Inca Culture
The Inca civilization was a large empire who created many things and made a history that is still being discovered today and used today. It was a vast empire spreading from Ecuador to a little south of what is now Santiago, Chile at its peak. It lasted from the early 13th century until it was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. The Empire was the largest in the world at the time and still one of the largest seen in the Americas, and most of it's land was gained peacefully with diplomacy rather than warfare. The whole civilization was a large melting pot with many different cultures and ideas gained from everyone who joined it. While most people would see a unadvanced group of people, it was actually written that “Inca cities were as large as those of Europe, but more orderly and by all accounts much cleaner and more pleasant places in which to live,” by Gordon McEwan of Wagner College, in his book “The Incas: New Perspectives” (ABC-CLIO, 2006), also noting that the road and aqueduct systems the Spanish encountered in the Andes were superior to those in Europe.
What Life Was Like |
Working Class: Life for an average Inca citizen was vastly different than life today. They spoke the Quechua language, which is still spoken by people today, but lacked a written language. They would instead often use Khipu, a intricate form of knots on strings to record harvest or other things. One of the largest differences between their life and ours though, was that the Inca empire lacked a currency. Every citizen was issued necessities ,by the state, and these things included; food, tools, raw materials, and clothing. There was the noble classes and that of the working class. For the working class, it was mostly farmers who grew the food for the state and themselves. Farmers also typically made their own clothes using llama fur. They grew mostly maize, tomatoes, squash, cotton, and sweet potatoes. Other types of farmers were the people who took care of the animals used by the Inca, including guinea pigs, dogs, ducks, and llamas. Those of the working class who didn't farm usually worked in construction, aiding in building the Inca's large road system or the creation of religious temples. There was also the small amount of the working class who were very skilled with handicraft. Women made excellent weavers and men were talented architects or metal workers. The average house for the people in this class was one room, mostly made of stone or brick and with a thatched roof. They slept on the ground typically and slept in their clothes, men in a loin cloth and sleeveless shirt and women in gowns with a sash around the waist. To make up for the lack of currency and not choosing the items every person would receive, the government made up for this by a unique payment. For the working classes labor, every so often the empire would host a large feast held in village plazas, which was different than their usual two meal a day diet. Here there would be large amounts of food, drink, and an enjoyable atmosphere.
Nobles: Besides the working class, there were the group of people called nobles. These included the Sapa Inca, or high ruler, then was the High priest, next was all related to the Sapa Inca, and then Governors, high families, other nobles, and the rare trader who was gifted with their art. These people were often the ones who lived closest to the capital of Cuzco, where no commoner could live. They had a much more luxurious life. They wore brightly colored clothing made of the finest wool and ate more foods such as meat or exotic berries. Most people in this class had a high connection with religion and could get nearly anything they wanted. They had the finest gold jewelry and ate from silver plates. |
Their Religion |
![]() (Much of the Inca religion is not clear, seeing as every time they added a new region to the empire they also adopted the new regions gods. The religion though was a large uniting point for all of the empire and dominated much of what happened. One of the largest myths was the creation of Inca, but it has many different variations that have changed of multiple years of oral history. Most have the same feel that VIrcocha created the Earth then the first people (Where the people rose from differs). Others may say the people were formed of clay by the goddess of the earth or created by Inti, but the first is the most popular. The largest known god in the religion was Inti, the sun god (symbol shown to the right). Other gods can include:
Many other gods were also a part of their religion, but there is nearly to many to count and many held a much smaller place than those of the main ones. These gods were often honored in many ways, including prayers, fasting, animal sacrifice, human sacrifice (especially those of children), and things built in honor of them ( temples ). It was very important to please the gods, and they did things throughout the year to bring good fortune to the empire. Most things were off of the astronomical calendar and movements of either the sun or moon. It was also known that many ways to praise the god was using Huacas, sacred places or objects. Some of these would be natural places, but some were not. All of them were used for multiple occasions though. Another part of the Inca religion was their idea of an after life. The Inca were very big on the idea of two worlds after death, one for those who were good in their lives and one for those who weren't. The first was a nice place with perfect weather and more than enough food, the latter was the opposite. Because of this idea the Inca mummified their dead's bodies and acted as though they still had another life. During the month of November they even had the month of carrying the dead. This was when they would carry out all the mummified bodies and eat and dance with them. This was much more common with the rich, especially the bodies of fallen Sapa Inca. These people were believed to had been direct decedents on Inti, so even after death the bodies would still be given fancy food and clothing. |
Arts |
The Inca were not the kind of people who did traditional art. Instead they mostly had metal work, pottery, architecture, and textiles. The art usually represented the small area where it was made, or it didn't show much at all. Each art type usually didn't depict one thing and were instead a more commonly used thing that could be shown throughout the empire. The most prestigious of this is in the textiles of the time, where rare cloths and colors were very important, and the checkerboard pattern along with geometric shapes were popular at this time. The rich enjoyed flaunting these, and those who made the best were often brought to Cuzco to make things for the Sapa Inca. The metal work was often found in many different jewelry and headdresses, usually made of silver gold of copper. The work was highly polished and could be seen with jewels or other additions added to it. Ceramics and pottery also were big on a much smaller scale. These were typical in the small villages and gave the people something to show what they were like.
One of the most seen versions of their art though, were the Inca architecture. This is shown in all Inca cities, and can be seen on both a small and large scale. They made vast buildings that mended perfectly into the troubling landscapes. The trapezoid shaped blocks managed to fit so well together that they still stand perfectly today after earthquakes and more, even though no mortar was used.They enjoyed using clean lines and natural factors to their architecture, which shows how great of stone masons and construction workers they were. Most of this kind of art is viewed in the Inca's Temples, with their still standing structures and talk of how beautiful they were. The capital city of Cuzco was also described as a great show of their construction work. The city was laid out in that of the shape of a puma, and on many different accounts the Spanish spoke about the cities vast plazas, parks, statues, shrines, fountains, the buildings, and even the pluming system. |
Unique Traits to the Inca |
The Inca were a empire that was very different from many other things seen at the time. They looked at things in a unique way and had many facts that separated them from other groups. One of the most unique things about these people were the way that they dealt with land they acquired. 1/3 of all new land was issued to the government, 1/3 to the support of religion, and the last 1/3 went to the people of the area. This was different than the way anyone else in the world viewed land, because the old world just saw land ownership, but other America lands used all land for the good of the people.
The Inca were also very advanced with their highway system which stretched over 25,000 mi. There were stops along the road, and built so well that even after nearly 400 years they are still in good condition. These roads were used for many reasons, including those of travelers, militaristic purposes, religions reasons, and just the pass of information. Usually there were runners who used this mode of transportation, and at one point could transport a message 240 km in a single day. These roads were made for the rough terrain, and often had bridges or different forms of keeping the highway continuous. The Inca had a total of two calender's, the solar calendar and the lunar calendar. The solar one was extremely close to the one that we currently have today, having a total of 365 days a year. The only difference was that the Inca started a year in December. The lunar calendar it only held 328 days, but didn't appear to effect the year. The reason the Inca kept both calendars was so both could be used for different reasons. The solar one was typically associated with agriculture harvest/planting, but the lunar one held the days for religious festivals of holidays. One of the most well known parts to the Inca culture was the city of Machu Picchu, or the lost city. It was built in 1450 as a retreat for the Sapa Inca, but ultimately forgotten as the Spanish conquest. As colonies were built after the Inca fell, no one discovered this secret city until long later in 1911. This city was a great show on who amazing the Inca were at adapting to what nature gave them. Buildings were built so precisely and areas were kept for plants to grow. It is now a big tourist attraction because of how well it stood to the weather and how beautiful it is. This is one of the final standing pieces of the Inca people because of how untouched it was from the Spanish. One of the most unique things about the Inca, was their way of control. While most used war or violence to keep conquered people in line- they used a different strategy. Whenever new areas joined the empire, the Inca took in their gods and brought them to the capital city of Cuzco. Here they would be kept safe, but if that area were to ever rebel then the Inca would take it out on their gods. They would bring them out of the temple and publicly humiliate them until the people returned to submission. |
The Fall Of The Empire |
The Inca empire was doing extremely well right before their fall. There was a small rebellion at the time from an area they were about to concur, but that was a small spark Inca most likely would have put out. That was a minor factor to even bigger things at work. At this time there were also the Europeans who'd discovered the Inca civilization. Not only did European diseases kill 50% of the Inca population of the time, but explore Francisco Pizarro wanted more than to see the land. They caught sight of Inca wealth and became greedy, eventually leading to the Spain fully conquering the Inca people. While the Inca was a vast and powerful empire, the Europeans eventually took the last city of Cajamarca on November 15, 1532.
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