Huanca

Huanca is an Andean term for great stone monoliths that are found in monumental architecture. This central Pennsylvania monolith honors a deceased ancestor of military renowned. In typical form, the huanca is placed prominently at the entrance of an enormous monumental plaza. The plaza is named after the ancestor on the huanca, and the plaza is the largest of its kind anywhere in the polity. Within the massive plaza, ritual battles are cyclically waged with other imagined collectives that are known as university football teams. Photo by Nathan Craig

A Branded Revelation from the Temple of Consumption

State College, PA. Photo by Nathan Craig

Heavenly Signs of Branded Revelation

State College, PA. Photos by Nathan Craig

Washing and Polishing the Paws

Among many cultures, monumental architecture that houses potent material objects requires regular ritual cleansing. Materialized totemic symbols in particular may be the focus of cyclic renewal rituals. Here at the elevated entryway to the Palmer Museum, we see the biannual washing and polishing of the paws which is an act performed in preparation for pilgrims. Here two of the keepers of the shrine are pictured washing the paws to ready the museum for graduation and the many visitors who come to participate in this ceremony of intellectual transformation. The paws are doused with libations of purifying water and polished with bowling wax in order to achieve a lustrous shine. The paws are also washed in the Fall when high school students are visiting campus. Photos by Nathan Craig.

Shrines to Lions and Ancestral Leaders

Outside the stadium (monumental architecture) football pilgrims erect small shrines to the Nittany Lion (the totemic figure) and Joe Paterno (ancestral leader).

Lion Shrine Land Grant Trophy/Big 10 Championship Game Day

PSU football pilgrims make a ritual journey to the Lion Shrine before "the big game". Part of the Brand Nittany Lion Corporate Symbol Study. Photo by Nathan Craig.

Monumental Etymology: OED

Monumental, adj. and n.[ classical Latin monumentlis (1st cent. A.D.) < monumentum MONUMENT n. + -lis -AL suffix1. Compare French monumental relating to monuments (1802), of majestic grandeur (1805). Compare slightly earlier MONUMENTARY adj.]

1. a. Serving as a monument or memorial.
Quotes: 1596 C. FITZ-GEFFREY Sir Francis Drake sig. E8, The dangerous straights that yet doe bear his name, Are monumentall annals of the same. 1872 ‘M. TWAIN’ Roughing It lxxi, His second in command..opened fire upon the swarms of natives on the beach, and one of his cannon balls cut this cocoanut tree short off and left this monumental stump standing. 1897 H. E. CHETWYND-TAPYLTON Stapeltons of Yorks. 191 Torre also saw four monumental slabstones. 1954 S. PIGGOTT Neolithic Cultures Brit. Isles v. 132 At Wayland's Smithy..monumental peristaliths of standing sarsen stones..surrounded the mound

{dag}b. That serves as a token or reminder; spec. acting as a proof of identity. Obs.
Quotes: a1616 SHAKESPEARE All's Well that ends Well (1623) IV. iii. 18 Hee hath giuen her his monumentall Ring

2. Of or relating to a monument or memorial structure, or to monuments in general. In early use: {dag}of or relating to the tomb; sepulchral (cf. MONUMENT n. 1) (obs.). Also fig.
Quotes: 1603 T. POWELL Vertues Due sig. C6, The hallowedst mold, Left for monumentall vse. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Othello (1622) V. ii. 5 Skin..smooth, as monumentall Alablaster. 1646 R. CRASHAW Steps to Temple 35 Softly may he be possest, Of his monumentall rest

3. Resembling or suggestive of a monument; like a monument, esp. in being large, solid, imposing, etc.

Monument Etymoloogy: OED

Monument, n. classical Latin monumentum, monimentum commemorative statue or building, tomb, reminder, written record, literary work < monre to remind (see MONEO n.) + -mentum -MENT suffix. Compare Anglo-Norman monument tomb, Old French, Middle French, French monument (end of the 10th cent. in sense ‘tomb’, also in Old French as moniment; late 14th cent. in general sense ‘anything that preserves a memory of something’, 17th cent. in sense ‘lasting work of literature, science or art’, 18th cent. denoting edifices which are imposing by virtue of their grandeur or antiquity), Spanish monumento (1207), Portuguese monumento (a1284), Italian monumento (1292). With sense 1, compare Welsh mynwent (< classical Latin monumentum) graveyard. With the phrase monuments of letters (see sense 3b), compare classical Latin monumenta litterarum. With sense 4d, compare earlier use of French monument of a work of literature (see above), and also use of classical Latin monumentum in Horace Odes 3.30.1, where the poet compares his literary work to a bronze monument.]

{dag}1. A tomb, a sepulchre. Also fig. (see quot. c1475). Obs.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) 1823 Now was hit a manere hows {th}at god was ynne ydo, Ygraued wyde in a roche..{Th}at is ycleped a Monument. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 16904 {Th}e prince o preistes o {th}air lagh went to {th}at monument And sperd it wit a mikel stan. a1425 Gospel of Nicodemus (Harl.) 723 He wand {th}at cors..And layd it in his monument. c1475 (a1400) WYCLIF Eng. Wks. (1880) 299 Wo be to {ygh}ou, pharisees..{th}at ben hud monumentis

2. a. A statue, building, or other structure erected to commemorate a famous or notable person or event.
{dag}in monument of: in commemoration of (obs.).
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 61 {Th}e kyng..{th}ou{ygh}t to make, in minde of ham, a monument of stone {th}at my{ygh}t endure to {th}e worldes ende

{dag}b. An effigy; a carved figure, statue. Obs. Freq. in Shakespeare. 1594 SHAKESPEARE Lucrece sig. D2, Where like a vertuous Monument shee lies, To be admir'd of lewd vnhallowed eyes.

c. A statue or other structure erected in memory of the dead, either over the grave or in a church, etc.
1594 SHAKESPEARE Titus Andronicus I. i. 347 Traitors away, he rests not in this toombe: This monument fiue hundreth yeares hath stood, Which I haue sumptuouslie reedified

d. A structure, edifice, or (in later use also) site of historical interest or importance.
Sometimes merging with sense 2a. See also ancient monument at ANCIENT adj. 4c.
1768 Woman of Honor II. 83 Paintings, statues, monuments..that so vulgarly satisfy the silly superficial gape of travelling sight-mongers

{dag}3. a. A written document or record; (Law) a legal instrument. Obs.
In legal contexts sometimes confused with MUNIMENT n. 1.

4. a. Something that by its survival commemorates and distinguishes a person, action, period, event, etc.; something that serves as a memorial.

Soldiers of Religion and War...Donations Please?

Photo by Margaret Brown Vega. An altar inside the San Xavier del Bac Mission. An army of saints and religious figurines surrounds the photos of U.S. soldiers at a prayer altar. Are these fallen soldiers? Or ar they soldiers currently in action? The construction of this altar using both military and religious elements makes explicit, in material form, the links between the two. Visitors light candles, say prayers, and have the opportunity to leave money in the donation can.

Crucified Community Memory at a Late Archaic Temple

Photos by Nathan Craig as part of the Blackberry 8100 series. Located Fortaleza valley of Peru, Huaricanga is a Late Preceramic archaeological site. It is one of the earliest manifestations of large scale monumental architecture in the Western Hemisphere. Indigenous highland peoples displaced by mining activites are now starting to homestead on the archaeological site. These two crosses were erected and decorated as part of the communities syncretic ritual activites.

Shrine at Porvenir

Photo taken in 2003 by Margaret Brown Vega. Modern shrine made at the base of a Preceramic (ca. 3000 B.C.) mound at the archaeological site of Porvenir, in the Fortaleza Valley, Peru. Crania from a Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1000-1470) burial ground intruding into the preceramic site are gathered, along with pottery and other remains, and assembled. Dried coca leaves were left inside a heart-shaped tin and scattered over the assemblage. Activities at the shrine employed coca leaves, and alcohol, as evidenced by empty or partially-filled liquor bottles left behind. Hair from the once fresh crania lies scattered among the skulls, and pools of now-cooled candle wax blanket parts of the shrine.

Anthropomorphic black candle, slightly melted, placed among the items of the shrine. The candle has been pierced twice in the torso.

Plastic toy soldier placed in the shrine. Remains of a burned white candle drip down from above.

An image of a woman, burned, placed next to the heart-shaped tin. Upon further inspection I realized this was not a photograph, but a page from a magazine. The dark area to the right of the photo is black from exposure to fire.

Shrine Etymology: Wikipedia

Shrine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA shrine, from the Latin scrinium (‘box’; also used as a desk, like the French bureau) was originally a container, usually made of precious materials, used especially for a relic and often a cult image. By extension it has come to mean a holy or sacred place containing the reliquary or tomb dedicated to a particular hero, martyr, saint or similar figure of awe and respect. Shrines may be enclosures within temples, home altars, and sacred burial places. Secular meanings have developed by association, as noted below. A shrine at which offerings are made is called an altar.

Shrine Etymology: Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary shrine, n.

{dag}1. A box, coffer; a cabinet, chest. (Cf. SCRINE.)
In OE. and ME. applied to the ark of the covenant.

Quotations: c1000 ÆLFRIC Josh. iii. 8 {Th}a sacerdas, {th}a {th}e {th}æt scrin [Vulg. arcam] bera{edh}. c1000 Ags. Gosp. John xii. 6 For{th}am {th}e he wæs {th}eof & hæfde scrin [Vulg. loculos]. c1150 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 546/29 Archa, scrin. 1387 TREVISA Higden (Rolls) III. 109 {Th}e schryne of {th}e testament [arcam testamenti]. 1398 {emem} Barth. de P.R. XIII. ix. (Tollem. MS.), {Th}e schryne of oure lorde [ed. 1582, the Arke]. 1516 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869) I. 161 Item, in the compertas of Craufurdis ane standand bed, and ane schryne. 1560 Stirling Burgh Rec. (1887) I. 75 Ane schryne but the lid. 1658 PHILLIPS, Shrine, a chest or cabinet.

Tucson Shrines

The Old Pueblo (Tucson, AZ) is a very magical place. Some of its mystical energy emerges from and flows out of the towns's many wonderful shrines.

Field shrine

This photograph shows the remains of a contemporary agricultural ritual Rio Ramis, Peru. The ritual took place at a small archaeological site, and the larger stones are artifacts from the archaeological site. The pile of ashes represents a burnt offering that was made shortly before the photograph was taken.

Hulmay Road Shrine

This road shrine is located adjacent to the coastal archaeological site of Hualmay in the Huaura Valley, Peru. This photograph is the first in an ongoing series of road shrines.