Bibliography
Sources On new world history and archaeology:
Muscutt, Keith: Warriors of the Clouds: A Lost Civilization in the Upper Amazon of Peru
Schjellerup, Inge: The Forgotten Valleys: Past and Present in the Utilization of Resources in the Ceja De Selva, Peru
Prescott, William Hickling: History of the conquest of Peru; With a preliminary view of the civilization of the Incas
Gamboa, Pedro Sarmiento de: History of the Incas
Casas, Bartolome de las (Herma Briffault, translator): The Devastation of the Indies : A Brief Account
Cobo, Bernabe (Roland Hamilton, translator): History of the Inca Empire : An Account of the Indians' Customs and Their Origin, Together with a Treatise on Inca Legends, History, and Social Institutions
Bauer, Brian and Dearborn, David: Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes: The Cultural Origins of Inca Sky Watching
Betanos, Juan de (Roland Hamilton, translator) Narrative of the Incas
Heyerdahl, Thor: the Pyramids of Tucume
Hemming, John: the Conquest of the Incas
Hemming, John, and Rainey, Edward: Monuments of the Incas
Vega, Garcilaso de la: The Incas: The royal commentaries of the Inca
Diamond, James: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Sources on belief and religious customs:
Urton, Gary: Inca Myths
Accad, Fouad Elias: Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam
Dimont, Max: Jews, God, and History
Swartley, Keith (Editor): Perspectives on Islam
Luis de Granada: Libro de La Oracion y Meditacion, Guía de Pecadores
Winter, Ralph, et al (Editors): Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
Ali, Abdullah Yusuf: The meaning of the Holy Qur’an
Reina-Valera 1569 version Antiguo Y Nuevo Testamento
Sources for animal social structures and intelligence:
Grandin, Temple and Johnson, Catherine: Animals in Translation : Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
Escobar, Rigoberto Calle: Breeding and Production of American Camelids
Grandin, Temple: Thinking In Pictures
Marshall, Elizabeth: the Hidden life of Dogs
Coren, Stanley: How Dogs Think
Roberts, Monty: Horse Sense for People
Roberts, Monty: The Man Who Listens to Horses
For accuracy nit-pickers:
The term ‘Inca’ was given only to a specific tribe, the original inhabitants of the valley of Cuzco. The leader was the ‘Sapa’ or supreme Inca, also known as the son of the sun. Although they would be more likely to be one of the many ethnicities absorbed into the empire and at most might have had some Inca blood, I have referred to the Quechua-speakers of ViraVira as Incas to simplify the story. (It is in this sense that the plural apostrophe is intended.)
Llama conopas are very common at archaeological digs and are used still. As far as we know, there was no special one belonging to the Inca; that is a plot device, although it is a plausible one.
The Incas sacrificed children regrettably often as part of their worship. In my story I have represented the method as the same as that for llamas and alpacas, but most of the mummies show children who have had their skulls struck with a blunt instrument from behind. For the purposes of my plot, I have presented this as a five-year cycle, but from the number of mummies and the chronicler’s reports it was much more frequent than that.
Almost nothing is known of the worship of Machacuay other than stone engravings and cliff-paintings of warriors bearing head trophies.
ViraVira is a Chachapoya citadel site that shows no Inca influence; my representation of it as a mitima community is fictional. The archaeological evidence supports the view that the many Chachapoya communities never joined into one political entity, which is why they were defeated by the Inca.
Northern Peru gets very little tourism, although Chachapoya ruins like Kuelap are every bit as impressive as Macchu Picchu. There is a beautiful new museum in Leimebamba warehousing the mummies and other relics of the Chachapoya. Go visit, it’s off the beaten track and could use the commerce. Wait until the dry season to take the route through the Marañón canyon.
Cajamarca is still famous for its hot springs, and the ‘Cuarte de Rescate’, the ransom room which was to be filled once with gold and twice with silver, is a must-see. (Disclaimer: revisionism casts Atahualpa as a tragic hero, but in fact he was a ruthless usurper who destroyed his country with civil war.)
Another world-class museum is near Chiclayo housing the ‘Lord of Sipan’ Tomb relics, justifiably called ‘the King Tut of the Western Hemisphere’. The site at Tucume, while less developed, is also worth a visit.
Everything the llamas do in this story are things we have actually witnessed them do. This includes a boss-doe facing down a berserker; a stud trying to get an orphaned cria adopted (unsuccessfully!); llamas helping their masters round up and corner other herd members; animals who can retrace their route after only one passage, and older ‘backyard llamas’ who have their master’s every move down cold. Of course, the same can be said for horses, dogs, and any other domestic animal with nothing to do but watch.
The older an animal gets, the more it knows. It always surprises the author that people who would not dispute that their dog can easily learn commands such as ‘sit’ nevertheless seem to think the animal’s brain switches off whenever the master is not teaching them some human adaptation.
Almería–Mediterranean port city of Spain
alpaca–smaller breed of camelid raised for wool and meat
Apu–overlord, Rimac–to speak
ayllu–(EYEyu)–a tribe or town, either the people or the place
borla–fringed headband of red vicuna wool, the Inca crown
caballero–(kabaYERo) Spanish mounted knight
Cadiz–an Atlantic port city of Spain
Cajamarca–northern Peru town famous for hot springs
camoyoc–quipu-reader, minor official
Cañari –coastal tribe of northern Peru
cantle—the back seat support of a horse’s saddle
Capac ñan–literally, great road, used of the Inca highway
caravel–a smaller sailing ship, later replaced by the galleon
Chachapoya–civilization of northern interior Peru
chaski–post runner for the Inca
chicha–maize-based liquor of varying alcohol content
cocha–lake or source
Congona–archeological site near Leimebamba
conopa–small votive shapes with a well for burning offerings
Converso–a Catholic of Jewish origins
cordillera–(kordeeYERa) a mountain range
coricancha–a temple or the patio inside
cria–llama or alpaca baby
curaca–a local leader or chieftain
cuy–rabbit-like rodent, food staple, a guinea pig
Cuzco–the capital of the Inca Empire, ‘navel of the world’
galleass– a ship with both oars and sails
gelding—a neutered male horse or llama
Granada—mountain-girt city, the last stronghold of the Moors in Spain
guanaco–wild camelid, smaller than llamas
huaca–any place or object which is considered holy
huarizo–crossbred, an alpaca with hairy wool
Inca–the ruler of the People of the Sun, or a member of the ruling tribe
Injeel–in Arabic, the gospels.
Istanbul– the Ottoman name for conquered Constantinople
jerqui–dried llama or alpaca meat, now known as jerky.
Kuelap–huge fortress in Northern Peru, archeological site
Leimebamba–town on the upper Utcubamba
Levanto–archeological site near Chachapoyas
llama–(LAma by English usage; YA-ma in Spanish) largest new world camelid, bred for carrying burdens of 60-90 lbs.
majordomo–a steward, accountant, manager
Malaga–Mediterranean port city of Spain
Marañón–source of the Amazon, western edge of Chachapoya lands
michec–(MEEshek)–llama or alpaca herder
mitima–a person transplanted to colonize a conquered area
Morisco–a Catholic of Moroccan ancestry
‘New Christian’– anyone of Converso or Morisco descent
olla—a tall pottery water jar
pannier–one of any cargo container carried in pairs
Percheron–a large breed of horse
prie-dieu–furniture with a kneeler used for devotions
Qur’an–also spelled Koran, the holy book of Islam
Quechua–the official language of the People of the Sun
quinoa–(KEENwa)–a high-altitude grain
quipu–(KEEpoo)–knotted group of strings, Inca ‘writing’
Quito–city and tribe of same name, now capital of Ecuador
San Miguel–first Spanish port in Peru, near Tumbez
Sipan–archeological site near present-day Chiclayo
Tambo– any way station or storehouse on the Inca road
Tawantin-suyu–Inca Empire, ‘the four quarters of the world’
Tawrat–in Arabic, the Torah or Pentateuch
Tucume–archeological site near Chiclayo
Utcubamba–river draining Chachapoya territory
Valencia–Mediterranean port city of Spain
vicuña—smallest wild camelid, produces cloth for Incas only
ViraVira–hilltop citadel built by Chachapoya, archeological site
Zabur–in Arabic, the Psalms
some other useful definitions:
indenture—a contract to serve another for a specified number of years, usually in return for ship’s passage and provision
polydactyly–the dominant hereditary trait of extra toes or fingers, once thought to be a sign of demonic parentage
Porphyria–an intermittent chemical disorder which can cause dementia, best known as the ‘madness of King George III’
imprinting–initial experiences occurring during a specific period of physiological and mental growth which permanently influence perception, personality, and physical response. For herd animals, the imprinting period for species identification is the first 6 months of life.
mis-imprinting–the above gone wrong, as in species confusion (geese misimprinted on people during first day of life)
dominance hierarchy–the pecking order, a primary concern of all creatures that live in social groups
berserker–llama industry term for a bottle-raised male, as in: ‘He was so sweet until he grew up, but then he just went berserk!’ Also applies to male goats, sheep, bulls (dairy bulls are notorious) and other herbivores whose first 6 months of life (the imprinting period) included confusing signals.