Inca c.

1350 – 1550
 Geography
• Western coast of S. America
• Total Pop: 10 million
• Capital at Cuzco, religious
center Machu Pichu
• 4000 miles in length
• Made up of hundreds of
tribes loosely ruled by the
Inca
• Empire included deserts
along the coast, jungle and
high mountain villages
 Politics
• Loose confederation of tribes
• Smart captives were
trained/brainwashed in Cuzco to rule for
Inca and then sent back home to be
Incan governors
• Maintain authority by trading supplies
to “good” regions and not to “bad”
regions
• Constant need to expand in order to
support the trade/bribery with other
regions
 Divine Kings

• Emperor and
principle wife seen
as gods
• Inca nobility
dominate the
bureaucracy
Macchu Picchu
 Economy
• Agriculturally based –
– terraced farming,
– different crops based on location
and altitude
• Lots of labor/workers necessary for
transport of goods
• Excellent Roads/infrastructure for
transfer of goods from coastal desert
to jungle to mountain villages
• Trade from different regions
provided lots of different food to eat
• Domesticated and bred hundreds of
varieties of potatoes, tomatoes,
peppers
Draw Bridge for Security
 Religion
• Religious tolerance but
must worship Incan gods
• Polytheistic, sun god is
most important
• Human sacrifice rare
• Great Inca – emperor,
descendant of the sun god
Social Life
• Diverse geography = diverse
population
• Social hierarchy
– Kings/nobles
– Merchants/rich
– Farmers
– slaves
• land/money split to several heirs kept
people more equal in wealth
• “Mita” – obligation to the empire
(military service/public works)
• women have almost no rights but work
hard farming and run the home
 Intellectual life and Art
• No writing!
• Incan Knots (Quipu) used to keep records
of taxes, population, trade and names
• Mummies are common
• Nazca lines in the desert sand form animal
shapes (possibly festival dancing patterns?)
 Quipus (FYI only)
• Quipu means "to tie".
• A quipu was composed of a rope to which a
collection of counting-threads, each about 60
centimeters long, were tied.
• Information was recorded on the threads using
different materials, colors, ties and placement.
The most important information was placed on the
leftmost thread. Yellow, white, and red
represented gold, silver, and soldiers, respectively.
• In a population census, men and women were
counted on separate quipus, in which the:
• 1st thread recorded persons over the age of 60
• 2nd thread recorded persons between 50 and 60
years ...
• 8th thread recorded babies, 0-1 years.
• When an event was to be recorded, a Quipu was
used to store facts. The story itself had to be
memorized and could be retold using the Quipu's
recorded facts. Interpretation of a Quipu was
complicated because every counter, Quipucamayo
, used his own system of ties and retold
information from the Quipu orally