The Entablo Manuscript

Water Rituals and Khipu Boards of San Pedro de Casta, Peru

Sarah Bennison

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781477325421
• eBook ISBN: 9781477325445
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

A unique study of an Andean community's water rituals and the extraordinary document describing how they should be performed

In the dry season in the Andes, water from springs, lakes, reservoirs, and melting glaciers feeds irrigation canals that have sustained communities for thousands of years. Managing and maintaining these water infrastructures is essential, and in 1921, in the village of San Pedro de Casta, Peru, local authorities recorded their ritual canal-cleaning duties in a Spanish-language document called the Entablo. It is only the second book (along with the Huarochirí Manuscript) ever seen by scholars in which an Andean community explains its customs and ritual laws in its own words.

Sarah Bennison offers a critical introduction to the Entablo, a Spanish transcription of the document, and an English translation. Among its other revelations, the Entablo delves into the use of khipu boards, devices that meld the traditional knotted strings known as khipus with a written alphabet. Only in the Entablo do we learn that there were multiple khipu boards associated with a single canal-cleaning ritual, or that there were separate khipu records for men and women. The Entablo manuscript furnishes unparalleled insights into Andean rituals, religion, and community history at a historical moment when rural highland communities were changing rapidly.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• 1. Introduction: The Entablo Manuscript of San Pedro de Casta, Huarochirí
• 2. The Entablo
• 3. El Entablo
• Acknowledgments
• Glossary
• References
• Index