Aquillas and Queros in the Andes

The practice of producing ritual cups for politicized exchange existed as a shared value across many Andean societies (Cummins Reference Cummins2002). These objects became a fundamental part of political incorporation by which the Inka state reified its authority over non-Inka groups.

Few aquillas have been recovered from documented contexts. Seven pairs were encountered on the shipwreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha by treasure hunters, damaged silver “tumblers” were found in a Late Horizon Ica tomb documented by Uhle (Menzel Reference Menzel1976:225), an undecorated silver pair was excavated in a tomb at Ollantaytambo (Llanos Reference Llanos1936:142, Plate V), and four aquillas were excavated at Yuraq Rumi Ñusta by Alvino Nevada (Agencia Andina Reference Andina2023). Aquillas are part of a continuum of vessels that were produced in similar forms with different materials. Whereas queros were made of wood and ceramic, and aquillas were made of gold and silver (Cummins Reference Cummins2002:29).

While a comparative collection of aquillas cannot be examined for their use in social practice, we can look to queros to better understand the use of aquillas and their ritual significance by considering their depositional practices. A recent overview by Zori (Reference Zori2022) argues that queros should be considered inalienable objects, or materials that retain their association with individuals and kin groups in perpetuity. Zori (Reference Zori2022:67–68) observes that queros are often found within mortuary contexts and involve ritualized practices in socially significant places.

These findings indicate that queros and aquillas were not only used in prescribed social activities but also at the end of their social lives; they were sometimes ritually deposited within these spaces. For instance, a cache containing wooden queros was found buried within a structure facing a plaza at Huanuco Pampa, which led Morris and colleagues (Reference Morris, Alan Covey and Stein2011:131–137) to suggest it could have been a special-use structure. Similarly, a late period ceramic Tiwanaku quero was found deposited in front of a large structure in the Muyumarca sector at Sacsayhuaman (Valcárcel Reference Valcárcel1935:164–166). Wooden and ceramic queros were found in elite residences at Omo 12, lending significance to their place as pan-Andean status markers (Goldstein Reference Goldstein2005:204–206). Finally, the deliberate burial of Inka period queros at San Juan de Pariachi—sealed in mud within a floor before a new floor was placed above (Villacorta cited in Zori Reference Zori2022:68–69)—mirrors the depositional context of the Purun Llacta de Soloco aquillas.

The Site of Purun Llacta de Soloco and the Context of the Aquillas

Purun Llacta de Soloco is one of the largest communities associated with Chachapoya culture.Footnote ¹ Current documentation indicates that the site likely had a population of between 1,206 and 1,547 people during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries AD and was part of a group of communities within 12 km² connected by a road system. This greater area likely maintained a population of 7,000–10,000 persons (Crandall Reference Crandall2018:122–125). Purun Llacta was occupied contemporaneously with the regional center of Kuelap (which lies 40 km to the southwest by foot). Similarities in ceramics and burial traditions have been documented between the two sites (Crandall Reference Crandall2018).

Purun Llacta went through radical social transformations throughout its history. The establishment of a sedentary community at the apex of Cerro Lic Lic occurred between 32 BC and AD 769.Footnote ² This coincides with a regional intensification of agricultural production and periodic reforestation (Matthews-Bird et al. Reference Matthews-Bird, Valencia, Church, Peterson and Bush2017:1716–1717). Large-scale construction of stone structures occurred at the site between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries AD. Expansion of household construction continued during the initial Inka occupation of the site, with the construction of civic spaces such as public plazas, a tambo, and several small qolqa. During this period, much of the population was reported to have been forcibly removed to an Inka mitmaqkuna around Quito by Rumiñahui, a “captain” of Atahualpa (De los Chuquinbalquis Reference De los1749:f.3v). Spanish conquistadors arrived in AD 1536, and the Sonche valley's Indigenous population was indentured among four encomenderos by AD 1575. By the late sixteenth century, communities around the Sonche River were suffering from a population loss of 1.41%–1.69% per year on average, and many communities disappeared by the mid-seventeenth century (Crandall Reference Crandall2018).

Structure 63 at Purun Llacta was built with large, worked limestone blocks to form a semicircular structure. The building faces a 22 × 36 m plaza that was constructed during the Spanish colonial period. A 3 × 1 m unit was placed slightly east of the central axis of the structure against the building's southern wall. Excavation of the final occupation surface recovered several artifacts including chert flake fragments, several diagnostic ceramics including olla, cántaro, and bowl rim sherds, with paste, temper, and design like those found in Late Horizon and early Spanish colonial period contexts at Purun Llacta. The removal of this upper level revealed an earlier use surface below.

The earlier use surface of the structure was defined by a change in color and the presence of several cut stones embedded into its surface. The aquillas were discovered during the removal of Level 2 with a change in soil density. A 30 cm circular area contained the same soil (color) as Level 2 but with a much looser texture. The aquillas had been deposited, one inside the other, within this cut through Level 2 and placed on the surface of the bedrock below (Figure 2). The removal of level 2 uncovered redware ceramics that are found in Late Horizon and early Spanish colonial contexts at the site.

Figure 2.

Primary context of the aquillas (photo by James M. Crandall).

The Purun Llacta de Soloco Aquillas

Aquilla 1 had developed several small cracks around the rim due to its compressed position, having been placed within Aquilla 2 during their deposition. Aquilla 1 measures 112 mm tall from base to rim, is 8 mm thick, and weighs 152.8 g. Aquilla 2 measures 109 mm, sits at a slight angle (possibly due to heating malformation at the base), measures 8 mm thick, and weighs 154 g. The aquillas were produced as a matching pair following techniques observed in other early colonial silver objects (Carcedo De Mufarech and Vetter Parodi Reference Carcedo De Mufarech and Parodi2002). Silversmiths hammered a flat circular sheet of silver alloy and then manipulated the form around a preformed mold. Design details were incised using chisels and burins. The slight variation in the two surfaces of Aquilla 1 shows how designs were engraved on the exterior covering earlier embossing on the interior (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Engraving on exterior (left) and interior (right image reversed) of Aquilla 1 (photographs by James M. Crandall).

Crandall (Reference Crandall2016) examined seven silver aquillas found on the Nuestra Señora de Atocha that sunk off the coast of Florida in AD 1622. The Purun Llacta aquillas share several similarities to the Atocha aquillas: their mode of production with embossing along a preformed mold, the use of engraving to highlight designs, the use of a horizontal band and vertical divisions to segregate motifs, and the small lip along the rim. In a conservation report of the Purun Llacta aquillas prepared by Seclén Fernández (Reference Fernández and Antonio2015), a Kupfer strip test indicated a mild regent reaction, suggesting they contained low amounts of copper. This is not surprising as other aquillas made during the same period were made of a similar silver/copper/tin ratio as coins produced by the Spanish mint (Crandall Reference Crandall2016). Several of the aquillas from the Atocha were identified as having been produced in Potosi and contained “maker's marks.” However, the Purun Llacta aquillas do not contain signifiers of their production origin.

The vessel interiors contained minimal cultural remains. Macrobotanicals consisted of small unidentified wood fragments. The gap between vessels 1 and 2 was clean of debris. A single cántaro rim fragment was recovered of a type found in Late Horizon and early Spanish colonial contexts at Purun Llacta and was likely part of the fill from where the vessels were buried. Starch grain samples from the inside of Aquilla 1 were recovered using a toothbrush to rub the interior grooves of the vessel with distilled water. Zea mays starch grains were photographed from the collected samples (Figure 4), suggesting that the vessels were probably used for the consumption of aqha.

Figure 4.

Zea mays starch grains from the interior of Aquilla 1 (photo by Justin Wisely).

The designs engraved into the aquillas reflect a narrative procession (Figures 5 and 6) like recent scholarship on Inka and early colonial portable objects which has argued that some vessels express representational narratives (Martínez and Martínez Reference Martínez and Martínez2013; Ziółkowski and Siemianowska Reference Ziółkowski and Siemianowska2021:60–63). The forward-facing figures on the Purun Llacta aquillas mirror the procession presented on a carved stone bowl in the collection of the British Museum. This object displays a procession of male and female figures holding an array of objects such as multiple chiqtana (axes) flanking a central solar disc. McEwan (Reference McEwan2009:92–93) suggests that this procession mimics ritualized Andean ceremonies associated with agricultural production.

Figure 5.

View of Aquilla 1 (drawing by James M. Crandall).

Figure 6.

View of Aquilla 2 (drawing by James M. Crandall).

In the scenes depicted on each of the Purun Llacta vessels, the representations are similar but not identical. Alternating men and women are depicted in Inka/Spanish colonial period dress (unku and anaku). Headwear on the men may be representative of colonial brimmed hats. However, the presence of fringes may indicate that they are pillu (circlets, or wool hats) worn from Ecuador to Bolivia (Rowe Reference Rowe, Rowe and Meisch2011:88–94). Each figure is presented holding a suite of objects that alternate between figures. These objects include a chiqtana, what appears to be a chuspa (bag for coca), a waqtana (clod buster), and possibly a chakitaqlla (Andean foot plow).

The aquillas and deceased ancestors at Purun Llacta were treated with the same care. Excavations of burials indicate they were incorporated below household floors before architectural renovations (Crandall Reference Crandall2018). The presence of these objects elicits agricultural themes surrounding Inka and colonial period ceremonies. The use of the aquillas tied individuals at Purun Llacta together in reciprocal relationships and their offering within the household suggests that notions of their value were maintained into the sixteenth century. This value was expressed despite the intensification of obligations to the viceregal state while the community suffered 100 years of population loss. In a time of social disruption, the deliberate burial of the aquillas by their owner solidified their inalienable relations to the house and those who lived within.