are scarce. In Bolivia, Peru and Chile, teaching of reading and writing is conducted in Spanish; what is more, considering that the teaching imparted in these states is not one of the best, we could hardly expect bilingual education Castilian/Aymara or Castilian/Quechua. There are however, some institutions and NGOs which work with great effort for the diffusion of written and oral Aymara language. Radio San Gabriel which belongs to the Bolivian archbishopric and is partly financed by Spanish sponsorship, stands out noticeably within this effort for the diffusion of the Aymara language. Their fifteen hour daily schedules are conducted only in Aymara and contain programs in literacy and for the dissemination of the Aymara culture. All this, besides the edition and publishing of texts on basic aspects of the Aymara language. Another of these centres and of more academic grounding, is the 'Instituto de la Lengua y Cultura Aymara' (ILCA), based in La Paz, headed by the renowned Aymara professor and linguist Juan de Dios Yapita. He has published papers of prominence on grammar, and the sociology of the Aymara community. Finally we must make mention of the 'Centro de Estudios Andinos Bartolome de las Casas', Cusco, which has large collections of publications, amongst them some dedicated to the Aymara language.
The Aymara people could be defined beforehand as that ethnic group whose
members are speakers of the Aymara language. But this definition is
questioned when we see that many descendants of Aymara speakers make claim to
their Aymara identity, although they don't necessarily speak the language.
Historically, Aymara was spoken by several different ethnic sub-groups such as
the Qullas, Lupaqas, Qanchis, Carangas, Lucanas, Chocorvos, Chichas etc.,
since times before the Incas and for several centuries even, after the Inca
Empire. These groups were geographically seated on various locations of what
are today's departments of Lima, Ica, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Arequipa,
Apurimac, Cuzco and North of Puno, and parts of Cochabamba and Potosi which
today are Quechua speaking areas. The surname Mamani, unquestionably of
Aymara origin is one of the most frequently found family names in many Andean
regions; and even in urban areas of Peru and Bolivia there must be hundreds of
thousands or even millions of people who carry this name and who identify with
Quechua language and culture. In short, it cannot be said that there is an
exclusively Aymara ethnic sub-group and vice versa, the Aymara language
cannot be considered exclusive to any particular ethnic sub-group. In Aymara
Uta and for practical purposes, we understand as Aymara people, that group of
individuals, mostly Amerindian who speak the Aymara language, together with
those who make claim to their Aymara identity although they do not speak the
language.
Tiwanaku's enormous popularity is largely due to A. Posnansky, who during the first decades of the 20th. century, put forth the theory that Tiwanaku could be the cradle of all cultures in pre-columbian America. Posnansky however, believes that today's Aymara Indians cannot possibly be the descendants of the builders of Tiwanaku; an attitude full of preconceptions which nevertheless went to please Bolivian authorities, whose members were in the past, as they are today, the small white minority that rules this country. As a result of this, school texts make no consideration even as a small possibility, of the fact that the vast majority of Bolivian Amerindians are the proud descendants of the builders of Tiwanaku; the city that has later been restored although perhaps with too much ornament. There is a debate as to whether Tiwanaku was either "restored" or
"rebuilt". Kolata maintains that the main reason why the Tiwanaku State
collapsed was climatic change. Possible droughts that would have lasted
several years could have been the force that destroyed the state from the
'altiplano', the economy of which, as that of all Andean peoples of antiquity
was based on agriculture. Kolata believes that the technology of the raised
fields was created and skilfully mastered by this culture.
The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire starts when a hundred and fifty
Spanish adventurers supposedly by invitation of Inca Atawalpa, snared him and
took him hostage. Theocratic Inca society attributed divine powers to the
head of state, and other leaders in the Empire were slow to understand the
critical situation their monarch found himself in. This lack of awareness of
the situation, is all that can possibly explain the reason why the powerful
and large imperial army was not promptly called to arms as befitted the
situation, as they were, on the verge of delivering Atawalpa from its captors.
During an interval of several months, in between the capture and death of the
Inca, the Spaniards came to understand the conflicts amongst the diversity of
peoples under Inca domination, and this allowed them to forge alliances in
amongst these nations, who regarded the Spaniards as their liberators. After
killing the Inca the Spaniards, counting on the militar and logistic support
of thousands of the natives who were rebellious to Inca domination, became
practically invincible in the decisive moments of this war of conquest. Not
many years later, the native allies came to regret their fatal mistake. It
was too late however; the Empire had been destroyed and its people, including
the allies, were brought down to living in sub-human conditions. During the
time of the colony, the condition of the Aymaras and that of all the other
natives was worse even than that of the African slaves; since the latter were
at least attributed some value in money, while the Indians ('la indiada'),
could be obtained for free. Millions of Aymaras and other indigenous people
died, abused by the 'encomenderos', who acted with consent of Spain's
political and ecclesiastical authorities.
After the battle of Ayacucho in 1824, which was the last battle of the war
of independence, all territories inhabited by Aymara people were located at
the heart of Peruvian territory. But a year later in 1825, leaders of the
region of 'Alto Peru', tired of the centralism exercised from Lima, decided
that 'Alto Peru' should become a new republic, and be given the name Bolivia.
It was in this way that the plateau of Titicaca, and therefore also the Aymara
people with it, were divided between the two nations. Years later the Pacific
War broke out, which was to cause Chile to confront Peru and Bolivia. The
decisive battles in this war were fought in the old territories of the Lupaqas
and Collas, so we can infer that many lives were lost among the Aymara people,
to a war that had no significance for them at all. Chile won the war and so
took over territories in Bolivia and Peru, valuable for their reserves in
saltpetre and copper, which were mainly inhabited by Aymara people. The
Aymara people then, were split in between the three republics because of
interests beyond their care.
The fact that South American countries won independence from Spain, did little or nothing to improve the condition of the Aymara and other native peoples; and what is more, there are historians who claim that their situation became even worse. Until recently the practice of 'pongaje', domestic service that Indian tenants were supposed to provide voluntarily, was a subtle form of slavery inside the homes of the rich 'caciques' of Peru and Bolivia. Recent estimates tell us that 80% of the 1.6 million Aymaras today, are living in the cities and employ themselves in informal and non-mainstream economic activities. The remaining 20% live in rural areas labouring in small scale farming in the worst conditions of squalor and poverty. Spanish speakers in urban areas are intolerant of the native languages, and the speaker of Aymara finds himself cornered into learning Spanish and in consequence, he feels the need to hide his mother tongue even from his own children, who in general tend to speak only Spanish. The result of this is that numbers of speakers of Aymara are decreasing at a high rate, and this threatens with the extinction of Aymara as a living language.
During the course of this century and nearly every year at that, there have appeared organizations which put forth the claim that they were representatives of the Aymara people. These organizations tend to meet with little trust and enthusiasm because in the past, their leaders nearly always abandoned their representees once they had obtained a personal gain. What is really remarkable is that some notable personalities from Bolivia and Peru are of Aymara origin, and they came to be in their posts not for taking the Aymara people as their cause. It is to be expected that they bring forth some sort of action for the preservation of Aymara cultural values, especially their language, which is due to them. During the period of government 1993-1998 and for the first time in Bolivia, a native Aymara also speaker of the language, Victor Hugo Cardenas, was elected Vice-President to the Republic. At the 1998 local election in Puno capital city, for the first time, also an Aymara speaker of the language, was elected mayor of the province of Puno. In September 2000, the Aymara leader Felipe Quispe, el Mallku, won the nation 's attention in Bolivia, following a successful plan of action in support of the Bolivian Aymaras. At the 2002 elections the Aymara from Collacachi (Qullaqachi) Paulina Arpasi was elected Member of Congress to the Republic of Peru with the highest number of votes in the department of Puno.
a) Ancient Religiosity[Pre-Christian](?-1550)The diversity of the Aymara peoples of antiquity, worshipped different local Gods, and their religious expression took various forms. These local varieties however, were based on what are considered the two pillars of religiousness across the Andes, namely: religion centring round the agricultural context, and worship of the ancestors. The Aymara people thought of their Gods as their protectors, and they identified them with the hills roundabout (Awki, Achachila). This expression of faith has prevailed to the present day, in that each hill found locally is given an individual name, and is always invoked as the local guardian. The Anchanchu or Saxra were evil Gods of the underground. Minor Gods were thought to dwell in water springs (Phuju). Another important aspect connected to Aymara spirituality was the practice of ritual medicine and the use of natural healing remedies by the Yatiris (sages). Since times immemorial to the 21st century, the most skilled and prestigious Yatiris came originally from the village of Kallawaya, in the Cordillera Charazani, Bolivia. b) Modern Christian Religion (1550 to the present).The Spanish political and ecclesiastical authorities, tried to destroy without success, the sense of religious spirituality of the Aymara people. The Spaniards destroyed the icons, the 'Chullpas', etc. The brutal way in which the new religion was imposed is an unpleasant memory. But nature itself, the hills, the lakes, remained unchanged spurring the religious traditions of the Aymaras. It is right to point out however, that there were many within the Catholic Church, who opposed this wrongful process of evangelization. The Jesuits and Franciscans were within this moderate sector of the Church, and opted for accommodating or christianizing the old Aymara Gods. This explains why the powerful God Thunupa was turned into Apu Qullana Awki, a handy identification as regards the religious explanation of the world's creation. An important characteristic of the God Thunupa however, is that he used to be identified with thunder and lightning, so that Thunupa is simultaneously Apu Qullana Awki (the world's creator), and St. Bartholomew (patron saint of lightning). One other syncretistic adaptation, is the identification made between Pachamama and the Virgin. This mix is reflected on the Aymara customs (festivities on saints' days), and on the art of the18th century (the Schools of Cuzco and Potosi), termed Baroque Mestizo art. One other example of syncretism is the sanctuary 'Nuestra Senora de Copacanbana', on the shores of Lake Titicaca. This location is a natural harbour to 'Isla del Sol', and Quta Qhawana (Copacabana) already was a sacred place before the arrival of Christianity.During those earliest years of intolerance, in the modern Andean Republics, the syncretic worship of the Aymaras was a clandestine practice. But from the second half of the 20th century onwards, it has been practised openly, counting even with the approval of the Catholic Church. The Protestant Church has remained intolerant, even banning traditional ritual medicine; what has caused great argument, as it is well known that traditional medicine, largely obtains positive practical results, and especially with the renowned Kallawayas. The converted Yatiri, adherent to one of the Protestant Churches, is barred from putting to practice his/her knowledge of healing. On the other hand the Aymara ritual Ch'alla, which is an expression of thanksgiving to the land (Pachamama), coexists pacifically with the local Catholic religious celebrations. An interesting aspect of the syncretic character of the Aymaras' religious beliefs, is the fact that Christmas, the most important celebration in the Catholic religion, never had the same importance for the rural Christian Aymaras. Much more important for the rural Aymaras is the Carnival (Mara Anata), when the crops ripen; it is a favourable time for the Ch'alla, to help the flowers turn to good fruit. It is clear that in the last few years, with emigration of Aymaras to the urban centres happening on a massive scale, at an estimated rate of 70 to 80 per cent, the Christmas fairylights, and the Father Christmas masks, have caused the urban Aymaras to assimilate this celebration; although in their case, the Christmas festivity is in no way different to the celebrations of the non-Aymara people, so that it would be meaningless to talk of an Aymara Christmas tradition, as some, seem to think that there is. |
| AYMARA UTA |
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Basically there are three strands of theory which attempt to explain the
geographical origin of Aymara; a) the Aymara language originated on the
plateau that surrounds Lake Titicaca (Localist theory of the Plateau Aymara);
b) it originated in the centre region of the Andes in today's Peru; c) to the
north of today's Chile. Some of the most important accounts of the
hypothetical localist stream of theory maintain that the origin of the Aymara
language goes to the plateau round Lake Titicaca itself, together with Pukina,
a language extinct by the beginning of the 20th. century, and the Uru/Chipaya,
a language on the verge of extinction, spoken in reduced areas to the south of
Bolivia. The Localist theory is connected to those other theories which
maintain that in the Tiwanaku State, Aymara was spoken by farmers and
agriculturers. While the Chuqilas were farmers, the Urus were the teachers
and craftsmen of Lake Titicaca, and Pukina, the most prestigious language in
the state was spoken by the elite of governors. The North American
archaeologist Alan Kolata is the main exponent of this theory. The account of
the debate on the linguistic, ethnic and historic origins of the builders of
the City of Tiwanaku begins with Cieza de Leon, the first European to record
his observations on the region, in the 16th. century. Cieza de Leon gathered
accounts from the Aymara inhabitants of the time, who pointed out that
Tiwanaku was a model city, and that its ruins were always a sacred place
within the Inca State. In the 17th. century Bernabe Cobo observed and later
published, that the Aymara name for Tiwanaku is 'Taypi Qala' (the stone at the
centre). Later Tiwanaku was forgotten by scholars and chroniclers and
possibly it was only looters that frequented the site. With the coming of the
Republics the neglect reserved for Tiwanaku by the Bolivian government, to
whom it belongs on grounds of its geographical position, is clamorously
displayed on certain images dating to the 19th. century, on which the now
famous 'Puerta del Sol' appears lying on its back, half buried and broken on
its earthen bed.
Following Tiwanaku's decline, other Aymara societies appeared which were
politically organized, being the most important of these, the Kingdom of
Lupaqa and the Kingdom of Qulla. For some reason the Incas gave the Aymara
speakers the denomination of Qullas, and all this territory together with the
southernmost lands became the Qullasuyo. These names are all the more
significant on account of Pedro Cieza de Leon, who identified the plateau of
Collao with the plateau of Titicaca and who also gave the denomination Collas
to all speakers of Aymara. (Chapter XCIX in "Cronica del Peru"). The way in
which the conquest of Aymara territory by the Inca Empire must have happened
is also under debate. Some claim that the Incas annexed the Aymaras to their
Empire peaceful and respectfully and that Aymara culture was assimilated; an
analogy to what the Greeks were to the Romans. Nonetheless others claim that
there were bloody wars for the conquest of the territory and the Aymara
States, and that there were quite a number of revolts during the period of
Inca domination. Whatever the truth, for some reason, the Incas were never
able to impose the Quechua language, at least not on the plateau of Lake
Titicaca.
The slaughter reached the highest
point at the mines of Potosi; and the wealth of silver coming from the mines
was squandered, among other things, in the so-called 'invincible army'. This
was a real genocide for which the descendants of the ancient race of the
Andes demand to this day a formal apology and a declaration of repentance,
such as happened in Brazil in April 2000.
Possibly the main cultural contribution of the ancient Aymara culture to
humanity, was the cultivation/domestication of the potato (papa). When the
Inca Empire was subdued by the Spanish conquerors, they found the potato
cultivated and consumed throughout Inca territory. But on the plateau of Lake
Titicaca as in no other place, they found over two hundred different
varieties. The ancient Aymaras, were also pioneers in the invention of the
technique for dehydrating the potato, for storage purposes. Dehydrated potato
has been, and still it is, an obtainable product, consumed on a massive scale
up to the present day, and is known as Ch'unu (Chuno). Depending on the
process of its manufacture, the dehydrated potato is given various names, as
Tunta, Muraya, etc. The technique for dehydrating the potato was thought of,
so as to take advantage of the climatic conditions found at an altitude of
four thousand metres, on the Titicaca plateau. The potato is alternate and
constantly exposed to the burning diurnal solar rays and to the freezing night
temperatures for a space of two weeks.
After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the potato was rejected as
food by the Spaniards for about two centuries. In parts of Europe it was used
as a decorative plant. It was in Ireland, where the variety of foodstuffs
was limited , that the potato was quickly adopted as main part of the diet.
This dependence on the potato became dramatically obvious, when whole crops
of potato in Ireland were destroyed by blight. This calamity is remembered to
this day as the Irish Famine. Once the Irish had adopted the potato, the
English followed their example, and it was later accepted throughout the rest
of the world as a first class foodstuff. The word 'potato' and its
derivatives: patata, batata etc., is of Caribbean origin and was later
borrowed by the English.
The Aymara societies of antiquity worshipped the dead, and believed that each
person, once dead, became a God, and each was given its own Chullpa. The
workmanship employed in the finish of these 'Chullpas', depended on the status
of the deceased within the social hierarchy; the higher the status of the
deceased, the more elaborately that the Chullpa was built. The sites of
Sillustani and Cutimbo are examples of the tombs of the ancient elite among
Lupaqas and Collas. Thanks to these remains, we can establish that the
Aymaras of antiquity, independently developed the great stone architecture, of
stylish finish and colossal dimensions. Building Chullpas for the elite
demanded great skill and workmanship, and we can easily deduce that the
ancient Collas and Lupaqas dextrously mastered the manufacture and use of
instruments made of metal alloys such as bronze; as well, that is, as the
manufacture and use of pure elements such as copper, gold etc.
Until the 60s these instruments were rejected in the city and they were
played only by indigenous people in remote and rural areas. From the second
half of the 1960s onwards, a sector of the young people in Chile start up a
political and cultural protest movement. This social current adopted as its
symbol the musical trend known as 'nueva cancion' or 'cancion protesta',
which is performed exclusively with the four indigenous instruments. Victor
Jara, Inti Illimani, Kollawara, and Quilapayun were the first exponents of
'nueva cancion'. Later this music spread to the rest of the Andean countries
and became popular amongst students there, especially in Bolivia and Peru,
countries which were at the time under military regimes. At the beginning of
the 80s however, the political message of the 'nueva cancion' was abandoned,
and this music then became commercially acceptable, as it transformed into
what we now know as Andean Music. Today hundreds of bands perform this type
of music, in pursuit of commercial success. They are frequently seen at train
stations and public squares, in the cities of Europe and the United States in
this pursuit. Only very few of them see their efforts rewarded with success.
The Aymara culture has a wealthy repertoire of folk dance and music. This
folkloric diversity has turned the towns of Oruro and Puno into the folkloric
capitals of Bolivia and Peru respectively. The Aymara folk dance has been
classified as Native and Mestizo dance. The origin of the native dance goes
back to times before the conquest, and has therefore little European
influence. Unfortunately this type of dance has found minimal acceptance in
urban centres, and is performed only by Aymaras from the rural areas.
Examples of this type of dance are: Chaqallus, Lawa k'umus, Chuqilas,
K'usillos etc.
On the other hand 'mestizo' dancing is later to the Spanish conquest in
origin. This type of dance is then a balanced mixture of Aymara dance and
European influences. It is very popular in urban centres of the Titicaca
plateau during local festivities, especially the catholic celebrations of
patron saints. The dress worn by the dancers, called 'traje de luces', like
the dress used by Spanish bullfighters, is richly ornamented with imitation
jewellery, so that it can only be acquired at a high cost. 'La Diablada', 'El
Caporal', and 'La Morenada' are the most notorious of these dances.
The old Aymara God Thunupa, is the central icon found on the stone sculpture
known as 'Puerta del Sol' in Tiwanaku, and is the personification of certain
agents in nature such as: the sun and wind, rain and hail; which can affect
agricultural yield for better or for worse. One other aspect of this
manifestation of faith was, as it still is today, the Goddes Pachamama (mother
earth), provider of food and pastures. This Mother and Goddes demanded
sacrifices, the foetus of the llama being her favourite request. Worship to
the ancestors on the other hand, was made manifest materially, in the
construction of shrines, which served also as tombs, and which varied in
complexity depending on the status of the deceased. The Chullpas of
Sillustani and Cutimbo in Puno, are the vestiges of the spiritual expression
of the Aymaras.