This ten-chapter volume takes on one of the most daunting and persistent challenges in archaeology: interpreting the materiality of the symbolic. This challenge stymies Western logics, and I know I am not the only archaeologist to have shrugged off what I could not explain within the ontology of positivist science. But, to varying degrees, the contributors to Archaeological interpretations displace Western frameworks in favour of emic perspectives derived from concepts documented in Andean ethnography and ethnohistory: camay/kamay (a vitalising force, “to charge with being” (p. 68)), huaca/waka (a sacred being/an object full of camay), duality, and the partibility of one's essence, among others. Through thoughtful and innovative case studies, the authors draw on these concepts to understand the symbolic meanings of Andean objects, images and contexts within the internal logic of earlier societies.

The volume is the product of a meeting that Eeckhout organised with the Université libre de Bruxelles Foundation in 2015. Although Eeckhout did not strive for a representative or exhaustive treatment, the resulting papers are nonetheless diverse in subject matter and research orientation. The papers are organised thematically, with sections for monumental architecture and landscapes, images and concepts, objects, and rituals. By avoiding the constraints of a geographic or chronological format, Eeckhout gives us much more synergistic and provocative arrangements. Contrasts between theoretical and methodological approaches invite reflection, while understandings of Andean concepts, such as complementary opposition, develop organically over multiple chapters.

With its use of emic perspectives to interpret material culture, Archaeological interpretations is itself a complementary opposite of María Cecilia Lozada and Henry Tantaleán's Andean ontologies (Reference Lozada and Tantaleán2019), which seeks to reconstruct how earlier societies organised their world using archaeological, ethnohistoric and ethnographic data. These opposing interpretive directions exist in a dialectical relationship, each informing the other towards a richer, more nuanced understanding of how earlier societies constructed meaning and organised their interactions with the world and its inhabitants.

While the present volume is intrinsically an ontological exercise, it remains accessible to readers who may not be enthusiastic proponents of the ‘ontological turn’ or who have not engaged with it at all. The authors build on their substantial expertise with objects and contexts familiar to many Andeanists; for example, Levine and Stanish's work in the Lake Titicaca basin (Chapter 1), Lau's deep knowledge of Recuay metalwork (Chapter 6) and Eeckhout's long history at Pachacamac (Chapter 9). Denser theoretical and methodological ruminations are well balanced with straightforward description and analysis. In the latter category, Abigail Levine and Charles Stanish open the case studies with a systematic examination of the sunken-court tradition and of the entanglements between ritual and secular activities in these spaces (Chapter 1). Most chapters reflect this point, that spaces and objects functioned in multiple, overlapping spheres, and that their meanings cannot be compartmentalised into either the “religious” or the “profane” (p. 36). When we accept this, an emic, meaning-centred approach becomes imperative.

To develop this approach, the authors employ theory and methods grounded in animism, perspectivism, semiotics and new materialism. Both Christine Hastorf (Chapter 3) and Gary Urton (Chapter 4) apply semiotics to the front-faced figure common in Andean iconography, but do so very differently. This is just one of the multiple juxtapositions between these two chapters. Where Hastorf uses the gender-neutral term ‘front-face deity’ to refer to the figure, Urton uses ‘Lord of Duality’. This contrast is heightened by Hastorf's detailed and well-illustrated focus on the being's feminine aspect as she traces the deity's manifestations across the Peruvian Andes, examining them as a reflection of kamay and the “female powers engaged in the process of local plant domestication” (p. 73). Her perspective is refreshing in a book that is otherwise (and sometimes conspicuously) dominated by male voices.

Other notable chapters include George Lau's analysis of Recuay imagery (Chapter 6) and Edward Swenson's examination of ritual residues at Huaca Colorada (Chapter 7). Lau considers the role of metalwork in social differentiation—not only by distinguishing elite individuals, but also by helping to shape how elites interacted with and were perceived by social others (p. 171). In turn, Lau examines the composition, function and imagery of metal objects. Consistent with the Andean concept of partibility, iconic supernaturals embossed on metal pieces may have been understood to impart their vitalising essence and legitimacy to the owner. Swenson similarly examines the transfer of energy between identities at a feasting ritual, as mediated through Moche ceramic masks and face-neck jars. But beneath this analysis, he further explores rituals as moments in which meaning is created and the meaning of ‘things’ can change: “ontologies were not necessarily static in a given society, and the degree to which objects were “enlivened” and entangled with the social world […] may have been particularly pronounced in the context of ritual events” (pp. 205–206).

This volume contains many such powerful insights and presents innovative approaches towards understanding the more obscure meanings of Andean objects. Belying these achievements, I find the book somewhat understated and underleveraged. It wants for more reflective analysis on its contributions and implications for future work. The narrative that Eeckhout expertly weaves together becomes overpowering at times. For example, he finishes the book with his chapter on a closing ritual at Pachacamac, entitled ‘Farewell to the Gods’—a poignant ending, but one that instils a sense of finality rather than inspiration.

In terms of publishing quality, the book is well illustrated with 80 figures in total. Drawings and photographs are generally clear; some maps, however, have poor contrast and are very difficult to read.

Regardless of the few shortcomings I have mentioned here, Archaeological interpretations is a notable contribution to Andean archaeology, presenting innovative approaches to understanding the meanings of monuments, landscapes, images and objects of earlier societies. The book is a good companion to Lozada and Tantaleán's Andean ontologies, but also stands on its own in expanding scholarship on the materiality of Andean symbolism and ritual.