VIRACOCHA is the name or title in the Quechua language of the Inca creator god at the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru in the sixteenth century. According to Inca beliefs, Viracocha (also called Ticciviracocha) made earth and sky, then fashioned from stone a race of giants. Displeased with them, he turned some giants back into stone and destroyed the rest in a flood. He then caused the sun and the moon to rise from Lake Titicaca, and created, at nearby Tiahuanaco, human beings and animals from clay. He painted clothing on the people, then dispersed them so that they would later emerge from caves, hills, trees, and bodies of water. He gave the people social customs, food, and other aspects of civilization. Appearing as a bearded old man with staff and long garment, Viracocha journeyed from the mountainous east toward the northwest, traversing the Inca state...