Flames of creation: rituals of fire, sacrifice, and renewal in the ancient Andes

The distinctive materiality (qualia) of fire can account for its near universal sacred status, including in past Andean societies. As a brilliant manifestation of destructive-creation, fire epitomizes a highly-motivated, non-arbitrary sign, thus explaining its intimate link with sacrifice, beginnings, endings, life, and empowering transformation. In the context of a select survey of global traditions, we mobilize a case study from the Moche temple of Huaca Colorada (700–900 CE) in the Jequetepeque Valley of northern Peru to demonstrate that fire served as an important medium in rituals of sacrificial consumption essential for metabolic creation and growth, and by extension, social and cosmic reproduction. The immolation of ceremonial constructions in rededication rites and the sacrifice and interment of individuals associated with intense burning events at the temple support this argument. We further contend that fire-based rites complemented pyro-technologies widely practiced at Huaca Colorada, and cooking and craft industries formed part of integrated religious liturgies. Ultimately, a comparison of Huaca Colorada with the neighbouring ceremonial centre of Huaca Dos Cruces (1000–1350 CE) reveals that despite fire’s inherent material-semiotic properties, its meaning and ritual efficacy varied historically and appears to have changed in the post-Moche period in the Jequetepeque Valley.