Abstract. – Focusing on the description of funerary altars to the dead made in southern Peru and northern Chile, this work aims both to highlight their wide presence in the Central and the Southern Andes and to delve into some relevant dimensions (spatial, mythical, and ritual), which refer to a set of common problems more or less explicit in the different casuistries under consideration. Secondly, it inquires about the pertinence of going beyond the conceptual boundaries which separate the populations of the so called “highlands” and “lowlands” in this area of South America. Thirdly, it considers the heuristic value of the notion of “boundary” in order to find a synthesis to the problems dealt with in the analysis. [Andes, southern Peru, northern Chile, altars to the dead, highlands, lowlands, boundary]