Geontologies of Stone

Uses and interpretations of the central andean Cultural Landscape through the pirca constructive system.

Abstract

This article explores how the pirca constructive system—dry-stone walls traditionally used for ritual, pastoral, agricultural, and territorial practices across the Andes—actively configures multispecies and geological relationships within cultural landscapes. Focusing on the highland territories of Farellones and the Yerba Loca Natural Sanctuary in central Chile, where pircas span from Inca ceremonial platforms on Cerro El Plomo to contemporary arriero shelters, the study argues that these structures operate as spatial agents with material agency rather than inert archaeological remains. Drawing on embodied knowledge from extended engagements with arrieros and park rangers, as well as archaeological archival research, the article demonstrates how pircas shape patterns of transhumance, ecological continuity, and spatial memory, anchoring complex temporalities and forms of more-than-human cohabitation. Engaging geontological theory as a conceptual lens, the study examines how pircas enact relations between the living (humans, animals, plants) and the non-living (stone and mineral strata), positioning vernacular spatial technologies as agentive material interfaces that mediate, store, and modulate these interactions. While local communities seek to preserve these structures, dominant heritage regimes and tourism infrastructures often degrade or misappropriate their uses—transforming corrals into parking areas or Inca tambos into vandalized tourist shelters. Ultimately, the paper argues that the significance of pircas lies not in their monumentality but in their capacity to sustain interscalar relations across species, temporalities, and geographies. As such, they offer a critical framework for rethinking spatial practices through relational, and multispecies perspectives.