1 of 3   Religious Woman selling coca leaf, La Paz, Bolivia Ancient tombs on the high plains. Photos courtesy of Media for the Arts.
	RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENT ndeans believed that the landscape was alive with supernatural forces. Mountains were held sacred and Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth, was offered coca leaf, prayers, and chicha beer, a practice that is continued today among indigenous Andean peoples. Two types of shrines were built. Huacas adoratorios were sacred places to worship supernatural forces such as the sun, thunder, and earth. Huacas sepulturas were places where ancestors and the ruling elite were buried and their mummies venerated. Temples were dedicated to the Sun and Moon, which represented the reciprocal masculine and feminine energies in the cosmos. The cosmos was divided into dual forces (male/female, high/low, external/internal, etc.) whose reciprocal exchanges of energy maintained balance and harmony.