Condorhuasi-Alamito Trophy Heads (Catamarca, Argentina) in the Andean Religious Thinking

Abstract

In the region called «Campo del Pucará (Catamarca, Argentina)» where was located a ceremonial place which belonged to the Condorhuasi Formative culture, under the name of Condorhuasi-Alamito, sanctuary objects were manufactured and rituals were celebrated where human beings sacrifices and subsequent bodies dismembered were common practices. As a result of, each part of the body were resignified, some parts of it were buried or disposal as ceremonial trash, and others like heads received a special treatment and were transformed into «trophy heads or skulls». The way in which they were obtained, as well as the constant use of them, in time and space, where what changed was the meaning ascribed to it. Those are characteristics aspects that the NOA cultures shared with other cultures in southcentral Andean regions.