‘Children of the Thunderbolt’: Divine leadership in the Central Andes before the Incas

Lau, George F. and Luján, Milton (2025) ‘Children of the Thunderbolt’: Divine leadership in the Central Andes before the Incas. World Art, 15 (1). pp. 123-155. ISSN 2150-0894

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Abstract

This study examines ancient Andean developments involving art and leadership, specifically among groups of the Recuay cultural tradition (cal AD 100–700) of Peru’s North-Central Highlands. We detail new archaeological discoveries at the hilltop center of Pashash (Pallasca Province, Ancash Department), the seat of an important Recuay polity emerging by the third century AD. Based on ethnohistorical comparisons and the imagery of elaborate materials (e.g. carved monoliths, metalwork, ceramics), we contend that special Recuay leaders were apotheosized into ancestral divinities and given iconographic associations to storm gods. The visual associations appear to regard key persons – ancestors and heads of kin groups – as ‘hijos del Rayo,’ the privileged offspring of apical thunder-lightning storm divinities prominent in the high Andes during historical times. The case helps to (1) evidence early takeup of storm god ideology and highland segmentary political organization known principally for later prehistory and colonial times; and (2) mark an instance of divinely-sanctioned rulership long before the Incas.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Funding information: This work resulted from the ‘Rise of Divine Lordships in the Ancient Andes’ project, supported by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council [AH/R013845/1], UKRI, and Peru’s Ministry of Culture (DDC-Ancash and Museo Arqueológico Zonal de Cabana).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	pre-columbian art,andes,peru,recuay,complex society,segmentary societies,sacred kingship
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Area Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Centres > Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Art History and World Art Studies
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	04 Apr 2025 11:30
Last Modified:	06 Apr 2025 06:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98935
DOI:	10.1080/21500894.2025.2451640

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