Not far away is a fairly recent though prehistoric lava flow.  It occurs to me that possibly this flow destroyed some of the clay beds from which the ancient potters got their precious material.  The temple may have been erected as a propitiatory offering to the god of volcanoes in the hope that the anger which had caused him to send the lava flow might be appeased.  It may be that the Inca Viracocha, an unusually gifted ruler, was particularly interested in ceramics and was responsible for building the temple.  If so, it would be natural for people who are devoted to ancestor worship to have here worshiped his memory.

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Figure

Route Map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912
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CHAPTER VII

The Valley of the Huatanay

The valley of the Huatanay is one of many valleys tributary to the Urubamba.  It differs from them in having more arable land located under climatic conditions favorable for the raising of the food crops of the ancient Peruvians.  Containing an area estimated at less than 160 square miles, it was the heart of the greatest empire that South America has ever seen.  It is still intensively cultivated, the home of a large percentage of the people of this part of Peru.  The Huatanay itself sometimes meanders through the valley in a natural manner, but at other times is seen to be confined within carefully built stone walls constructed by prehistoric agriculturists anxious to save their fields from floods and erosion.  The climate is temperate.  Extreme cold is unknown.  Water freezes in the lowlands during the dry winter season, in June and July, and frost may occur any night in the year above 13,000 feet, but in general the climate may be said to be neither warm nor cold.

This rich valley was apportioned by the Spanish conquerors to soldiers who were granted large estates as well as the labor of the Indians living on them.  This method still prevails and one may occasionally meet on the road wealthy landholders on their way to and from town.  Although mules are essentially the most reliable saddle animals for work in the Andes, these landholders usually prefer horses, which are larger and faster, as well as being more gentle and better gaited.  The gentry of the Huatanay Valley prefer a deep-seated saddle, over which is laid a heavy sheepskin or thick fur mat.  The fashionable stirrups are pyramidal in shape, made of wood decorated with silver bands.  Owing to the steepness of the roads, a crupper is considered necessary and is usually decorated with a broad, embossed panel, from which hang little trappings reminiscent of medieval harness.  The bridle is usually made of carefully braided leather, decorated with silver and frequently furnished with an embossed leather eye shade or blinder, to indicate that the horse is high-spirited.  This eye shade, which may be pulled down so as to blind both eyes completely, is more useful than a hitching post in persuading the horse to stand still.