Situated in the heart of the cordillera of Vilcabamba in Peru, some 160 km northwest of Cusco, the site of Choquequirao, or Choqek’iraw (‘the golden cradle’ in Quechua) is one of the most beautiful achievements of Inca architecture....
moreSituated in the heart of the cordillera of Vilcabamba in Peru,
some 160 km northwest of Cusco, the site of Choquequirao,
or Choqek’iraw (‘the golden cradle’ in Quechua) is one of
the most beautiful achievements of Inca architecture. Like
Machu Picchu, it is a palace with a very fine architecture
and an elaborate civic plan that is perfectly incorporated
in the landscape.
Located on the borders of the departments of Cusco and
Apurímac, Choqek’iraw stands at an altitude of 3200 m on
the crest and steep slopes of a mountainous spur on the
massif of the same name. It harbours countless architectural
remains: terraces, temples, warehouses, fountains and
canals, as well as a truncated hill local archaeologists have
termed ‘ushnu’ – even if it is not the type of feature generally
referred to as such in the archaeological literature.
This chapter will argue that, in spite of its appearance,
this hillock has most of the characteristics of the Inca ceremonial
platforms much of the archaeological literature
has termed ‘ushnu’. Apart from its architectural meaning,
the concept of ‘ushnu’ also refers to a complex symbolic
notion, closely connected to the idea of the centre of a
‘sacred space’ (sensu Eliade 2010 [1957]), which could
well apply to the case of the site of Choqek’iraw
