Abstract

At the Aymara community of Cobija, three stone-built sunken structures are identified as mesas and also as mouths of the Marquez mallku hill. These are essential points for the development of certain relational practices locally recognized as amar los cerros (to love mountains). In the context of an important conflict of mining extractivism that affected Marquez and several indigenous communities in the territory between 2019 and 2021, this article characterizes the mallku, its mouths and this love to the mountain, analyzing food aspects, commensality and affectivity that the ritual practices associated with Marquez’ mesas entail. These results came from an extended ethnographic work in the area of the Aymara foothills in Arica y Parinacota Region (northern Chile), mainly in the community of Cobija (2014-present). © 2025 CSIC. Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la licencia de uso y distribución Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0).