THE AYMARA YEAR COUNT: CALENDRICAL TRANSLATIONS IN TIWANAKU, BOLIVIA

Abstract

This article considers the Aymara year count that appeared in Bolivian newspapers in 1988 in connection with June solstice celebrations at the pre-Columbian archaeological site of Tiwanaku. The Aymara year communicates politico-temporal meanings; its numbers are evocative, which is why it has gained traction as an accepted part of solstice celebrations in the media and with the Bolivian public. The Aymara year count is a numeric expression of three implicit interrelated political statements. First, it shows that the Aymara have a history that reaches far deeper than their involvement with European conquerors. Second, it links Aymara history to broader pan-indigenous histories. Finally, it demonstrates to non-indigenous audiences that Aymara history, astronomy, and mathematics are rational and sophisticated. This final claim is achieved by using timekeeping to translate very real Tiwanakota accomplishments into an idiom understandable to national and international audiences. The Aymara year count is not used as a method of quantitative timekeeping. Instead, it forms part of the politics that invoke the past.