Le nettoyage rituel des canaux d’irrigation d’une communauté de la cordillère de Lima (province de Canta, Pérou) : une approche ethnohistorique

Abstract

The article presents an ethnohistorical study of the ritual cleansing of the irrigation canals of the community of San Pedro de Huacos (province of Canta) located in the Centrals Peruvian Andes.Combining the fieldwork data collected on the current version and the old version (late XIXth century and early XXth century) of this ritual with the analysis of ethnohistorical sources relating to the studied zone, we tried to reconstitute and contextualise a local religious practice reported from prehispanic times – that of the veneration of the female water-providing divinities regarded as guardians of the irrigation canals.

Keywords

• ethnohistory
• The Peruvian Andes
• high valley of Chillón
• ritual cleansing of the irrigation canals
• water-providing divinities