Khipus to keep away the living dead: Andean funerary khipus resurge during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

In the peaks of the Central Andes, people had a custom of funerary khipus -- cords with knots that embodied prayers that allowed the deceased to successfully negotiate the many obstacles in the afterlife. The centuries-old custom of burying the dead with a khipu had been dying out in the Andes. However, our research has revealed that during the COVID pandemic, which has been devastating in rural areas, funerary khipus are undergoing a resurgence. Elderly khipu experts who had given up the art have been called out of retirement to create khipus for the dead. This article examines how khipus help to alleviate the anxiety and trauma caused by so much death.

Rights

Copyright © 2021 American Anthropological Association. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/khipus-to-keep-away-the-living-dead/#

Cite as

Downloadable citations

Identifiers

Repository URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10023/24336