PAISAJE EN ACCIÓN. LOS ESTUDIOS SOBRE ESPACIO Y RITUAL EN LOS ANDES^*

Andean societies have been particularly characterised by establishing intense and diverse relationships with spatial elements and entities, using ritual activity as one of the most recurrent and effective means of doing so. This article analyses the notions of space, ritual and their link in the main studies carried out in the central-southern Andean area. First, we address the research in which the figure of verticality predominated when it came to understanding Andean space and, to a lesser extent, ritual activity. Then we analyse the works that incorporated the symbolic dimension and perspective in their analysis, understanding space as a symbolic projection of the Andean mentality and ritual activity as a practical manifestation of the principle of reciprocity. Thirdly, we approach studies belonging to the so-called ontological turn, which have given special importance to Andean space as a nonhuman entity with agency and to ritual activity as one of the particular ways in which humans relate to agents of various kinds. Finally, we make some general considerations, showing that there is a greater conceptual development of the notion of space and its derivatives in the studies, as opposed to the treatment of ritual activity and the relationships established between the two. We also identify an epistemological conflationism when it comes to explaining the functioning of both notions.