doi:10.1016/S0278-4165(03)00029-1 
Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Community with the ancestors: ceremonies and social memory in the Middle Formative at Chiripa, Bolivia
Christine A. Hastorf
, 
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3710, USA
Received 8 July 2002;
revised 3 February 2003.
Available online 28 August 2003.
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Abstract
In the Andes of South America, the ancestors have been known to be an important font of power and perpetuation since the Spanish began writing about the area. The question of the prominence of ancestral worship in early settled communities and its role in societal formation has been an ongoing discussion for Andean archaeologists. Recent archaeological research in the Titicaca Basin suggests that this dynamic was important in the earliest societal formation. This thesis is based in part on the evidence that early architecture was for civic memorials rather than domestic habitation. In addition the artifactual remains suggest these constructions were in part for ancestor veneration. Community creation and social experimentation charged by ritual are illustrated at the Formative site of Chiripa on the Taraco Peninsula in Bolivia. To demonstrate this thesis of community creation through rituals surrounding ancestral energies, the role of relational personhood, kinship, and social memory in community construction, based on practice theory is first outlined. Next the place of burials in the Andean world and the creation of ancestors are dealt with. Finally the ritual and memorials as seen in the archaeological evidence spanning 1500 years is traced.
Author Keywords: Social memory; Memorials; Ceremonial architecture; Formative period; Andes
Fig. 1. The Taraco Peninsula study area.
Fig. 2. The temporal phases at the site of Chiripa and the Taraco Peninsula.
Fig. 3. The architectural evidence from the excavations at Chiripa. The site grid coordinates position the excavation units to the main site datum.
Fig. 4. The extent of Early Chiripa occupation uncovered to date. The large central cloud is from our systematic surface collections. The smaller zones are excavations. The site grid coordinates position the excavation units to the main site datum.
Fig. 5. Plastered floors in the Santiago area. The light gray is the preserved remains of the plastered floor. The dark gray are the burial pits. The black is the mudbrick wall traces.
Fig. 6. Two Early Chiripa cooking vessels form burial locus 565/2055. The larger cooking pot is unusually large.
Fig. 7. The Choquehuanca sunken enclosure. The Middle Chiripa burial pits are shaded gray. The site grid coordinates position the excavation units to the main site datum point.
Fig. 8. Choquehuanca wall plaster, seen on the lower portion of the stonewall. The stick in the photograph is 50 cm long.
Fig. 9. The niche along the eastern wall of the Choquehuanca enclosure. The stick in the photograph is 20 cm long.
Fig. 10. The Middle Chiripa enclosure excavation on the middle terrace.
Fig. 11. The Late Chiripa phase 1 Llusco enclosure foundation. Some foundation rock is present along the northern wall. Note the canal extending out from the northwest corner.
Fig. 12. The Profile of Mound 1-A excavations. ASD’s are structures, D’s refer to stratigraphic units. Note the sequence of thin floors between D-52 and D-62.
Fig. 13. The Late Chiripa Quispe enclosure with canal extending to the northwest.
Fig. 14. The Alejo Late Chiripa canal. Scale is 1 m long.
Fig. 15. Upper House 2 on the Chiripa mound with the subfloor burials. Based on Bennett’s Figures 22 and 23 (1936, pp. 127 and 128).
Fig. 16. The Formative P’Ajano carved stone from the Chiripa mound. Currently in the UNAR Museum, La Paz, Bolivia.
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