As we have mentioned, the house is built with the help of family and relatives. It is considered an important event and marks an important stage in the life of the married couple. The ceremonies related to the construction of the Aymara house have characteristics of a myth of origin. The materials used in the construction: water, stone, wood and straw, come from the earth. The building process of the house starts with challas for the nearby hills that are believed to be the ones that give the materials.
Before the construction certain rites and ceremonies are performed. The yatiris claim
57 Palacios F. op. cit., p.16
58 Arnold D. et al. (1993) Hacia un orden andino de las cosas, La paz: Hisbol/ICA; p.82.
that only the house knows how to live and will live for the family, therefore any sort of problem between the family and their dwelling should be avoided from the beginning.
This belief gives the home a life of its own, just like all other natural elements of the landscape such as hills or water tributaries, demonstrating that permanent equilibrium relation between human beings and the natural space they inhabit59.
A trench 30 to 50 cm in depth is dug to lay stone60 foundations. Offerings are made to the foundation and the four corners of the house, where they put the stakes and ropes that serve as guidelines to raise the walls. These offerings generally consist of crude things like animal foetuses (of llama commonly), grease or plant resins. It is also common that offerings are buried in the ground floor inside the house61. There is a belief, held in some areas and more widespread in the Aymara population of Bolivia, that both the foundation and the roofing, two key moments in the process of the construction of the dwelling, should not take place on Tuesdays and Fridays because they are considered as not "good" days for these activities, based on Christian background ideas62. The walls begin to rise with the adobe bricks previously made using earth, straw and water. The mould is built with wood in a rudimentary form.
Usually you can see that the wall is wider at the base, for as it gains height it gets slightly narrowed with a small inclination inwards63 (Fig. 3.36 and 3.37).
When the walls are completed they are sprayed with animal blood, done before starting the process of roofing. Also sprayed are the four outer corners. This relationship with the blood is based on the idea that water and mud mortar that binds adobe bricks and stones together and also allows the walls to stay upright, has a direct
59 Gutierrez R. Et al. op. cit., p.135.
60 It is believed that the stones, which form the basis for the walls of the house, are under "the cane of Inca". This is an allusion to a myth that in old time the Inca could make the stones walk only with the movement of his cane. In the distant past they also believes that the stones could moved freely and only now are static in the ground.
61 Arnold D. et al. (1993) Hacia un orden andino de las cosas, La paz: Hisbol/ICA; p.56.
62 Gutierrez R. et al. op. cit., p.134.
63 Solc, V. op. cit., pp.111-146.
symbolic reference to water as blood. As the walls ascend toward the sky, they start to
“bloom”. Metaphors of sweetness begin to appear. The adobe bricks are called "sugar moulds". The images of saints, which are usually located in the interior of the house are accompanied by round candies called "confites"64. Once the construction process of the walls, along with its ceremonial is ended, they are allowed to dry for about a week, a time used to start with preparations for the roofing process.
On the day chosen for roofing the house, in the morning before starting any work, all those who participate stand in a semi circle or in a line facing the sunrise. The yatiri are responsible for leading the prayers and preparing the ceremonial table where the participants will make some offerings to the Pachamama asking that the house be good and not bring misfortune to the new family65. The roof construction begins with the collection of the straw. This is grouped in bundles of approximately 50 cm and taken to the construction place. On one side of the house, the job of separating the straw is done (Fig. 3.38). The longest stalks are used for the outer layer, while with the smaller ones are built into large thin plates mixed with clay which are fixed with the help of ropes as the base of the roof, placed between the wooden frame and the outer layer of straw. The straw is trodden, stepping on it with the feet against the ground, work made by the women (Fig. 3.39). After being mixed with clay it is cut into units of about 200 by 70 cm, which is the work of the men. The first layer (the thin plates) has a female connotation, while the light exterior layer of straw is considered masculine, this despite the roof in its entirety being considered masculine in opposition to the ground floor that is considered feminine. Then the roof structure is made. This is of wood, forming a set of 9 pairs of sticks66. These pairs are tied at the ridge edge with ropes or soaked leather strips (Fig. 3.40 and 3.41). Once the base of the framework is ready, a libation ceremony with alcohol is performed on the beams. The women bring
64 Arnold D. et al. op. cit., p.59.
65 Gutierrez R. Et al. op. cit.,ep. 136.
66 Solc, V. op. cit., pp.111-146
burning coal and add some vegetable resin, starting to smoke each of the ropes that tie the sticks. Each person involved in the construction process is given a drink of alcohol and coca leaves. Some of the leaves should be spread on the ground and a few drops of alcohol must be thrown on the floor for the Pachamama.
After this libation the horizontal beams are placed, on which is assembled the whole framework. A shallow perforation in the adobe walls is made to accept the beams. The process comes to an end by reinforcing the top of the structure with a thicker wooden triangle. In these timbers are hung two amulets or sasiyu, which consist of a small square piece of woollen fabric attached to a small wooden cross on which are hung a potato and an ear of corn (Fig. 3.42). Within the traditional rituals mentioned in the limited literature about the construction of the traditional Aymara house, it is also mentioned that after of the roofing is completed, one of the men involved in the construction proceeds to place a cross on the ridge of the roof to protect the family. It is also mentioned that in certain communities an olive tree branch is placed in the threshold of the door to prevent evil spirits from entering the house67. Finally layers of large straw soaked in clay are placed over the roof (Fig. 3.43 and 3.44), the guide ropes are removed, and sometimes stones or thin adobe bricks and mortar are added to secure the structure.
After the completion of the construction a celebration begins where all those who participated eat and dance while the yatiri bless the house at different times during the party doing a wilancha, sacrificing a llama and scattering the blood at the corners of the house (Fig. 3.45). Everything happens in a festive and joyful spirit, because the construction of the first home, as we mentioned, marks a fundamental step for the family, and in the event that subsequent extensions of the dwelling happen or even the
67 Gutierrez R. Et al. op. cit.,ep. 135.
construction of a complete second house, never will such ritual intensity be observed as at this moment.