Transcript INCA

INCA
EARLY CULTURES IN PERU
• There were a number of early cultures in Peru,
including:
• Chavin (900BC-200BC)
• Nazca (100BC-800AD)
• Moche (100AD-800AD)
• None of these cultures had writing. We know
about them from archeology.
• The Inca, who dominated Peru in the 1400s1500sAD, build on these earlier cultural
foundations
• The Nazca
(100BC-800AD)
are famous for
their geo-glyphs:
drawings made in
the earth that can
be seen from the
air.
• The Moche culture
(100AD-800AD) is
known for beautiful
art
Inca
• By 1200AD, the Inca had
established a small kingdom
in the valley of Cuzco,
located in the Andes
Mountains of Peru.
• It grew in to a huge empire.
Early traditions & beliefs of the Inca
• The Inca believed that the Inca ruler
was descended from the sun god
Inti. The moon goddess was Mama
Quilla.
• According to legend, the first Inca
ruler was Manco Copac who
married his sister-wife, Mama Ocllo.
Manco Copac and Mama Ocllo were
the children of Inti and Mama
Quilla, the god of the sun and the
goddess of the moon. They came
from Lake Titicaca, which is on the
border of Peru and Bolivia.
• Only men from one of 11 noble
families who were believed to be
descended from Inti could be
selected as the Incan ruler.
• These 11 families were called
orejones, “Big Ears”, because of
the large plugs they wore in their
earlobes
Traditions and beliefs of the Inca
• Worship of dead rulers:
• Dead rulers were preserved as
sacred mummies
• They were housed in special
chambers, brought to
important events such as
banquets, and paraded about.
• They were (symbolically) fed
and dressed each day, and
consulted for advice
Pachacuti
• He was a younger son of an Inca ruler;
when an enemy state attacked the Inca,
his father and brother fled. Pachacuti
took command, defeated the enemy &
took the throne in 1438AD
• He went on to conquer a vast amount of
land, and has been compared to Alex
the Great.
• He was the ruler most responsible for
building the Inca Empire
• After him, rulers continued conquering
the lands around them.
• By 1500, the Inca Empire
stretched 2,500 miles
along the west coast of
South America.
• The Inca called their land
Tihuantinsuya, or “Land of
the Four Quarters”.
• The Inca themselves
numbered about 40,000
people, but they ruled
about 16 million people
Inca conquests
• The Inca had a powerful
military, but used force
only if necessary.
• Before attacking, they
gave enemy states the
option of honorable
surrender.
Inca Emperor
• The emperor was called the Sapa Inca
• His chief wife, who was also his sister, was called the
Coya. They were believed to be descended from Inti,
the Sun god.
• The Emperor had complete power and owned all of
the land.
Emperor
• The Emperor wore a headdress of
vicuna wool tassels across his forehead.
Everyday he wore a new, finely woven
garment. Then it was stored for a year,
and at a special ceremony all of the
clothing was burned.
• He rode on a litter with runner going in
front to announce his arrival.
• When visitors met him, they were
required to take off their sandals and
wear symbolic burdens on their backs.
Officials below the Emperor
• The Inca government had a
complex bureaucracy.
• Below the Sapa Inca were the
four chief governors of the four
quarters of the Empire.
• Below the chief governors
provincial governors who ruled
in the provinces.
• Below them were hundreds of
higher officials, and thousands of
lower officials, who enforced the
Sapa Inca’s laws.
Society
• At the bottom of the social pyramid were
the farmers, who were grouped into units
called ayllus. An ayllu was basically an
extended family group, but non-related
people could also be grouped into the same
ayllu.
• Each ayllu was allotted a piece of land by the
government. The members of the ayllu
worked the land together.
• Each group had an official that told them
what work to do, what crops to grow, and
how to do it.
Mita system
• The main type of tax was a labor tax
called mita.
• It required all able-bodied citizens
to work for the state a certain
number of days every year.
• Mita workers might labor on state
farmlands, produce craft goods for
state warehouses, or help build
public works, such as roads, palaces
or irrigation canals
The state controls the economy
• Historians have compared the Incan system to a
type of socialism.
• The Incan state controlled most economic
activities, The Inca state allotted land to each
ayllu, and told each group what to produce.
• The Inca were allowed little private commerce
or trade.
• The people received benefits from the
government. The aged and disabled were
supported by the state. There were public feasts
where food and maize beer were distributed as
a reward for their labor.
Cuzco
• The capital was Cuzco. Cuzco
was a splendid city.
• Cuzco was rebuilt during the
reign of Pachacuti in the shape
of a crouching mountain lion.
Only the highest nobles and
priests lived there.
• The temples and palaces of
Cuzco were very large, made out
of massive stones, some as
heavy as 126 tons. The stones
were fitted together without
mortar.
Cuzco-Temple of the Sun
• The main temple in Cuzco was the Temple of
the Sun, dedicated to the sun god Inti
• According to the Spanish, its walls and floor
were covered in gold. There was a courtyard
with a golden garden, including golden maize
plants, golden grass, and a life size herd of 20
llamas and shepherds made of gold.
• The Inca referred to gold as “sweat of the
sun”.
Roads
• Once of the most spectacular
public works project was the
system of roads.
• The 14,000 mile long network
of roads and bridges spanned
the empire
• The roads traversed rugged
mountains and harsh deserts.
• Some parts were paved, and
some were not.
Roads
• There were two main roads
ran north-south parallel to
each other, one through the
mountains, and one along the
coastal desert. Many
crossroads ran between
them.
• In steep areas, steps were cut
into the mountains. Rope
suspension bridges crossed
steep gorges
Relay messenger system
• A system of runners traveled these
roads as a kind of postal service.
• The system worked like a relay race. A
runner would hand off a memorized
message or package to the next
runner waiting a way station.
• The stations were placed about every
mile along the main roads. A message
could travel about 140 miles a day.
Inca Roads
Farming terraces
• The Inca cut terraces into the mountains to create
flat areas for farming.
• They built an irrigation system that brought water
down the mountains to the fields.
• Recently, some of these Inca terraces have been
repaired and brought back into use.
Inca terrace farming
• The circular
terraces at
Moray are
thought to
have been a
place where
the Inca
experimente
d with
raising new
types of
crops.
Repair of the Inca farming terraces.
Keeping records
• The Inca never developed a writing
system. History and literature were
memorized.
• For numerical information, the Inca
used quipu, a set of knotted strings
that could be used to record data.
• The knots and their position on the
cord indicated numbers. The colors of
the cords indicated categories of
information.
Quipu
• The knots and their position on
the cord indicated numbers. For
example, to show the number
3643, there would be 3 knots,
then 6 knots, then 4 knots, then
3 knots.
• The colors of the cords
indicated categories of
information. For example, red
indicated warriors, yellow
indicated corn
Religion
• The chief Inca god was the creator god Viracocha.
• Below him was the sun god, Inti. Temples to Inti
were covered in gold.
• Inti’s sister-wife was Mama Quilla, the Moon
goddess. Temples to her were covered in silver.
• The Incas also worshipped holy or strange things,
called huacas. They might be rocks, mountains,
rivers, etc, that the Inca thought had special
powers.
Priests, Mamakuna & Yamakuna
• Priests led the sun worship.
• They were assisted by young women, called
Mamakuna, “virgins of the sun”, who were like
nuns, selected for a lifetime of religious service.
They spun special cloth for the emperor and
made a special kind of chicha beer.
• Young men, called Yamacuna, also served as
fulltime workers for the state in religious
activities.
Sacrifices.
• Inca priests offered sacrifices
to the gods.
• Sacrifices might consist of
llamas: White llamas were
offered to Inti, brown llamas
to Viracocha, and spotted
llamas to the thunder god.
Guinea pigs, chicha beer, and
coca leaves were also offered.
Human sacrifice-Capacocha
• Sometimes human sacrifice was also
made. For example, at the death and
coronation of a Sapa Inca, human
sacrifices were made. Human
sacrifices were also made in times of
trouble.
• These were usually pure, unmarked
children and teenagers in a
ceremony called Capacocha, in
which they were taken to a high
mountain to die.
Everyday life-diet
• The Inca diet consisted mainly of
potatoes, guinea pigs, corn, and
quinoa, a high protein grain. (Guinea
pigs were the main source of meat).
• They had more than 200 kinds of
potatoes. They developed a method
for freeze-drying potatoes. Freeze
dried potatoes, called chuno, were
kept in warehouses for times of food
shortage, and could be kept
indefinitely.
Everyday life-llamas & alpacas
• Llamas and alapacas were very important.
• Llamas were used as pack animals, and their
coarse hair was woven to make sacks, blankets &
ropes.
• Alpacas had softer wool, which was woven into
clothing
Everyday life-coca
leaves
• Incas grew coca leaves as a sacred plant. It was
strictly controlled by the government.
• Coca leaves were scattered or burned as offerings
to the gods, or chewed to produce a state of
ecstasy during religious ceremonies.
• Because chewing coca leaves releases small
amounts of cocaine, workers were given coca
leaves to prevent hunger and fatigue when doing
hard work, and to help prevent altitude sickness
in the high Andes.