The secret of the Incas

By Sullivan, William

Subjects: Inca philosophy, Inca mythology, Inca astronomy

Description: "'This book is the story of an experiment,' to quote the author (p. 12). Focuses on myth as the key to understanding the Incas' past. Many conclusions differ from those of standard scholarly literature. Some examples that run counter to orthodox views on Andean peoples are the notion that Andean myth recounts significant precessional events; the view that the three worlds of Andean cosmology were understood, on one level, as locations on the celestial sphere, united by the Milky Way; and the idea that Andean peoples not only had names for all the planets visible to the unassisted eye, but also associated them with important deities. Uses ethnoastronomical studies of Gary Urton and R. Tom Zuidema"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.