The Huarochirí Manuscript: A Testament of Ancient and Colonial Andean Religion

Record summary

Frank Salomon and George L. Urioste’s 1991 edition and translation presents a Quechua account recorded in the colonial period, including stories of mountain beings, death, transformations and movement between human and sacred domains. It is a valuable comparison text because boundary crossing is embedded in landscape, kinship and competing religious authorities rather than isolated in a universal hell. The manuscript’s date, authorial situation and Christian-era recording context make transmission central to interpretation. Translation, regional vocabulary and editorial reconstruction need independent checking.