Abstract

Y.ARNOLD, Denise. Sprouting grains: Bundles of relations, sensing matters and ritual efficacy in the South-Central Andes. Textos Antropológicos [online]. 2018, vol.19, n.1, pp. 49-68. ISSN 1025-3181.

Scientific ideas about matter, its divisibility, composition and expansion, developed in Europe from theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries until the present, are examined, and whether comparable ideas exist amongAymara-speakers ofthe South-Central Andes. In particular, the idea in this region that the vital units oforganic matter are granular elements and filaments is explored. In order to understand the ties between Andean thought and the ritual practices when this idea becomes more explicit, the concept of "bundle theory"and recent ideas about "assemblages" are applied. These Andean ways ofthinking about vitality are examined in different contexts and at different scales, which make reference to granular andfibrous units, sprouting and rooting to generate fruits. These include the animal marking ceremony, sacrificial practices and the content ofthe women herders' songs to the animals.

Keywords : Ideas about matter; vitality; relationality; relational ontology; granularity; processes ofgrowth; South central Andes.