PREHISPANIC AGRARIAN MYTHIC IN THE PIHCHU CARNAVAL, FROM THE CITY OF CUSCO

Abstract

This study of two versions of a song from the Cusco Carnival shows its pre-Hispanic dimension. The first version is considered a European song, but the rite accompanying the dance has no European background. The second version is entitled puxllay. Puxllay also designates the ritual battles where men incite the mountains to give them water (the mountain's blood) through their own bleeding. One stanza is quasi-similar in both versions: it pushes the listeners to unbridled dancing until "red water bursts," possibly following the puxllay's logic. The place where it was sung and danced -the hill of Pihchu- had a crucial mythical dimension associated with a mythical ancestor, the Apu Yauira. In the traditional Andean agricultural and festive calendar, February marks the change from the rainy season to the cold and dry season and the return to the underground lands of the dead, who accompanied the living during germination. From my point of view, the farewell of the Pihchu Carnival is the annual farewell of the mythical ancestor.