Wak\u27as, Mallkis, and The Inca Afterlife: The Hydrological Connection Between The Incan Empirical and Nonempirical Worlds

The ruling elite amongst the indigenous groups of the Andes region, often referred to as the Incas, were, before European contact, a non-literal society. Therefore, our understanding of their religious beliefs pertaining to the relationship between life and death, and the intricate relationship between this belief system and the environment surrounding the Inca is heavily influenced by post-European contact, often clouded by European propaganda and a lack of cultural relativism. This project aims at exploring the relationship between the hydrological cycle and the Incan empirical and nonempirical worlds by comparing and synthesizing post-European contact written records, ethnohistorical records, archeological evidence, and geophysical data, looking at it through the lens of environmental archeology, anthropology of religion, and ethnohistory, by looking at how this relationship is reflected in the Inca concept of places connected to the nonempirical world known as wak’as, such as the Incan mummies known as mallki. By examining and analyzing these connections we gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of how the Incan spiritual beliefs reflected their adaptation to the environment surrounding them, and, thus, gain insight into how human belief systems shape and are shaped by the environment surrounding cultures due to the pressures the environment puts on them