The Inca civilization was one of the most vital societies in South America in terms

of its cultural influence and legacy. Around from 1438 to 1533, the Incas began as
a small tribe who steadily grew in power to conquer people down the coast from
today's Colombia to Argentina. They are remembered to this day for
their architecture, agricultural techniques, communication, and record keeping.
They were imperialists

The Incas were true imperialists, with a goal

to unite as many individual peoples and
cultures as possible under their absolute
rule. They wanted to incorporate each
cultures’ individual strengths into their
empire.
The Incas were
mostly vegan

When it came to
meat, they
consumed ducks
and guinea pigs,
but it was a small
part of their diet.
They had a rich
diet in of foods
such as
corn,
quinoa, potatoes,
and cacao.
The Inca Empire lasted for
about one century

The glory of the empire was

cut short, first through the
arrival of smallpox, and then by
the death of Huayna Capac,
third Sapa Inca of the Inca
Empire, which sparked a civil
war between his sons. These
factors eventually made way
for the Spanish to successfully
conquer the Incas in 1532.
The Incas

In the official language

of the Incas, Quechua,
Inca meant "ruler" or
"lord," and was used
to refer to the ruling
class, which were only
a small percentage of
the total population.
They believed in
three realms

The Incas based

their religion
around three
realms,
represented by
the condor, the
puma, and the
serpent. Hanan
Pacha is the
spirit world,
guarded by the
condor. The
puma protects
the earthly
realm, called
Kay Pacha, and
the serpent
belongs to the
underworld, Uku
Pacha.
They had an
impressive postal
service system

The Inca
messengers
operated in pairs
called chasquis, and
they were required
to carry messages
and gifts up to 150
miles daily. They
operated in pairs so
that while one was
asleep, the other
could be awake and
ready to receive any
incoming
information.
The Sapa Inca wore a new outfit every day

The Sapa Inca, the emperor, wore a new outfit

every day. After he used an article of clothing, it
was subsequently burned. The ruler had a group
of women who would ensure he had enough
clothes to wear.
Instead of a written alphabet, they had the khipu

Their primary spoken language was Quechua, which

doesn't have a written language. Instead, the Incas
communicated with a khipu or quipu, a knot record
utilizing the decimal system to convey information
based on the number and type of knots presented on
each string.
They had a
unique communal
concept

Called ayni,
translated to
“today for you,
tomorrow for me,”
this communal
concept was all
about sharing the
food and
crops. Ayni would
also include
rituals by local
shamans, where
they would give
back materials
and earthly goods
to honor and
thank
Pachamama,
Mother Earth.
Starvation was
never a worry

The shared
concept
of ayni made
sure that no one
ever went
without food, in
addition to their
intricate and
advanced
agricultural
system and food
preservation
techniques.
They
domesticated a
few animals

The Incas
domesticated a
few animals,
mainly llamas and
alpacas, as they
were an ample
source of wool and
leather. They also
domesticated
ducks and guinea
pigs, as a food
source.
The rope bridges

Another
impressive
aspect of Incan
engineering
were their rope
bridges.
Suspended over
canyons and
gorges, these
bridges were
made out of ichu
grass and were
regularly
repaired by the
local villagers.
They respected complementary gender
roles

Understood today as non-binary and

trans individuals, the two-spirit
individuals, called Quariwarmi, were
not only respected but also elevated in
society as shamans because the Incas
worshiped a dual-gendered god
called chuqui chinchay.
They were
polytheistic

The Incas were

polytheistic, which
means they
worshiped many
gods. They believed
that their gods
significantly
influenced their daily
life and had control
over the natural
world, as well as that
their ruler, the Sapa
Inca, was part-god.
They had a high infant mortality rate

As the infant mortality rate was high, most

families didn't invest very much in their child
until they reached the age of two or three.
Then they would celebrate with the child's
coming-of-age ceremony.
The road system
spanned 25,000
miles (over 40,000
km)

The famous Inca

Trail is one very
small and
impeccably
restored stretch of
the Qhapaq Ñan
interconnected
Inca roadway. It
was highly
important to the
empire due to
communication,
defense, and
trade.
The Inca military

The structure of the Incan military was based on the

decimal system, and the entire force was officially under
the command and jurisdiction of the Sapa Inca.
There was no fixed currency or any
central market

The empire did not have any fixed

currency or any central market. Instead,
the Incas grew their own food, for the
people. Foods and services were
currency instead.
The noblemen wore gold and silver plugs

Additionally, the Sapa Inca wore massive,

heavy plugs, which would stretch his ears out.
Due to this style, the Spanish later nicknamed
them orejones, meaning big ears.
They planned their
architecture with the cosmos

The Incas possessed a

profound knowledge of
astronomy, and therefore they
carefully planned the
positioning of the buildings
and designed every single
structure considering natural
features and how they would
play against the stars and
planets.
They were the
first potato
cultivators

With over 4,000

varieties of
potatoes, the
Incas were the
first potato
cultivators in the
world. They
even used
potatoes to treat
injuries.
They performed human
sacrifices

For the Incas, human

sacrifices were a must
for pleasing the gods
and for a better harvest.
Therefore, they regularly
sacrificed humans during
important rituals for the
empire's prosperity.
The fall of the Inca Empire

The empire essentially fell to Spanish conquistadors under

Francisco Pizarro. At the time, the Inca Empire was
suffering serious internal problems and most of the
population had fallen prey to diseases brought in by the
Europeans. Pizarro took advantage of the situation and
ended the Inca Empire.
They had an adept knowledge of medicine

The Incas had an impressive knowledge of medicine, and

evidence dating back 2,000 years ago suggests that they
performed complex surgeries such as trepanation (a
surgical procedure in which a hole is made in the skull).
Machu Picchu
One of the most important and famous sites of the Incas is Machu Picchu. King Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui founded the
famed Inca citadel in 1450.
The creation of roads was
their specialty

Their roads stretched all the

way from Chile to Colombia,
which was a distance of
roughly 3,250 miles (over
5,000 km). This means that
the Inca Empire was larger
than the Roman Empire.
The Incas traveled mostly by foot

The Incas were not familiar with the wheel or

horses. Instead, most of the transportation
was done by foot or using llamas to carry
goods around the empire.
They didn't
manage to fully
conquer the
jungle

The Incas were

met with the
most resistance
from
communities in
modern-day
Ecuador,
particularly in
the Amazon,
where cultural
commonalities
were few.
Their architecture was
earthquake-proof

The Incas' architecture was of

such a high standard that it
was earthquake-proof. The
best example is Machu Picchu,
which to this day still looks
impeccable.
 Inca Empire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Inca Empire, also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, and at the time known as the Realm of
the Four Parts, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center
of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilization arose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early
13th century. The Spanish began the conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532 and its last stronghold was conquered in
1572.

From 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America, centered on
the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. At its largest, the empire
joined Peru, western Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, a large portion of what is
today Chile, and the southwesternmost tip of Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
Its official language was Quechua. The Inca Empire was unique in that it lacked many of the features associated
with civilization in the Old World. Anthropologist Gordon McEwan wrote that the Incas were able to construct "one of
the greatest imperial states in human history" without the use of the wheel, draft animals, knowledge of iron or steel,
or even a system of writing. Notable features of the Inca Empire included its monumental architecture, especially
stonework, extensive road network reaching all corners of the empire, finely-woven textiles, use of knotted strings
(quipu) for record keeping and communication, agricultural innovations and production in a difficult environment,
and the organization and management fostered or imposed on its people and their labor.
The Inca Empire functioned largely without money and without markets. Instead, exchange of goods
and services was based on reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca
rulers. "Taxes" consisted of a labor obligation of a person to the Empire. The Inca rulers (who
theoretically owned all the means of production) reciprocated by granting access to land and goods
and providing food and drink in celebratory feasts for their subjects. Many local forms of worship
persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred Huacas, but the Inca leadership
encouraged the sun worship of Inti – their sun god – and imposed its sovereignty above other cults
such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their king, the Sapa Inca, to be the "son of the sun".

The Incan economy has been described in contradictory ways by scholars; Darrell E. La Lone, in his
work The Inca as a Nonmarket Economy, noted that the Inca economy has been described as "feudal,
slave, [and] socialist", and added "here one may choose between socialist paradise or socialist
tyranny."[
The Inca Empire at its
greatest extent c. 1525
 Inca expansion (1438–1533)

Under the leadership of Manco Cápac, the Inca formed

the small city-state Kingdom of Cusco (Quechua Qusqu',
Qosqo). In 1438, they began a far-reaching expansion
under the command of Sapa Inca (paramount
leader) Pachacuti-Cusi Yupanqui, whose name meant
"earth-shaker". The name of Pachacuti was given to him
after he conquered the Tribe
of Chancas (modern Apurímac). During his reign, he and
his son Tupac Yupanqui brought much of the modern-day
territory of Peru under Inca control.
The Inca people were a pastoral tribe in the Cusco area around the 12th century. Peruvian oral history tells an
origin story of three caves. The center cave at Tampu T'uqu (Tambo Tocco) was named Qhapaq T'uqu ("principal
niche", also spelled Capac Tocco). The other caves were Maras T'uqu (Maras Tocco) and Sutiq T'uqu (Sutic
Tocco).[19] Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave. They were: Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi,
Ayar Awqa (Ayar Auca) and Ayar Uchu; and Mama Ocllo, Mama Raua, Mama Huaco and Mama Qura (Mama
Cora). Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the Inca clans.

Ayar Manco carried a magic staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would live. They
traveled for a long time. On the way, Ayar Cachi boasted about his strength and power. His siblings tricked him into
returning to the cave to get a sacred llama. When he went into the cave, they trapped him inside to get rid of him.
Ayar Uchu decided to stay on the top of the cave to look over the Inca 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 grew tired of all this
and decided to travel alone. Only Ayar Manco and his four sisters remained.

Finally, they reached Cusco. The staff sank into the ground. Before they arrived, Mama Ocllo had already borne
Ayar Manco a child, Sinchi Roca. The people who were already living in Cusco fought hard to keep their land, but
Mama Huaca was a good fighter. When the enemy attacked, she threw her bolas (several stones tied together that
spun through the air when thrown) at a soldier (gualla) and killed him instantly. The other people became afraid and
ran away.

After that, Ayar Manco became known as Manco Cápac, 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 Cápac turned to stone like
his brothers before him. His son, Sinchi Roca, became the second emperor of the Inca.[
Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro and his brothers explored south from what is today Panama,
reaching Inca territory by 1526. It was clear that they had reached a wealthy land with prospects of great
treasure, and after another expedition in 1529 Pizarro traveled to Spain and received royal approval to
conquer the region and be its viceroy. This approval was received as detailed in the following quote: "In July
1529 the Queen of Spain signed a charter allowing Pizarro to conquer the Incas. Pizarro was named
governor and captain of all conquests in Peru, or New Castile, as the Spanish now called the land".

When the conquistadors returned to Peru in 1532, a war of succession between the sons of Sapa
Inca Huayna Capac, Huáscar and Atahualpa, and unrest among newly conquered territories weakened the
empire. Perhaps more importantly, smallpox, influenza, typhus and measles had spread from Central
America. The first epidemic of European disease in the Inca Empire was probably in the 1520s, killing
Huayna Capac, his designated heir, and an unknown, probably large, number of other Incan subjects.[29]
The forces led by Pizarro consisted of 168 men, one cannon, and 27 horses.

Conquistadors ported lances, arquebuses, steel armor and long swords. In contrast, the Inca used weapons
made out of wood, stone, copper and bronze, while using an Alpaca fiber based armor, putting them at
significant technological disadvantage—none of their weapons could pierce the Spanish steel armor. In
addition, due to the absence of horses in Peru, the Inca did not develop tactics to fight cavalry. However, the
Inca were still effective warriors, being able to successfully fight the Mapuche, which later would strategically
defeat the Spanish as they expanded further south.
Flag of Inca Empire Ad hoc reconstruction of the banner of the Inca emperors.
The Macchu Picchu, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site near Cusco in Peru, at
twilight.
Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo,
children of the Inti

Manco Cápac, First Inca, 1 of 14 Portraits

of Inca Kings, Probably mid-18th century.
Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum
The first engagement between the Inca and the Spanish was the Battle of Puná, near present-day Guayaquil,
Ecuador, on the Pacific Coast; Pizarro then founded the city of Piura in July 1532. Hernando de Soto was sent inland
to explore the interior and returned with an invitation to meet the Inca, Atahualpa, who had defeated his brother in the
civil war and was resting at Cajamarca with his army of 80,000 troops, that were at the moment armed only with
hunting tools (knives and lassos for hunting llamas).

Pizarro and some of his men, most notably a friar named Vincente de Valverde, met with the Inca, who had brought
only a small retinue. The Inca offered them ceremonial chicha in a golden cup, which the Spanish rejected. The
Spanish interpreter, Friar Vincente, read the "Requerimiento" that demanded that he and his empire accept the rule of
King Charles I of Spain and convert to Christianity. Atahualpa dismissed the message and asked them to leave. After
this, the Spanish began their attack against the mostly unarmed Inca, captured Atahualpa as hostage, and forced the
Inca to collaborate.

Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in and twice that amount of silver.
The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them, refusing to release the Inca afterwards. During Atahualpa's
imprisonment Huáscar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spaniards maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders;
this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spaniards finally executed him, in August 1533.
Although "defeat" often implies an unwanted loss in battle, many of the diverse ethnic groups ruled by the Inca
"welcomed the Spanish invaders as liberators and willingly settled down with them to share rule of Andean farmers
and miners". Many regional leaders, called Kurakas, continued to serve the Spanish overlords, called encomenderos,
as they had served the Inca overlords. Other than efforts to spread the religion of Christianity, the Spanish benefited
from and made little effort to change the society and culture of the former Inca Empire until the rule of Francisco de
Toledo as viceroy from 1569 to 1581.
The Spanish installed Atahualpa's brother Manco Inca Yupanqui in power; for some time Manco cooperated with
the Spanish while they fought to put down resistance in the north. Meanwhile, an associate of Pizarro, Diego de
Almagro, attempted to claim Cusco. Manco tried to use this intra-Spanish feud to his advantage, recapturing
Cusco in 1536, but the Spanish retook the city afterwards. Manco Inca then retreated to the mountains
of Vilcabamba and established the small Neo-Inca State, where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years,
sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them. In 1572 the last Inca stronghold was conquered
and the last ruler, Túpac Amaru, Manco's son, was captured and executed. This ended resistance to the Spanish
conquest under the political authority of the Inca state.

After the fall of the Inca Empire many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their
sophisticated farming system, known as the vertical archipelago model of agriculture.[34] Spanish colonial officials
used the Inca mita corvée labor system for colonial aims, sometimes brutally. One member of each family was
forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the titanic silver mine at Potosí. When a
family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family was required to send a
replacement.

The effects of smallpox on the Inca empire were even more devastating. Beginning in Colombia, smallpox spread
rapidly before the Spanish invaders first arrived in the empire. The spread was probably aided by the efficient Inca
road system. Smallpox was only the first epidemic. Other diseases, including a probable typhus outbreak in
1546, influenza and smallpox together in 1558, smallpox again in 1589, diphtheria in 1614, and measles in 1618,
all ravaged the Inca people.

There would be periodic attempts by indigenous leaders to expel the Spanish colonists and re-create the Inca
Empire until the late 18th century. See Juan Santos Atahualpa and Túpac Amaru II.
The first image of the Inca in Europe, Pedro
Cieza de León, Crónica del Perú, 1553
Atahualpa, the last Sapa Inca of the empire, was executed by the Spanish on 29 August 1533
View of Machu Picchu
Sacsayhuamán,
the Inca
stronghold
of Cusco
The high infant mortality rates that plagued the Inca Empire caused all newborn infants to be given the term 'wawa'
when they were born. Most families did not invest very much into their child until they reached the age of two or
three years old. Once the child reached the age of three, a "coming of age" ceremony occurred, called
the rutuchikuy. For the Incas, this ceremony indicated that the child had entered the stage of "ignorance". During this
ceremony, the family would invite all relatives to their house for food and dance, and then each member of the family
would receive a lock of hair from the child. After each family member had received a lock, the father would shave the
child's head. This stage of life was categorized by a stage of "ignorance, inexperience, and lack of reason, a
condition that the child would overcome with time". For Incan society, in order to advance from the stage of
ignorance to development the child must learn the roles associated with their gender.

The next important ritual was to celebrate the maturity of a child. Unlike the coming of age ceremony, the celebration
of maturity signified the child's sexual potency. This celebration of puberty was called warachikuy for boys
and qikuchikuy for girls. The warachikuy ceremony included dancing, fasting, tasks to display strength, and family
ceremonies. The boy would also be given new clothes and taught how to act as an unmarried man.
The qikuchikuy signified the onset of menstruation, upon which the girl would go into the forest alone and return only
once the bleeding had ended. In the forest she would fast, and, once returned, the girl would be given a new name,
adult clothing, and advice. This "folly" stage of life was the time young adults were allowed to have sex without being
a parent.

Between the ages of 20 and 30, people were considered young adults, "ripe for serious thought and labor". Young
adults were able to retain their youthful status by living at home and assisting in their home community. Young adults
only reached full maturity and independence once they had married.
At the end of life, the terms for men and women denote loss of sexual vitality and humanity. Specifically, the
"decrepitude" stage signifies the loss of mental well-being and further physical decline.
"The Maiden", one of
the Llullaillaco mummies. Inca
human sacrifice, Salta
province (Argentina).
Inca myths were transmitted orally until early Spanish colonists recorded them; however, some scholars
claim that they were recorded on quipus, Andean knotted string records.

The Inca believed in reincarnation. After death, the passage to the next world was fraught with difficulties.

The spirit of the dead, camaquen, would need to follow a long road and during the trip the assistance of a
black dog that could see in the dark was required. Most Incas imagined the after world to be like an earthly
paradise with flower-covered fields and snow-capped mountains.

It was important to the Inca that they not die as a result of burning or that the body of the deceased not be
incinerated. Burning would cause their vital force to disappear and threaten their passage to the after world.
The Inca nobility practiced cranial deformation. They wrapped tight cloth straps around the heads of
newborns to shape their soft skulls into a more conical form, thus distinguishing the nobility from other social
classes.

The Incas made human sacrifices. As many as 4,000 servants, court officials, favorites and concubines were
killed upon the death of the Inca Huayna Capac in 1527. The Incas performed child sacrifices around
important events, such as the death of the Sapa Inca or during a famine. These sacrifices were known
as qhapaq hucha.
Illustration of Inca farmers using
a chakitaqlla (Andean foot plough)
Inti, as represented
by José Bernardo
de Tagle of Peru
 The four suyus or quarters of the empire.

The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu, "the

four suyu". In Quechua, tawa is four and -ntin is a suffix
naming a group, so that a tawantin is a quartet, a group of
four things taken together, in this case the
four suyu ("regions" or "provinces") whose corners met at
the capital. The
four suyu were: Chinchaysuyu (north), Antisuyu (east; the
Amazon jungle), Qullasuyu (south) and Kuntisuyu (west).
The name Tawantinsuyu was, therefore, a descriptive
term indicating a union of provinces. The Spanish
transliterated the name as Tahuatinsuyo or Tahuatinsuyu.
Inca tunic
Tunics were created by skilled Incan textile-makers as a piece of warm clothing, but they also
symbolized cultural and political status and power. Cumbi was the fine, tapestry-woven woolen
cloth that was produced and necessary for the creation of tunics. Cumbi was produced by specially-
appointed women and men. Generally, textile-making was practiced by both men and women. As
emphasized by certain historians, only with European conquest was it deemed that women would
become the primary weavers in society, as opposed to Incan society where specialty textiles were
produced by men and women equally.

Complex patterns and designs were meant to convey information about order in Andean society as
well as the Universe. Tunics could also symbolize one's relationship to ancient rulers or important
ancestors. These textiles were frequently designed to represent the physical order of a society, for
example, the flow of tribute within an empire. Many tunics have a "checkerboard effect" which is
known as the collcapata. According to historians Kenneth Mills, William B. Taylor, and Sandra
Lauderdale Graham, the collcapata patterns "seem to have expressed concepts of commonality,
and, ultimately, unity of all ranks of people, representing a careful kind of foundation upon which the
structure of Inkaic universalism was built." Rulers wore various tunics throughout the year,
switching them out for different occasions and feasts.
Inca Tunic, 15th-16th Century
Tokapu. Textiles worn by the
Inca elite consisting of geometric
figures enclosed by rectangles
or squares. There is evidence
that the designs were
an ideographic language.
Quipu, 15th century.
Brooklyn Museum
Camelid Conopa, 1470–
1532, Brooklyn Museum, Small
stone figurines, or conopas, of
llamas and alpacas were the
most common ritual effigies
used in the highlands of Peru
and Bolivia. These devotional
objects were often buried in the
animals' corrals to bring
protection and prosperity to their
owners and fertility to the herds.
The cylindrical cavities in their
backs were filled with offerings
to the gods in the form of a
mixture including animal fat,
coca leaves, maize kernels and
seashells.
 The Incas revered
Coca leaves the coca plant as
sacred/magical. Its
leaves were used in
moderate amounts to
lessen hunger and
pain during work, but
were mostly used for
religious and health
purposes. The
Spaniards took
advantage of the
effects of chewing
coca
leaves. The Chasqui,
messengers who ran
throughout the empire
to deliver messages,
chewed coca leaves
for extra energy. Coca
leaves were also
used as
an anaesthetic during
surgeries.
The Battle of the Maule between
the Incas (right) and
the Mapuches (left)
Several cultures flourished in Central and South America from about 300 c.e. in the modern-day nations of Mexico,
Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Of the many early civilizations first living in this
area, the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas are the best known and offer a broad understanding of early life in these areas.

The Mayans
The Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and Belize in Central America were home to the ancient Mayan civilization, which
originated in about 2600 b.c.e., rose to prominence in about 300 c.e., and collapsed around 900 c.e. Although often
studied as an empire, the Mayan civilization was not a unified society but rather a group of twenty culturally similar,
independent states. Mayans created a highly developed culture with systems of writing, calendars, mathematics,
astronomy, art, architecture, and religious, political, and military order. Mayans constructed beautiful stone cities and
religious temples without the use of metal tools or the wheel, since these tools had not yet been discovered by their
culture. Much about Mayan culture is lost forever. The tropical climate of Mexico did not preserve the tree bark books
buried with priests, and the Spanish conquerors and missionaries of the 1500s burned or destroyed the remnants of
Mayan culture that they found.
The Aztecs
The Aztec empire reigned in present-day central Mexico for nearly one century until 1519 when disease and brutality
brought by Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) destroyed it. Originating from a small group of poverty-
stricken wanderers, the Aztec empire developed into one of the largest empires in the Americas. At its height the Aztec
empire consisted of a ruling class of Aztecs with nearly fifteen million subjects of different cultures living in five hundred
different cities and towns. The Aztecs followed a demanding religion that required human sacrifices, wrote poetry,
engineered huge stone temples, devised two calendars—one for the days of the year and another for religious
events—and developed a system of strict laws that covered all aspects of life, including what clothes a person could
wear. The Aztec culture was swiftly overcome in the 1500s when the Spanish conquerors, with thousands of Mexican
allies who wished to destroy the Aztecs, began battles that, along with the spread of smallpox, an often fatal highly
infectious viral disease, would ruin the Aztec empire by 1521.
The Incas
The Inca empire spanned a large portion of South America by the late 1400s c.e. Although many different cultures
prospered in the South American Andes Mountains before 3000 b.c.e., the Incas developed their distinctive culture
beginning in 1200 c.e. and by 1471 became the largest empire in South America, reigning over a region that stretched
from modern-day Ecuador to Chile. Incas built roads, developed trade, created stone architecture, made beautifully
worked gold art and jewelry, became skillful potters, and wove lovely fabrics. Much like the Aztecs, the Incas suffered
from the attacks of Spanish conquerors and the spread of smallpox. In 1532 Spaniard Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475–
1541) conquered the Incas and the territory soon became a colony of Spain. The last Inca emperor remained in power
until 1572, when Spaniards killed him.

While the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas each had distinct clothing traditions and costumes, many similarities exist. In the
broadest terms these cultures wore the same types of clothing styles. But the different ways they decorated their skin,
adorned their hair, and patterned their fabric, among other daily habits, made them quite distinct.
Key differences between Maya vs Aztec vs Inca
These are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major differences:
•The Maya were native people of Mexico and Central America, while the Aztec covered most of
northern Mesoamerica between c.1345 and 1521 CE, whereas Inca flourished in ancient Peru
between c.1400 and 1533 CE and extended across western South America.
•The Maya were polytheistic, but they did not have any particular God, while the Aztec worship
Huitzilopochtli as their main god and Inca worshiped Inti as their primary God.
•The Maya created a writing system of hieroglyphics, the Aztec created the famous mask of
Xuihetecuhtli that employed turquoise mosaic, and the Inca created a massive road network through
mountains and rivers.
•Maya builds towering temples and elaborate palaces, Aztec build their capital city Tenochtitlan on an
island, while Inca constructed stone temples without using mortars, yet the stone fit together so well
that a knife would not fit between the stones.
•The Maya used two calendars. One which was based on the solar year, while the other was a kind of
sacred almanac. Maya also used a three-symbol numerical system that allowed them to record
numbers into millions. While Aztec used a sacred calendar and a 365-day agricultural calendar, the
Aztec writing system was based on glyphs, symbols that stand for sound or words. The Inca didn’t
develop a writing system; their records were kept on bundles of knotted cords called quipus.
•The Maya architects used local materials, like limestone, which they used at Palenque and Tikal, while
metalwork was the most primary skill of the Aztec. Turquoise was mostly used with Aztec artists; the
most common example is the decorated human skull which represents the God Tezcatlipoca. The Inca
were affected by the art and techniques of the Chimu civilization.
 Maya vs Aztec vs Inca Comparison Table

The basis of
Maya Aztec Inca
comparison
They were mainly settled
They Comprised an empire
on and around Yucatan They lived in the Valley of
Existence in the Andes Mountain of
Peninsula in Central Mexico in Central Mexico
South America
America
Aztec was ruled by an
Maya comprised up of city- Inca was ruled by Sapa
Emperor whose main
states and was not united Inca, the emperor who had
purpose was to lead in the
Political Condition politically. There was an absolute power. This
wars. The local rulers and
independent ruler for each emperor was also the
conquered people had to
city-state. empire’s religious leader.
pay tax to the Aztec.
Aztecs were polytheistic.
Inca was polytheistic. They
Maya practiced Human They build huge temples
worshiped their primary
Religion Sacrifice and was and pyramids in dedication
God, Inti, who they called
polytheistic to their god
the sun god.
Huitzilopochtli.
 The basis of
Maya Aztec Inca
comparison
Monumental sculptures
were mainly favorite. They
The Maya built huge arrays The Inca buildings were in
build statues like that of
of structures and have left uniformity with huge
colossal Coatlicue or very
a considerable imperial structures. The
alive and famous sculpture
architectural heritage. A Inca architecture
of a seated Xochipilli.
Art & Architecture classic period city called incorporated natural
Aztec art portrayed all
“Tikal” was reconstructed beauty yet creating an
varieties of a subject, but
by Maya, which was amazing mixture of
especially famous were
spread over 20 sq. geometrical and natural
animals, plants and gods,
Kilometers. forms.
specifically those related
to fertility and agriculture.
The fact that Maya
declined is still not known Inca was defeated by
Aztec were ultimately
to Archeologists, but Spanish conquistadors led
defeated by Spanish
Decline presently more than 2 by Francisco Pizarro. Also,
conquistadors led by
million Maya people live in Smallpox spread, which
Hernan Cortes.
Guatemala and southern killed most of the Inca.
Mexico.