Pacariqtambo, which means "the dawn tavern" or "the place of origin", was a place of three caves-three windows on to the world. Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave. They were: Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Auca, Ayar Uchu, and Mama Ocllo, Mama Raua, Mama Huaca, Mama Cora. Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the clans of the Inca people. Ayar Manco carried a staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would all live there. They travelled for a very, very long time. On the way, Ayar Cachi went too far boasting about his great strength and power, and his siblings tricked him into returning to the cave to get a sacred llama. When he went into the cave, they trapped him inside. Also, Ayar Uchu decided to stay somewhere on the top to look over the Incan people. The minute he proclaimed that, he turned to stone. They built a shrine around the stone and it became a sacred object. Ayar Auca also grew tired of all these and decide to travel alone. Only Ayar Manco and his four sisters remained. Finally, they reached Cuzco. The staff sank into the ground. Before they reached here, Mama Ocllo had already bore Ayar Manco a child, Sinchi Roca. The people who were already living in the valley fought hard to keep their land, but Mama Huaca was a god fighter. When the enemy attacked, she threw her bolas-several stones tied together that spun through the air when thrown, and killed him instantly. Mama Huaca cut his lungs and blew it up, and other people were so scared, they ran away. After that, Ayar Manco became known as Manco Capac, the founder of the Inca. It is said that he and his sisters built the first Inca homes in the valley with their own hands. When the time came, Manco Capac turned to stone like his brothers before him. His son, Sinchi Roca, became the second emperor of the Inca-the chosen people of the Sun.

These myths were apparently transmitted via oral tradition until early Spanish colonists recorded them; however some scholars believe that they may have been recorded on quipus (Andean knotted string records).