Incas of Peru
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I. Early Peoples of Peru
A. Chavín – culture named for the ruins at Chavín
de Huanatar in the Andes
1. In about 850 B.C. people built a huge temple
complex
2. Stone carvings and pottery showed they
worshipped a ferocious-looking god, part
jaguar and part human
Chavin de Huanatar
Valley
B. Mochica – culture that forged and empire along
the arid north coast of Peru
1. Skilled farmers who developed methods of
terracing, irrigation, and fertilization of the soil
2. Their leaders built roads and organized
networks of relay runners to carry messages
3. To build one temple, workers had to produce
130 million sun-dried adobe bricks
4. The people perfected skills in textile
production, gold work, and woodcarving
5. On painted vases, helmeted warriors went
into battle, musicians played pipes and drums,
and women weaved textiles on small portable
looms
C. Nazca – Southern Peru
1. They etched glyphs – pictographs or other symbols carved into a
surface
A. had straight lines that ran for miles, giant figures of birds, whales,
and other creatures
B . these figures may have been family symbols or part of an ancient
calendar
2. For more than 2,000 years, diverse civilizations rose and fell in Peru
3. in the mid-1400s, the Incas emerged from high in the Andes
4. Incan armies rapidly conquered an empire that stretched 2,500 miles
”
II. The Incan Empire – founded by the warrior
Pachacuti; called the “Sapa Inca”
A. Government
1. Sapa Inca exercised absolute power over the
empire
a.) He claimed that he was divine and the chief
religious leader
b.) He owned all the land, herds, mines, and
people
c.) Gold, the “sweat of the sun,” was his symbol
d.) His queen, the Coya, carried out important
religious duties and sometimes governed
when the Sapa Inca was absent
2. From Cuzco, the Incas ran an efficient
government with a change of command
reaching into every village
3. Nobles ruled the provinces along with local
chieftains
4. Below them, officials carried out the day-to-
day business of collecting taxes, and enforcing
laws
5. Specially trained officials kept records on a
quipu – a collection of knotted colored strings
B. Roads and Runners
1. To unite the empire, they imposed their own
language, Quechua, and religion on the people
2. They created one of the great road systems of
history
3. Hundreds of bridges spanned rivers and deep gorges
4. Steps were cut into steep slopes and tunnels dug
through hillsides
5. The Incan road system was unmatched until modern
times
6. The roads allowed armies and news to move rapidly
7. They kept soldiers at outposts throughout the empire
8. Ordinary people were restricted from using the roads
C. Cuzco
1. All roads led through Cuzco
2. The population was made up of
representatives of all the peoples of the empire
3. In the heart of the city stood the Temple of
the Sun, its interior walls lined with gold
4. The temple was made of enormous stone
blocks, each polished and carved to fit exactly in
place
Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was
built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti.
III. Daily Life
A. Farming
1. Farmers had to spend part of each year working land
for the emperor and the temples
2. The government took possession of each harvest,
dividing it among the people and storing part of it in
case of famine
B. Metalworking
1. The Incas were the best metalworkers in the Americas
2. They learned to work and alloy (blend) copper, tin,
bronze, silver, and gold
C. Medical Advances
1. The Incas developed some important medical
practices, including surgery on the human skull
2. In such operations, they first cleaned the operating
area and then made the patient unconscious with a drug
D. Religion
1. The Incas were polytheistic
2. People offered food, clothing, and drink to the
guardian spirits of the home and the village
3. Religion was tied to the routines of life
4. Festivals were celebrated with ceremonies, sports,
and games
5. A powerful class of priests served the gods,
celebrating their special festivals and tending to their
need
s
Traditional Incan dress
6. Inti -chief god and the sun god
A.) His special attendants, the “Chosen
Women,” were selected from each region of
the empire
B.) During years of training, they studied the
mysteries of the religion, learned to prepare
ritual food and drink, and made the elaborate
wool garments worn by the Sapa Inca and the
Coya
C.) At the end of the training, most of the
Chosen Women continued to serve the sun god
D.) Others joined the Inca’s court or married
nobles