Los Acllahuasis: Pachacamac

Rosemary Alzamora

The Acllas or Acllacunas were women chosen for their craftsmanship ability to serve the Inca state. Their social precedence was recognized by all in the kingdom and their recruitment was diverse. Sometimes they were given to the State by their parents, who were of the nobility. In the majority of cases, however, they were given as tribute to the Inca ruler by subjugated nations.

Young girls between the ages of 8 to 10 years of age were chosen by functionaries called Apo Panacas. The girls were taken to the House of the Chosen or the Acllahuasi, which was a principal building in Pachacamac in central Lima. There they were educated in weaving and preparing food and drink (chicha), which demonstrates that not all were dedicated to the weaving industry--some learned only the cooking of ceremonial meals.

Those dedicated solely to weaving were divided into dyers, spinners, and weavers. The instructors were called las mamaconas or old acllas.

Many of those chosen were interned in the Acllahuasi for life. Others were given by the Inca to nobles, such as warriors, as wives. The Inca himself would take as secondary wives those acllas of noble lineage.

The Acllahuasis were not convents, but rather textile factories where many young women worked for the benefit of the state-that is to say the Inca, the solar cult and indirectly the nobility, the bureaucracy and the military, who all received from the Inca many fine textiles as reward for distinguished service.