Exploring ancient cultures

On Friday after our Spanish class and a bit of lunch we walked to the Museo de Las Culturas Aborigenes. It a small place with over 5000 artifacts from the pre-Hispanic Ecuadorian cultures to the Incas, covering about 15,000 years. We saw ancient litho phones or stone chimes, used to announce one's presence at a home or hacienda. These stones could be hit with another stone, brushed with your fingers or knocked against each other to make a sound that was similar to a bell. Other items included carved stone and pottery, such a a set of stone penises, clay images of  love making and breast feeding women. One small statue was of Siamese twins in native garb joined on their sides. The feline god was very powerful for many of these indigenous peoples, which makes sense as it is the most dangerous animal in the area and worth some respect. The Canari were very skilled at working with llama wool to make clothing, pottery, agriculture and accumulation of gold and making jewelry. Unfortunately this made them a target by the Inca who conquered the Canari and took over their major sites.

On Saturday we joined a tour to Ingapirca, the major Incan site in Ecuador. Wilson, a native of Cuenca, was our tour guide, Fausto was our driver. We were joined by a young man, Andre from Switzerland, Stephanie from southern Germany and Rick and Pat a retired couple from Canada. We left Cuenca around 8:45 and headed to north to see Santuario Virgen del Rocio or the Church of the Misty Virgin Mary. This church is partially carved into a cliff face at an elevation of 9200 ft above sea level. It is not for someone afraid of heights and we took climbing up the stairs to the sanctuary and the overlook above slowly. 

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