﻿300 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  ascetic 
  hermits, 
  but 
  his 
  whole 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  personnel 
  of 
  Inca 
  

   religion 
  too 
  closely 
  parallels 
  Catholic 
  practice 
  to 
  inspire 
  much 
  confi- 
  

   dence. 
  (Cobo, 
  1890-95, 
  bk. 
  13, 
  ch. 
  35; 
  Molina 
  of 
  Cuzco, 
  1913, 
  pp. 
  

   129-130; 
  Polo, 
  1916 
  a, 
  ch. 
  13; 
  Valera, 
  1879, 
  pp. 
  156-163; 
  Gonzalez, 
  

   1608; 
  Arriaga, 
  1920.) 
  

  

  Ceremonial 
  practices. 
  — 
  Inca 
  religion 
  displays 
  characteristic 
  Andean 
  

   formality 
  and 
  richly 
  developed 
  ceremonialism. 
  (See 
  modern 
  Quechua 
  

   and 
  Aymara.) 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  favorite 
  Inca 
  ceremonial 
  practices 
  will 
  

   be 
  discussed 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  confession, 
  sacrifice, 
  and 
  public 
  cere- 
  

   monials, 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  deserve 
  independent 
  mention. 
  

  

  The 
  Inca 
  recognized 
  only 
  two 
  ceremonial 
  directions, 
  east 
  and 
  west, 
  

   which 
  were 
  important 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  rising 
  and 
  setting 
  of 
  the 
  sun. 
  

   Quechua 
  lacks 
  words 
  for 
  north 
  and 
  south, 
  and 
  customarily 
  gave 
  direct- 
  

   ions 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  known 
  geographical 
  points; 
  for 
  example, 
  "in 
  the 
  

   direction 
  of 
  Quito." 
  The 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Cuzco 
  was 
  divided 
  into 
  

   ceremonial 
  quarters 
  corresponding 
  to 
  the 
  four 
  great 
  divisions 
  (soyo) 
  

   of 
  the 
  whole 
  Empire, 
  and 
  the 
  two 
  north 
  quarters 
  corresponded 
  to 
  

   "Upper 
  Cuzco," 
  the 
  two 
  south 
  quarters 
  to 
  "Lower 
  Cuzco." 
  These 
  

   quarters 
  were 
  areas, 
  not 
  directions, 
  however. 
  The 
  huacas 
  in 
  each 
  

   quarter 
  were 
  under 
  the 
  care 
  of 
  the 
  ayllus 
  or 
  Inca 
  lineages 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  

   quarter. 
  

  

  The 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  huacas 
  within 
  these 
  ceremonial 
  quarters 
  is 
  

   interesting. 
  The 
  huacas 
  were 
  thought 
  of 
  as 
  lying 
  along 
  a 
  limited 
  

   number 
  of 
  lines 
  radiating 
  from 
  the 
  Temple 
  of 
  the 
  Sun. 
  Each 
  quarter 
  

   contained 
  nine 
  lines, 
  except 
  konti-soyo, 
  which 
  had 
  15. 
  Each 
  line 
  

   included 
  4 
  to 
  15 
  irregularly 
  distributed 
  and 
  ceremonially 
  named 
  

   huacas. 
  The 
  lines 
  were 
  grouped 
  by 
  threes 
  in 
  the 
  quarters 
  with 
  nine 
  

   lines, 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  three 
  names 
  being 
  repeated: 
  *cayao, 
  *payan, 
  and 
  

   qolyana 
  ("excellent"). 
  In 
  konti-soyo, 
  the 
  line 
  names 
  were 
  some- 
  

   what 
  irregular. 
  This 
  arrangement 
  of 
  the 
  huacas 
  by 
  lines 
  and 
  quarters 
  

   was 
  beautifully 
  adapted 
  to 
  the 
  Inca 
  system 
  of 
  recording 
  on 
  knotted 
  

   strings; 
  each 
  huaca 
  was 
  a 
  knot, 
  each 
  line 
  a 
  string, 
  and 
  the 
  strings 
  

   were 
  probably 
  of 
  three 
  kinds 
  corresponding 
  to 
  the 
  three 
  repeating 
  

   names, 
  and 
  differing 
  by 
  size 
  or 
  color. 
  The 
  huaca 
  classification 
  was 
  

   diagramed 
  by 
  Polo 
  de 
  Ondegardo 
  before 
  1561 
  (the 
  famous 
  "Carta 
  de 
  

   Zeques" 
  or 
  "Diagram 
  of 
  siq'i 
  (lines)"). 
  Molina 
  of 
  Cuzco 
  rewrote 
  the 
  

   diagram 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  list, 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  preserved 
  by 
  Cobo 
  (1890- 
  

   95, 
  bk. 
  13, 
  chs. 
  13-16). 
  Polo's 
  diagram 
  is 
  lost, 
  but 
  can 
  be 
  easily 
  recon- 
  

   structed 
  from 
  the 
  list. 
  

  

  The 
  huaca 
  classification 
  provides 
  almost 
  the 
  only 
  information 
  about 
  

   Inca 
  ceremonial 
  numbers, 
  and 
  suggests 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  three. 
  Be- 
  

   cause 
  of 
  the 
  general 
  silence 
  of 
  the 
  chroniclers 
  on 
  the 
  subject 
  it 
  seems 
  

   likely, 
  however, 
  that 
  ceremonial 
  numbers 
  were 
  unimportant 
  in 
  Inca 
  

   religion. 
  

  

  