﻿THE 
  ANDEAN 
  CALENDAR 
  

  

  By 
  Luis 
  E. 
  Valcarcel 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  least 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  Inca 
  had 
  a 
  calendar. 
  All 
  the 
  

   chroniclers 
  of 
  the 
  16 
  th 
  and 
  17 
  th 
  centuries 
  are 
  very 
  exact 
  about 
  re- 
  

   ferring 
  to 
  the 
  months 
  by 
  their 
  indigenous 
  names 
  and 
  relating 
  in 
  detail 
  

   both 
  the 
  farm 
  labor 
  and 
  the 
  religious 
  rites 
  that 
  pertained 
  to 
  each 
  

   month. 
  The 
  Inca 
  people 
  were 
  agriculturists 
  par 
  excellence, 
  and 
  the 
  

   most 
  important 
  thing 
  for 
  them 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  to 
  fix 
  the 
  approximate 
  

   dates 
  for 
  the 
  principal 
  events 
  relating 
  to 
  their 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  soil: 
  the 
  

   sowing, 
  the 
  watering, 
  and 
  the 
  harvest. 
  

  

  Their 
  calendrical 
  system 
  was 
  based 
  on 
  observations 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  

   capital 
  of 
  the 
  Empire, 
  Cuzco, 
  and 
  it 
  applied 
  principally 
  to 
  the 
  Sierra. 
  

   The 
  special 
  physical 
  conditions 
  of 
  this 
  great 
  Andean 
  zone 
  were 
  con- 
  

   trolled 
  by 
  the 
  two 
  fundamental 
  periods 
  of 
  rainfall 
  and 
  drought. 
  

   Unlike 
  other 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  earth, 
  neither 
  spring 
  nor 
  autumn 
  were 
  so 
  

   well 
  marked 
  as 
  winter 
  and 
  summer. 
  

  

  Information 
  on 
  the 
  procedures 
  followed 
  by 
  the 
  Peruvians 
  in 
  fix- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  bases 
  for 
  their 
  calendar 
  is 
  neither 
  consistent 
  nor 
  explicit. 
  To 
  

   establish 
  those 
  bases, 
  however, 
  they 
  must 
  have 
  possessed 
  a 
  knowledge 
  

   of 
  astronomy. 
  There 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  least 
  doubt 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  such 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  because 
  the 
  movements 
  of 
  both 
  the 
  sun 
  and 
  moon 
  were 
  taken 
  

   into 
  account 
  in 
  their 
  calendar, 
  although 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  correlating 
  the 
  

   two 
  is 
  unknown. 
  Four 
  towers, 
  two 
  close 
  together 
  and 
  two 
  far 
  apart, 
  

   were 
  built 
  in 
  a 
  row 
  along 
  the 
  horizon. 
  From 
  a 
  central 
  point 
  in 
  Cuzco, 
  

   the 
  movements 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  could 
  be 
  observed 
  with 
  reference 
  to 
  these 
  

   towers. 
  By 
  this 
  means, 
  planting 
  times 
  were 
  determined 
  and 
  the 
  

   agricultural 
  cycle 
  begun. 
  Some 
  have 
  claimed 
  that 
  similar 
  towers 
  were 
  

   used 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  equinoxes 
  and 
  the 
  solstices 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  solar 
  

   months 
  of 
  the 
  year. 
  Although 
  this 
  is 
  possible, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  indication 
  

   that 
  use 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  such 
  observation 
  in 
  the 
  festival 
  calendar. 
  

   Instead, 
  the 
  latter 
  was 
  basically 
  a 
  lunar 
  calendar. 
  Others 
  have 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  certain 
  pillars 
  carved 
  from 
  natural 
  boulders 
  as 
  sundials, 
  but 
  

   it 
  seems 
  unlikely 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  used. 
  

  

  The 
  Inca 
  believed 
  that 
  on 
  those 
  two 
  great 
  days 
  of 
  the 
  equinox 
  

   the 
  Father 
  Sun 
  came 
  down 
  to 
  live 
  among 
  men. 
  This 
  belief 
  survives 
  

   among 
  the 
  Indians 
  who 
  live 
  today 
  on 
  the 
  Island 
  of 
  the 
  Sun 
  (Isla 
  

   del 
  Sol) 
  in 
  Lake 
  Titicaca, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  sanctuaries 
  of 
  pre- 
  

   Columbian 
  Peru. 
  As 
  proof 
  that 
  the 
  Sun 
  visited 
  the 
  island 
  in 
  human 
  

  

  471 
  

  

  