El Tío, Lord of the Mines
Deep inside the silver mountain of Potosí, miners leave coca leaves, cigarettes and drink for a horned figure they call the Uncle.
What was reported
Cerro Rico, the 'rich mountain' above Potosí, has been mined for silver since the 1540s. In its tunnels, miners keep clay figures of El Tío, the Uncle, a horned lord of the underworld who owns everything under the ground.
Before work, and especially on Fridays, miners sit with him, putting coca leaves and cigarettes in his mouth and pouring alcohol for him. They believe he decides who finds ore and who has an accident, and that he must be kept content. Above ground, the same miners go to church.
Explanations offered
El Tío grew from Andean beliefs about the spirits of mountains and the underground, mixed with the Christian devil brought by the Spanish. Anthropologists see him as a way of coping with very dangerous work, in mines where many people have died since colonial times. It is a living tradition, shown to visitors with respect.
- When
- Since colonial times, and today
- Where
- Cerro Rico, Potosí, Bolivia
- Witnesses
- Miners of Cerro Rico
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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