+ Inca Civilization

+ Background

By the 13th Century, the Inca had established domination over the regional states in Andean South America In 1438, Pachacuti launched a series of military campaigns that greatly expanded Inca authority

Success bred success and the Inca empire expandedBy the late 15th Century, the Inca empire covered more than 2,500 miles, embracing almost all of modern Peru, most of Ecuador, much of Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Argentina

+ Agriculture

Llamas

Terraced farm land

+ Agriculture

Intensive agricultural techniques Inca empire spanned many types of

environments and required terraces to make farmland out of the mountainous terrain

Chief crop was the potato Herded llamas and alpacas for meat, wool,

hides, and dung (used as fuel)

+ Social Structure

In order to rule the massive territory and populations they had conquered, the Incas completely restructured much of Andean society Relocated populations Reordered the economy Constructed an extensive transportation network Created a state religion

+ Social Hierarchy

Rulers Aristocrats Priests Peasant cultivators of common birth

+ Social Hierarchy

Chief ruler was a god-king who theoretically owned everything and was an absolute and infallible ruler

Dead rulers retained their prestige even after death Remains were mummified and state deliberations often

took place in their presence in order to benefit from their counsel

Were seen as intermediaries with the gods

Social Hierarchy

Aristocrats lived privileged lives including fine foods, embroidered clothes, and large ears spools Spanish called them “big ears”

Inca ear spools

+ Social Hierarchy

Priests often came from royal and aristocratic families Influenced Inca society by education and religious

rituals

+ Cities: Cuzco

Inca capital at Cuzco served as the administrative, religious, and ceremonial center of the empire

May have supported 300,000 residents at the height of the Inca empire in the late 15th Century

Tremendous system of roads were built from Cuzco

+ New Technologies

Major Roads of the Inca Empire

+New Technologies: Roads

Built an all-weather highway system of over 16,000 miles Ran “through deep valleys and over mountains, through

piles of snow, quagmires, living rock, along turbulent rivers; in some places it ran smooth and paved, carefully laid out; in others over sierras, cut through the rock, with walls skirting the rivers, and steps and rests through the snow; everywhere it was clean swept and kept free of rubbish, with lodgings, storehouses, temples to the sun, and posts along the way.” (Ciezo de Leon)

+New Technologies: Roads Allowed the Inca government

to maintain centralized control by moving military forces around the empire quickly, transporting food supplies where needed, and tying the widespread territories together

Rest stations were built a day’s walk apart

Runners were positioned at convenient intervals to deliver government messages

+ Economic Exchange

Inca gold

+ Economic Exchange

Inca society did not produce large classes of merchants or skilled artisans

Locally they bartered among themselves for surplus agricultural production and handcrafted goods

Long distance trade was supervised by the central government using the excellent Inca roads

+ Specialization of Labor

Inca textile fragment

+ Religion and Education

Main god was Inti, god of the sun In the capital of Cuzco, some 4,000 priests, attendants, and virgin devotees served Inti

Sacrificed agricultural produce or animals rather than humans Inca religion taught that sin was a violation of the established or natural order

Believed sin could bring divine disaster for individuals and communities Had rituals for confession and penance

Believed in life after death where an individual received rewards or punishments based on the quality of his earthly life

+ Art and Writing

Quipu (khipu)

Art and Writing

The Inca had no writing

Instead they kept records using a quipu A array of small cords

of various colors and lengths, all suspended from a thick cord

By tying knots in the small cords, Inca could record statistical information

586 on a quipu