1200-1532 A.D

Located in the Andes Mountains of South America

West Coast of South American in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina

Climate ranges from dry to snowy to hot jungle

Founded by Pacachuti

Capital city was CuzcoAdministrative centerTemple of the Sun- inside walls made of

gold & perfectly cut stones

Machu Picchu the “Lost City of the Incas”

Ruled by an Emperor called the Sapa Inca and had absolute controlDivine – the son of the sunChief religious leaderGold was his symbol and the “sweat of the

sun”

The Queen was called the CoyaPerformed religious functionsServed in absence of Sapa Inca

Officials collected taxes and enforced lawsKept records on a

quipu, which were knotted strings

Imposed Quechua language and religion on conquered people

Great system of roads adopted from the MochiaLet armies and news travel rapidlyCut into mountains and had many bridgesOrdinary people could not use the roads

Roads united large empire

Bridge

People lived in close-knit communities called ayllusOne leader carried out government

orders, assigned jobs and organized work

Regulated society by arranging marriages to make sure men and women settled down

People conquered by the Incans were put into Incan army

FarmingCreated terraces in mountains to farm on

secured by stone wallsFarmers spent part of year working land

for emperorGrew corn, potatoes, cotton, squash, and

beansGovernment gave part of harvest to

people and stored the rest

TradeTraded new world vegetables and gold workSpeculation that Inca traded in open air

markets

Domesticated the llama and the alpaca

Polytheistic

Part of everyday life, every month had a festivalChief god was Inti, the

Sun GodChosen Women

dedicated their lives to serving the sun god

Servants on earth of the Sun God, IntiSpecially chosen as girls, trained, and

housed near the templeAfter training, either married a noble,

served the royal family, or become one of the Chosen Women

Made the clothes of the Sapa Inca and Coya since Sapa Inca could not wear the same clothes twice

Involved mainly childrenHappened around an important eventCould only be perfect childrenHeld a feast, took them to the top of a

mountain, gave them something to intoxicate them

Were either strangled, hit on the head, or left to die of exposure

Incas had no system of writing

Calendar of 15 months, each with 3 weeks of 10 days

Quipu measurement

Advanced medicine- antiseptics and skull surgery

Gold and silver works

1525 A.D.- Sapa Inca Huayna Capac died of plague

No successor leads to civil war, weakening the empire

1531 A.D.- Spanish led by Francisco Pizzaro conquered the Inca empire