Rock art, ontology and cosmopolitics in the Southern Andes

Abstract

The affective and agentive capacities of other-than-humans have been widely assessed by archaeological approaches dealing with ancient and indigenous ontology. However, less attention has been given to how human, other-than-human and social practices were engaged in historical cosmopolitics. This paper aims to discuss how social practices related to rock art production and use, weaving a field of relations among carved rocks, landscapes, humans and other-than-humans in the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile, during the Inka period. Our results show these relationships participated in a cosmopolitics that emphasised the Inkas’ capacities to relate with ‘Earth-Beings’, to use de la Cadena’s term, central in the socio-political reproduction of local communities. This research provides an example of the understanding of rock art as a relational, historical, and social practice, rather than an exclusive focus on its visual features.