ANTH 336 New World Prehistory
Dr. Darlene Applegate
Fall 2006
Andean South America
Culture
Area
Inca Empire
Inca was the first and only pan-Andean empire in pre-Columbian South
America. Tiwantinsuyu
was their name for the empire.
TIME PERIOD
AD 1476 - 1534
Late Horizon
LOCATION
Peru, Chile, Argentina,
Bolivia, Ecuador
ORIGINS
rooted in earlier south-central highland cultures as far back as AD 1200
development of empire may be related to fights over control of coca
producing lands, control of trade, and flexible means of ruling
conquered peoples
SUBSISTENCE
farming based on extensive terrace system
herding
use of marine resources
DIAGNOSTIC ARTIFACTS
quipu:
- recording device based on decimal system
using knots tied in rope
- the knots were coded by size, location,
relative sequence, and color
(Left) Photograph of Incan Quipu and (Right) Diagram Showing How
Numbers Were
Recorded With a Quipu.
http://www.indianer-welt.de/sued/inka/inka-quipu.htm
chullpa: elite cemeteries with large burial towers
SETTLEMENT STRATEGY
most sites on Inca road in low areas, but some sites on hilltops
elaborate road system was developed to connect sites
the 8500-km (5,280 miles) Gran Ruta
Inca was a north-south road that linked the two ends of the empire
a series of 30,000 km (18,640 miles) of roads branched off Gran Ruta
Inca
ayllu: small villages organized along kin lines
curaca: provincial administrators
monumental public architecture included pyramids, temples, road system,
terraces, irrigation system
renowned for dry masonry or mortarless joint architecture
SITES
Cuzco - capital of empire
Machu Picchu - mountain-top retreat for elites
SOCIO-POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
empire known as Tiwantinsuyu, or "the land of four quarters" because it
was divided into four provinces
mita system for acquiring wealth when rulership
changed (based on Huari system?)
well-defined social hierarchy with divine Inca rule at top
twelve age divisions
conformity and obedience stressed
DECLINE
Spanish conquest by Francisco Pizarro confounded by internal
strife, smallpox epidemics, and strained political system
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