They were built to last and to
withstand the extreme natural forces of wind, floods, ice, and drought.
This central nervous system of Inca transport and communication rivaled that
of Rome. A high road crossed the higher regions of the Cordillera from north to
south and another lower north-south road crossed the coastal plains. Shorter
crossroads linked the two main highways together in several places.
The terrain, according to Ciezo de Leon, an early chronicler of Inca culture,
was formidable. The road system ran through deep valleys and over mountains,
through piles of snow, quagmires, living rock, along turbulent rivers; in some
places it ran smooth and paved, carefully laid out; in others over sierras, cut
through the rock, with walls skirting the rivers, and steps and rests through
the snow; everywhere it was clean swept and kept free of rubbish, with lodgings,
storehouses, temples to the sun, and posts along the way.
The Incas did not discover the wheel, so all travel was done on foot. To help
travelers on their way, rest houses were built every few kilometers. In these
rest houses, they could spend a night, cook a meal and feed their llamas.
Their bridges were the only way to cross rivers on foot. If only one of their
hundreds of bridges was damaged, a major road could not fully function; every
time one broke, the locals would repair it as quickly as possible.
SOCIETY
Inca society was made up of ayllus, which were clans of families who lived
and worked together. Each allyu was supervised by a curaca or chief. Families
lived in thatched-roof houses built of stone and mud. Furnishings were unkown
with families sitting and sleeping on the floor. Potatoes were a basic Inca
food. The Imperial Incas clothed themselves in garments made from Alpaca and
many of their religious ceremonies involved the animal. They wore sandals on
their feet.
In Inca social structure, the ruler, Sapa Inca, and his wives, the Coyas, had
supreme control over the empire. The High Priest and the Army Commander in Chief
were next. Then came the Four Apus, the regional army commanders. Next were
temple priests, architects, administrators and army generals. Next were
artisans, musicians, army captains and the quipucamayoc, the Incan accountants.
At the bottom were sorcerers, farmers, herding families and conscripts.
Inca society continued uninterrupted in this way for hundreds of years. The
appearance of light-skinned strangers during the rule of Atahuallpa, however,
was to forever change things for the Inca. Deadly plague would soon sweep
through the Inca empire. Those that survived had to face the swords and cannons
of the invading Spanish. After leading the Spanish to more gold than they had
ever before seen, even Lord Atahuallpa was strangled by his Spanish captors.
Every style of hand-weaving was practiced by the Incas. They used this
instead of writing in some cases. They also made very artistic pottery.
MUSIC
Music was part of ceremony. Incas knew how to smelt and cast metals so they
made many different types of instruments such as trumpets and bells out of
materials such as brass or stone.
POPULATION
At its peak, Ican society had more than six million people. As the tribe
expanded and conquered other tribes, like the Paracas, the Incans began to
consolidate their empire by integrating not only the ruling classes of each
conquered tribe but also developing a universal language, calling it Quechua
(pronounced KECH-WUN).
This ubiquitous integration encompassed the histories, myths and legends of
each subject tribe; stories being intentionally combined, adopted or
obliterated, or just accidentally confused. This practice was characteristic of
the Incans quest for organization and structure. The Amautas, a special class of
wise men who perpetuated traditions of the people, history and legend, redefined
myths where and when necessary to establish miracles of faith or precedent or
sanctions.
LANGUAGE - RELIGION
The Incan language was based on nature. All of the elements of which they
depended, and even some they didn't were give a divine character. They believed
that all deities were created by an ever-lasting, invisible, and all-powerful
god named Wiraqocha, or Sun god. The King Incan was seen as Sapan Intiq Churin,
or the Only Son of the Sun.
The Inca were a deeply religious people. They feared that evil would befall
at any time. Sorcerors held high positions in society as protectors from the
spirits. They also believed in reincarnation, saving their nail clippings, hair
cuttings and teeth in case the returning spirit needed them.
The religious and societal center of Inca life was contained in the middle of
the sprawling fortress known as Sacsahuaman. Here was located Cuzco, 'The Naval
of the World' [we call it the Solar Plexus] - the home of
the Inca Lord and site of the sacred Temple of the Sun. At such a place the
immense wealth of the Inca was clearly evident with gold and silver decorating
every edifice. The secret of Inca wealth was the mita. This was a labor program
imposed upon every Inca by the Inca ruler. Since it only took about 65 days a
year for a family to farm for its own needs, the rest of the time was devoted to
working on Temple-owned fields, building bridges, roads, temples, and terraces,
or extracting gold and silver from the mines. The work was controlled through
chiefs of thousands, hundreds and tens.
The Incas worshipped the Earth goddess Pachamama and the sun god, the Inti.
The Inca sovereign, lord of the Tahuantinsuyo, the Inca empire, was held to be
sacred and to be the descendant of the sun god. Thus, the legend of the origin
of the Incas tells how the sun god sent his children Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo
(and in another version the four Ayar brothers and their wives) to found Cuzco,
the sacred city and capital of the Inca empire.
Inti Raymi, the feast of the sun The "Inti Raymi" or "Sun Festivity" was the
biggest, most important, spectacular and magnificent festivity carried out in
Inca times. It was aimed to worship the "Apu Inti" (Sun God).
izaac, 13/05: how you fellas going. this website is very silly.
full of life, 05/02: wat eva there is myspace for this
bill, 13/10: im new this is awesome i have a project due and im sure i can do it!!!!!!
bubbles, 05/10: this website gives absolutley NOTHING!! PLEASE IMPROVE THIS WEBSITE!!
pocahontes, 11/09: good website but more about houses.:)
tea, 19/05: hahaha, just reading everyones comments, its a form of entertainment in itself
hahahahaha
Ashley101, 12/05: to ZERO
I use this site for chatting and doing research. It is a good place to find out other peoples opinions.
ps.Will still stay in contact!!!
. To Shine501
i agree!!!!There should b more about there houses. im doing a social studies project. I've spent eighteen hours on this project. It is FOURTEEN PAGES LONG!!! So as you can see it would really help me if there was more info....
poo, 07/04: this web site is so g status dont you all agree
ur mom, 19/03: hi
how your doin
prick man, 16/01: ur mom is so f****** hot n!gger
phenom, 16/01: SOCIALS*
lol
. omg im gonna fail freakin social if i don't get a decent grade i need INFO!!!!
takai, 19/06: hey erin and nicola
shine501, 13/04: hi, your website is pretty good but you wouldn't have any info on how the civilisation ceased would you? oh and more about their houses too! if so, that would certainly help! thx ^_^
weirdo, 13/04: im doing a project in school and its about incas. but sadly im not getting enough info on their medicine and food
ZERO, 28/03: Do you guys actually use this site for chatting
mark, 24/02: wow! this is an awesome site. i dont know what all the other douchebags are on about
keep up the great work!
popratize , 06/12: The person under me is right
jess, 06/12: You guys on here should stop being stupied. It has great info. It's not a page mess on .
not in here, 13/11: is there anything about how the got educated ??
Kelly, 21/10: I would like more pics~ its lame~ really lame
sally, 03/10: listen kids this is not a chat website this is for information only.this is not for you to chat
dude, 12/06: you guy's are sick have you read p.1??????????
Administrator, 16/05: The comments on this page are very irelevant and the comment feature on this page will be banned on march 08 2007
person, 03/05: not enough info
cody, 30/04: yo momma yo momma
mikey, 30/04: what the person said under me
courckey, 23/04: ya junk in trunk is right! all tha way!
po po - de police, 10/04: you aarree freaking out mman
stoned dude, 10/04: i'm freaken out man
junk in trunk, 10/04: up dating it would be nice-like any day now
oh yah this was lame- powerful lame
me, 10/04: I think I died of boredum
aks, 25/03: dis site has gr8 info but you need to add cloth'n did they walk round in the nude?
Bridget25, 22/03: stop writing nasty comments this is not even a chat room or somethiing. that is so messed up!!!!!!!!! you jerks!
kathryn, 20/03: Dear owner of this site,
Hey the people who own this website really need to update this and add some more pictures. I'm doing this project in school and i just can't find what i am looking for on the internet. Maby you should find more info on what the Incas could own and what certain ranks could own like the mayans rank whent from emperar then royal then priest then noble, merchant, peseant and then slave. please update this site.
sinceraly Kathryn :1
stephen, 15/03: Jeff J loves to play with himself during 7th hour in his corner.
. Kodi Nuss has biotch hands.
steve, 01/03: i take pic its awsome yea!!!
steve , 27/02: All night long !!!
bobbyjoe, 27/02: o yea man you know it lolz
. got that right nooby
dylan, 27/02: hello billy bob
larissa, 23/01: hey whuts up well i like this website thingy its the bomb diggity!!
thm, 16/01:
very good website got lots of infmason
jmoney602, 04/12: yea right great web site helps me get all the answers i need on my packets for school. WHOA RA
hey, 07/11: i love kas n angela you kno who i am
w***** n plus its a goodsite lol
nauweed, 07/11: Michelle Reynard is the best
gaga, 24/10: let s all have 69s
Hello???, 20/10: Is anyone there??? I want to talk to someone...
Sammy, 19/10: Where's the clothing, you need more about the clothing
lost?, 05/10: getpictures.
i need to know what the houses "looked like"
not what they are made of&all that other stuff.
i picture.
its so much simpiler :)
Pepsico, 30/09: Dang. You guys are all lame.
This is a great website by the way.
History project, 20/09: um, what does an inca house look like?
hey, 18/09: u got nothing good it makes my project even harder
jake, 29/08: i need info on the transport
ss, 30/04: this is not good you sole it from goole
BIG DUMMY XOXOX NOT LOESER
KayKAy, 25/04: god does any website have an INCA TIMELINE?
kayla, 24/03: whell im doing a project and i was wondering if you can have
deatscore, 22/03: this wasn't usefull it needs inforemation no food
Susie, 21/03: Your a chicken wing i love you great webbiesittie
John, 09/03: HI im the fred guy that made a comment 6 below this one and i have no brain because im talking about my mommy.
Billie Joe, 09/03: I am greenday and i think this is one of the most radikal things dude!! I'm so learning something!
Max is dummy, 09/03: I dont understand a thing i am so confused... I wish i knew.
IvanMcQuade, 09/03: This is themost Intresting thing in the world!!!! I'm so interested!
Ellie, 05/03: Quite interesting, really...
Guess what?! I am a turkey!!!
soccer, 11/02: you need more on food and clothes lots more but good website its was ok.
Dougie, 29/01: please put more on homes... thanks
Jassy, 08/12: Helo,
Do you have any citations? Or did you do this all on your own?
boes, 06/12: hey beavis he said bush
Jenna, 05/12: only kidding paegan your not fat
. Hannah luvs Daniel
. your websute is queer
. your website is good i like it very much!!
jeff, 16/11: needs info on sun god (inti)+++
Courtney, 09/11: you need more about Jewellery AMEN. ps the project i m doing is lame
bob , 01/11: Needs more info on housing
rozzy, 18/10: this is a great website brill for home work x
Phoenix \"Foeseeker\" Bloodclaw, 06/10: You need to get more info on the housing, clothes, and actual languages and wot not.
new , 03/10: website has Nothing i need lame
stephen, 03/08: Hi, good website
Joanna, 03/08: Hi, Can you please write some information about how the Civilization ceased? Otherwise your effort was great. Thanks Joanna
Adam, 28/07: "Then came the Four Apus, the regional army...
At the bottom were sorcerers,..."
"The Inca were a deeply religious people. They feared that evil would befall at any time. Sorcerors held high positions in society as protectors from the spirits."
Need to clarify this maybe? i am confused.
Amy, 13/06: k you guys need more about food than potateos were a basic food.
Sam, 13/06: Can you please write more about the cemente box thing that was important to the incas? Also more about food would seriously help! Thanks! Also this is kind of confusing like the links and stuff!
Yamila, 13/06: i still dont get it how many gods did incans believed in??
ajkasj6, 01/01: can you please improve your website by saying more than 1 sentence about housing
4234535fg, 01/01: can you please rite more about the housing
bryan, 14/12: can you pleez improve your website by saying more about homes
Lorana, 06/10: i love your website did you write it urself. it has a lot of gr8 info.