RECONFIGURACIóN DE UN ESPACIO SAGRADO: LOS INKAS Y LA PIRáMIDE PUMAPUNKU EN TIWANAKU, BOLIVIA

spanish chronicles tell us that tiwanaku was an important political center for the inka empire. one of the two imperial governors (suyoyoc apu) lived there, and the site contained an inka royal palace, where huayna capac planned the suppression of the quito rebellion and where his son, manco capac, was born. the sacred character of tiwanaku complemented and contributed to the site's political importance. one inka creation narrative holds that viracocha created the primordial couples for all andean ethnic groups at tiwanaku before sending them out to populate their respective homelands. the abandoned middle horizon buildings and sculptures constituted physical proof of these creative acts, which made tiwanaku a sacred center on a par with the island of the sun and pachacamac. in this paper, we discuss the role of tiwanaku in inka imperial ideology, focusing on the pumapunku pyramid and associated structures. we discuss the reasons that the inkas chose the pumapunku over other monumental structures to be the ritual focus of their settlement, and then examine the ways in which they modified the pumapunku to correspond with their cosmology, their mythic history, and the specific requirements of inka ritual practice. we conclude with a discussion of the ways in which the materialization of inka cosmology and history at tiwanaku through architecture and ritual practice was one tool in inka imperial strategies to legitimate the extension of inka political sovereignty over other andean peoples