Date
Fall 2023
Document Type
Thesis
Location
Mobile, AL
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Erin Nelson
Abstract
In many Mesoamerican and Andean cultures, divine rulers were directly responsible for interceding with the natural and spiritual world to ensure prosperity for the people. When these interventions failed, the legitimacy of the rulership was undermined. To mitigate this occurrence, Inka god-kings carefully installed a social buffer of liability or "boundary of blame” around themselves. Integrating translated historical accounts from the Early Colonial period with existing archaeological evidence, I argue for a new interpretation of Inka legitimation strategies that considers how living Sapa Inkas distributed responsibility (and blame) among themselves, deceased rulers and nobility, and victims of ritual sacrifice. Employing and controlling this strategy, in ways both apparent and discrete, allowed the Sapa Inkas to escape accountability in times of sociopolitical and economic stress, perpetuating social stratification in the empire.
Recommended Citation
Bender, Sarah, "The Boundary of Blame: How Inka Elite Exploited the Instrumental Agency of the Deceased in the Andean Afterlife as a Legitimation Strategy" (2023). Anthropology Undergraduate Senior Theses. 20.
https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/anthro_ugrad_theses/20