Evening talks

The talk considers the transition from hunting to herding societies in the Andes, from the perspective of current debates around animism. In rethinking the Andean “domestication” of animals, I examine the possible differences between hunting and sacrifice from the perspective of hunters or herders, in relation to the Andean idea of rearing mutually and certain ritual practices. Some of these practices deal with offerings to the Lord of the Animals and his female counterpart, and I compare examples from contemporary ethnography to some relevant iconography from Tiwanaku.