#agriculture, #civilisation, #élites, #patriarcat, #guerre_contre_la_nature, #phallocentrisme tous réunis dans ce #mythe_fondateur
For the #Incas, agriculture was closely linked to warfare: The earth was defeated, as if in battle, by the plow. So the harvest ceremony was carried out by young noblemen as part of their initiation as warriors, and they sang a haylli as they harvested the maize to celebrate their victory over the earth.
Lu dans An Edible History of Humanity, de Tom Standage
As the Incas saw it, they had triumphed over nature in two ways: by defeating the local savages and then by introducing agriculture.
Another example was the maize-planting ceremony that took place in August. When the sun set between two great pillars on the hill of Picchu, as seen from the center of Cuzco, the Inca capital, it was time for the king to initiate the growing season. He did so by plowing and planting one of several sacred fields that could only be tilled and worked by members of the nobility. According to one eyewitness account: “At sowing time, the king himself went and ploughed a little . . . the day when the Inca went to do this was a solemn festival of all the lords of Cuzco. They made great sacrifices to this flat place, especially of silver, gold and children.” The plowing was then carried on by Inca nobles, but only after the king had started the process. “If the Inca had not done this, no Indian would dare to break the earth, nor did they believe it would produce if the Inca did not break it first,” noted another observer. Further sacrifices of llamas and guinea pigs were made as the maize planting began.