The ancient Andean people and after them the Incas looked after their ancestors in their afterlives and sought their guidance for their living descendants. The use of elaborate tombs and mummification rituals shows the high degree of interaction with the process of passing away or the cross over to the spiritual world. The philosophy behind the scene is that the living world was less important for them comparing it to the acquisition of powers in the unseen world.
As woven bridges braided over raging waters, defined the ancient Andean people as the ones who loved to connect the spectacular andean geography, so their healers were able to create bridges to connect the vast unseen world.
Ancestor reverence for the ancient Andean people then were not the same as the worship of deities. They were seeing as being able to intercede on behalf of the living. As spirits who were once human themselves, they were seeing as messengers, being better able to understand the human affairs than would a divine being. The act of reverence also taught the way to respect, honor, and loyalty.
The contrast between the ritual attention given to the fathers of the culture and the lack of attention received by the mother at childbirth were explained by the different responsibilities each of them had in the generation of the soul and body of the new-born individual. In other words, greater ritual attention was given to the fathers of the culture because the soul of a child was entrusted to them as a cultural realm, while the lack of attention given to the mother was linked with the body as a natural realm with which she was entrusted. It is important to understand this institution in relation to kinship and alliance system.
One of the most important burial grounds on the Andean Plateau, that contains cultural traditions, is located in the Pichacani district in the province of Puno. It belonged to the Lupaca and Colla cultures . The rock art is about 8,000 years old. There are also remains from the age of the Incas. Chullpas (Aymara language) are found there.
Chullpas are ancient Aymara large funerary towers made of stones and placed in a way that they dominate the landscape across the Andean Plateau (Altiplano) in Peru and Bolivia. The tallest are about 12 meters/39 feet high.
The tombs at Sillustani, built above the ground in tower-like structures, are the most famous, on the shores of Umayo Lake in Atun'Colla of the Puno region. The lake is located at an alevation of 3,844 meters/12,612 feet and is about 8 kms/5 mi long and 3 kms/1.9 mi wide. The structures housed the remains of complete family groups.
The tombs, although mute remains, provide the most tangible evidence of the kind of beliefs rooted in the Andean population from very ancient times. It can also act as a linkage to the establishment of the line of continuity like an umbilical cord between the past and the present time.
