GLE: 2.3A DOK 2Vocabulary: Mita:Physical labor given by all men to the Inca leader as a form of tax Coya:The queen of the Inca EmpireThe Litter:Platform used to carry the Inca King

IncaSWBAT: Anyalyze the existence, culture, and civilization of the Inca

The Inca:Empires of Gold

1438 AD to 1533 AD

HistoryAccording to myth, Incan civilization began

with Manco Capac, who carried a golden staff called the ‘tapac-yauri’. The Inca were instructed to create a Temple of the Sun in the spot where the staff sank into the earth, to honor their celestial father. After a long journey, including a tour of the underworld, the Inca arrived at Cuzco, where they built the temple. During the journey, one of Manco’s brothers, and possibly a sister, was turned to stone (huaca) = "sacred/holy". In another version of this legend, instead of emerging from a cave in Cuzco, the siblings emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca.

Inca Impire • Largest native state

in western hemisphere • Ancestor worship • Highly stratified • Multi-ethnic • Agricultural and architectural

achievements (building on those

before) 2 Tahuantinsuyu – the “Four Quarters”

Inca Region: Andes Mountains

-People Everywhere Buy Cool Apples(Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chili, Argentina)

- Warriors with a strong and powerful army• Because of the fierceness of their army and theirhierarchical organization, they became the largestNative American society• Conquered neighboring groups first, then spread toothers throughout the Andes region

Social Structure • The Inca Empire was a classed society with the Emperor at the

top and laborers at the bottom• The hierarchy of Inca society:– Emperor (“The Inca”) – a living god –ruled for life Absolute Power– Royal family– Upper aristocracy– Administrators– Nobility– Artisans– Laborers

Death of the IncaCoya (Queen) : When the Inca would die, the nobles would meet and choose the most promising son to be the new chief The Inca would be mummified

Inca Subsistence• They developed irrigation, drainage systems

and canals to expand their crop resources

• Grew potatoes (more than 100 kinds), maize (20 varieties), tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and cacao – Used terrace farming (like the Maya)

• Llama used for meat and transportation

• An abundance of resources and their ability to attack and take over other tribes led to a growth in the Inca population

Lamas

• Llamas played an important role in Inca culture:used for wool and food, carried loads

• Primary transportation source for the empire,which had a road system but no wheels

Stone Terraces

• Master engineers, theInca built structures thatare still standing today• Stone terraces preventerosion and providelevel spaces for

planting,making the most ofdifficult terrain

Great engineers – no need for mortar

Inca Economy and Activity• Gold and silver mining and working

• Stonework, road building (Mita: all men paid mita to the Inca Empire – physical labor give to build roads and buildings)

• Pottery – extremely elaborate • Weaving – all women wove– Chroniclers reported type of design that

communicated history– Type of wool demarcated class– Elite had clothes made of fine vicuna wool– All others had rougher llama and alpaca

wool

Inca as Construction Experts• Inca built much more than temples

and palaces and other buildings• Built almost 10,000 miles of roads• Large rope suspension bridges to

cross rivers• Aqueducts to move water for

irrigation

Inca CitiesTwo best known sites:• Machu Picchu• Cuzco

Machu Picchu

• A fortress (?) city of the ancient Incas– Or was it a vacation spot for the elite?– Or a city dedicated to the greatness of Pachakuti?– Or both???• In a high saddle between two peaks 50 mi NW ofCuzco, Peru• 5 sq. mi of terraced stonework linked by 3,000 steps• Virtually intact when discovered by Hiram Binghamin 1911– Never occupied or discovered by Spanish – thought to have had up to 1200 people at one time (mostly women and children)

Houses in Machu Picchu

• Houses had steep thatched roofs and trapezoidal doors;windows were unusual.• Some houses were two stories tall; second story probablyreached by a ladder

Cuzco – Capital of Inca Empire

Cuzco• Means “navel” – founded by at least 1000 A.D.• The powerful capital of the Inca empire – abt. 3500 m above sealevel• Canalized, straightened rivers cutting through the city• City of great stone buildings, palaces and temples, and the humblehomes of ordinary people – above it, a great stone fortress• Most of population involved in civic-ceremonial activities –supporting peasant (farming) population in surrounding area livingin adobe and fieldstone houses

Inca History

• Inca had no written language• Qipu (khipu) – may be a kind of“writing”• Inca had a class of verbalhistorians: kept stories and historyalive by passing it on to the nextgeneration

The Quipu• Quipu (khipu): a series of colored,knotted strings• With no written language, the Incadevised a tool for recording themovement of people and goods• All the cords hung from a mainstring, and their positions and colorslikely signaled what was beingcounted or encodedThe Quipu has itsorigins long before theInca… 1st known fromCaral, 5000 yrs ago!

Gold• The Incas believed that gold was the sweat of the sun• Gold was only valued when it was used to createceremonial objects, such as containers and jewelry, orwhen it was used to adorn tombs and temples• Spanish conquistadors were in search of gold –melted down most of what they found

Inca Mummies

• The Inca occasionally mummifiedtheir dead

• Often put bodies together in mummybundles

Inca Religion

• Polytheistic:• Many religious ceremonies centered on agriculture andon curing illnesses (Inca would punch holes in skull to help the “illness escape”• Sometimes the Inca sacrificed animals or, slaves or even their own people to the gods, especially the sun god, Inti• Sacrifices were also made following certain events likeearthquakes or the death of an emperor

Incas had sacrifices with elaborate ceremonies and parades monthly!!

The slaves would carry the Inca on a litter – a platform made of gold during elaborate ceremonies

Diving: Studying objects to find magic signs

Sacrifice of Children

• Unblemished children were chosen to be sacrificed• An honor for the child and family to be chosen• The child and family were taken to the city of Cuzcoto see the Emperor• Banquets were held in the child's honor• The child was then taken high up into the Andes to aspecial structure that was made• The child was left in the structure to die of exposureto the extreme cold• Small statues were then made of the child• It was believed that the child became a god

Fall of the IncaEmpire

• Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conquistadorresponsible for the defeat of the Incacapital, Cuzco, and consequently the Incaempire, in 1532

• Came in search of gold

* Spanish had guns -- & brought small pox to the Inca Empire