202557(en)/33 - Dimensions and Female Roles of Capac Raymi

Paula Martínez Sagredo

From the earliest written records made by the conquistadores in Inca territory, we learned of a large number of ceremonies and festivals that the inhabitants of the Tahuantinsuyu performed assiduously. Thanks to these ritual practices, we know a great deal about the structure and functioning of the Inca Empire, its relationship with the divinities, with its environment, and among its people and their different castes. One of these, the Capac Raymi, was systematically described by chroniclers, conquistadores, and officials of the Spanish Crown, as one of the main Inca celebrations, whose central feature was the ordination of young men in Orejones. A new reading of ethnohistoric sources, together with recent research that reexamines both those accounts and archaeological findings, allows us to propose a new understanding of this ceremony—one that restores the role of women, particularly in the production of chicha and textiles. From this perspective, we can hypothesize that the Capac Raymi was a ceremonial context in which not only the most exalted men, but also the most outstanding young women of their generation were chosen, ensuring the functioning of a State founded upon relationships of power, reciprocity, and domination.

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