The Incas

Presentation created by Robert L. MartinezPrimary Content Source: Prentice Hall World HistoryImages as cited ucalgary.ca

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Western South America includes a

wide variety of climates and terrains.

The narrow coastal plain is a dry, lifeless

desert crossed by occasional river

valleys.

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Further inland, the snow-capped Andes Mountains rise steeply, leveling off into high plateaus that bake

by day and freeze at night. East of the Andes lie dense jungles that stretch from Peru into Brazil.

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Native American peoples developed

many different styles of life across South America. Hunters

and gatherers thrived in some regions, while

farmers grew root crops in the Amazon

rain forests. mrgrayhistory.wikispaces.com

Thousands of years ago, people settled in fishing villages along the desert coast of Peru. Gradually they expanded inland, farming the river valleys that run up

into the highland plateaus. Using careful irrigation, they grew corn, cotton, squash, and beans.

unexplained-mysteries.com

On mountain slopes, they cultivated

potatoes. In high plateaus, they

domesticated the llama and the alpaca. Like the Mayas, they

built large ceremonial centers

and developed skills in pottery and

weaving. fineartamerica.com

The earliest Peruvian culture discovered was the Chavin, 850 B.C.E., who built a huge temple complex

located at Chavin de Huantar in the Andes. Stone carvings and pottery show that the Chavin people

worshipped a ferocious-looking god, part jaguar and part human with grinning catlike features. The arts and religion of the Chavin culture influenced later

peoples of Peru.

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Between 100 and 700 C.E., the Mochica people forged an empire along the arid north coast of Peru. The

Mochicas were skilled farmers, developing methods of terracing, irrigation, and fertilization of the soil. Their leaders built roads and organized networks of relay

runners to carry messages, ideas that the Incas would later adopt.

precolumbiancivilizations.pbworks.com

Remains of Mochica cities and temples dot the land. To build one temple, workers had to

produce 130 million sun-dried adobe bricks. The people perfected skills in textile

production, goldwork, and woodcarving.

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The Mochicas produced remarkable pots decorated with realistic scenes of daily life. On these painted vases, helmeted warriors go into

battle, musicians play pipes and drums, and women weave textiles on small portable

looms.

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Many other cultures left tantalizing clues

to their lives and beliefs. In southern

Peru, the Nazca people etched glyphs in the desert. A glyph

is a pictograph or other symbol carved

into a surface. crystalinks.com

Nazca glyphs include straight lines that run for miles, as well as giant figures of birds, whales, and other creatures. These figures may have

been family symbols or part of an ancient calendar.

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For more than 2,000 years, diverse civilizations rose and fell in Peru. Then, in the mid

1400s, the Incas emerged from high in the Andes. Incan armies rapidly conquered an empire that stretched 2,500 miles down the Andes and

along the Pacific coast.

bmssancientcivilizations.wikispaces.com

Like the Romans, who also ruled a diverse empire. In Incas drew heavily on the ideas and skills of the peoples they conquered.

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Pachacuti, a skilled warrior and leader, was the founder of the Incan empire. In 1438, he proclaimed himself Sapa

Inca, or emperor, and set out on a policy of conquest.

From a small kingdom in the high mountain valley of

Cuzco, he came to dominate an immense empire.

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Once he had subdued neighboring peoples, he enlisted them in

his armies for future campaigns. In this

way, he and his son extended Incan rule from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the

south.lordprice.co.uk

The Sapa Inca exercised absolute power over the empire. Claiming that he was divine, the son of the sun itself, he was also the chief religious leader. Like

the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the Incan god-king owned all the land, herds, mines, and people.

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Gold, the “sweat of the sun,” was his symbol. He lived in splendor, eating from golden plates and dressing in

richly embroidered clothes. In fact, the Sapa Inca never wore the same royal garments twice. His queen,

the Coya, carried out important religious duties and sometimes governed when the Sapa Inca was absent.

amautacunadehistoria.com

From Cuzco, the Incas ran an efficient government with a chain of command reaching into every village. Nobles ruled the provinces along with local chieftains whom the Incas had conquered. Below them, officials carried out the day-to-day business of collecting taxes

and enforcing laws.

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Specially trained officials kept records on a quipus, a collection of knotted, colored strings. Modern scholars think that quipas noted dates and events as well as statistics on population

and crops.

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To unite their empire, the Incas imposed their own language, Quechua, and religion on the

people. They also created one of the great road systems of history. It wound more than 12,000

miles through mountains and deserts.

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Hundreds of bridges spanned rivers and deep gorges. Steps were cut into steep slopes and tunnels dug through hillsides. Even more impressive than the

roads that united the Roman empire, the Incan road system was unmatched until modern times.

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The roads allowed armies and news to move rapidly throughout the empire. At regular

stations, runners waited to carry messages. Relays of runners could carry news of a revolt swiftly from a distant province to the capital.

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The Incas kept soldiers at outposts throughout the empire. Within days of an uprising, they would be on the move to crush the rebels.

Ordinary people were restricted from using the roads at all.

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All roads led through Cuzco. The population was made up of representatives of all the peoples of the empire, each living in a particular part of the city. In the heart

of the city stood the great Temple of the Sun, its interior walls lined with gold.

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Like Incan palaces and forts, the temple was made of enormous stone blocks, each polished and carved to fit exactly in place. The engineering was so precise

that, although no mortar was used to hold the stones together. Incan buildings have survived severe

earthquakes.

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The Incas strictly regulated the lives of millions of people within their empire. People lived in close-knit

communities, called ayllus. Leaders of each ayllu carried out government orders, assigning jobs to each

family and organizing the community to work the land.

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Farmers expanded the step terraces built by earlier peoples. On steep hillsides, they carved out strips of

land to be held in place by stone walls. These terraces kept rains from washing away the soil and made

farming possible in places where flat land was scarce.

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Farmers had to spend part of each year working land for the emperor and the temples as well as for their own communities. The government took possession of

each harvest, dividing it among the people and storing part of it in case of famine.

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The Incas were the best metal workers in the Americas. They learned to work and alloy, or blend,

copper, tin, bronze, silver, and gold. While they employed copper and bronze for useful objects, they

used precious metals for statues of gods and goddesses, eating utensils for the aristocracy, and

decorations.

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The Incas developed some important medical practices, including surgery on the human skull. In

such operations, they first cleaned the operating area and then made the patient unconscious with a drug,

procedures much closer to the use of modern antiseptics and anesthesia than anything practiced in

Europe at that time.

Like other early peoples, the Incas were polytheistic, worshiping many gods linked to the forces of nature.

People offered food, clothing, and drink to the guardian spirits of the home and the village. Religion

was tied to the routines of life. Festivals were celebrated with ceremonies, sports, and games. A

powerful class of priests served the gods.

Chief among the gods was Inti, the sun god.