Abstract

The colonial Andean wooden vessels named queros form a set of visual texts. In their painted or carved surfaces, Andean craftspeople recorded their own versions of myths and Andean oral narratives. These narratives, dedicated to Cuzco mythical history, contain elements not found in the chronicles written by Europeans. The present study analyses a number of queros that illustrate Inka wars and conquests over other Andean peoples, and shows that these narrations are different from those written in chronicles of the time. Many of these descriptions involve people, deities and animals, especially birds. The Andean artisans recorded the Inka stories using their own categories of war, violence, and political relationships with other dominated peoples.