An Overview of Inca Tech Geography Drives Technology The Incas inherited an unforgiving geographic landscape. Despite its overwhelming beauty, its various terrains held hazards and risks. The Four Quarters of the Inca kingdom stretched along a narrow band of Pacific Ocean frontage extending from Chile up to Columbia, 2500 miles long, and ranging inland from the dry coastal desert to a fingerhold on Amazonian jungle. Elevations went from sea level to 22,000 feet, and while the highest zones were not regularly lived in, some housed ceremonial structures, and many of the people lived quite well at altitudes of 15,000 feet. Yet is is known that the people of the Inca were able to traverse their land from end to end, and from shore to highest regions, on a regular basis. Getting Around in the Andes The Incas under Pachacuti developed a lengthy system of roads. Bridges were built across ravines. There were approximately 2,000 tampos (rest houses) placed at even intervals along the trails. Working with Water
Incas - HowStuffWorks Incas, an Indian people of South America. Long before the voyages of Columbus, their empire, centered in Peru, was remarkable for its organization and culture. The word Inca, properly the title of the emperors, was eventually applied to the people as a whole. The Inca Empire stretched 3,000 miles along the coast of South America. At its height the Inca empire stretched for some 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from present-day Colombia along the Pacific coast through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia into Chile. How the Incas Lived The Incas worshiped the sun god, Inti.His chief temple, the Temple of the Sun, was radiant with the immense amount of gold, silver, and jewels used to decorate it. The Inca emperor, believed to be descended directly from the sun god, had absolute power. Inca emperors were treated as earthly gods. The common people were organized into groups ranging from a unit of 10 families to subdivisions numbering 10,000 households. The Incas spoke the Quechua language. History
Inca Road System Construction and Lodging The Inca road system (called Capaq Ñan in Quechua and Gran Ruta Inca in Spanish) was an essential part of the success of the Inca Empire. The road system included an astounding 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of roads, bridges, tunnels and causeways. Road construction began in the mid-fifteenth century when the Inca gained control over its neighbors and started expanding its empire; it ended abruptly 125 years later when the Spanish arrived in Peru. As a contrast, the Roman Empire built twice as many miles of road, but it took them 600 years. Four Roads from Cuzco The Inca road system runs the entire length of Peru and beyond, from Ecuador to Chile and northern Argentina, a straightline distance of some 3,200 km (2,000 mi). Chinchaysuyu, headed to the north and ending in Quito, Ecuador Cuntisuyu, to the west and to the Pacific coast Collasuyu, led southward, ending in Chile and northern Argentina Antisuyu, eastward to the western edge of the Amazon jungle Inca Road Construction Sources
History for Kids: Aztecs, Maya, and Inca Back to History The three most dominant and advanced civilizations that developed in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans were the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca. Map of Aztec, Mayan, and Incan Civilizations by Ducksters Aztecs The Aztec Empire was located in central Mexico. The capital city of the Aztec Empire was Tenochtitlan. The Aztec called their ruler the Tlatoani. Maya The Maya civilization began as early as 2000 BC and continued to have a strong presence in Mesoamerica for over 3000 years until the Spanish arrived in 1519 AD. The Maya were located in Central America in a region that is today made up of southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, and northern El Salvador. The Maya were the only American civilization to develop an advanced written language. Inca The Inca Empire was centered in Peru and ruled over much of the west coast of South America from the 1400s to the time of the Spanish arrival in 1532. ActivitiesCrossword PuzzleWord Search
NOVA | The Lost Inca Empire By Liesl Clark Posted 11.01.00 NOVA "Land of the Four Quarters" or Tahuantinsuyu is the name the Inca gave to their empire. It stretched north to south some 2,500 miles along the high mountainous Andean range from Colombia to Chile and reached west to east from the dry coastal desert called Atacama to the steamy Amazonian rain forest. At the height of its existence the Inca Empire was the largest nation on Earth and remains the largest native state to have existed in the western hemisphere. The wealth and sophistication of the legendary Inca people lured many anthropologists and archaeologists to the Andean nations in a quest to understand the Inca's advanced ways and what led to their ultimate demise. The Inca's engineering of roadways and agricultural terraces in mountainous terrain was one key to the expansion of the empire. opulent wealth While some remnants of the Inca's riches remain intact, many were destroyed as looters melted them down for their raw metal. Growth of an Empire
Mayan Facts For Kids | Who Were The Mayans? | DK Find Out Mayan cities › Mayan cities were stretched out across a large area now occupied by southeastern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. Each city had its own ruler. Mayan cities › Mayan art and craft › The Maya produced a great variety of art and craft with materials such as stone, wood, ceramics, jade, and bone. Mayan art and craft › Ball game › Every Mayan city had a ball court where a game was played with a hard rubber ball. Ball game › What did the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas eat? A lot of the foods that we enjoy today were introduced by the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas. What did the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas eat? End of the Mayan civilization › Although some Mayan cities continued to thrive till the 16th century, the Mayan civilization began to decline after 800 CE. End of the Mayan civilization › Mayan beliefs › The Maya believed that they could communicate with their gods through human sacrifice. Mayan beliefs › Hunting and fishing › Hunting and fishing › Mayan writing › Mayan writing › Mayan calendar ›
The Inca and Their Roads Now primarily a tourist attraction, Inca roads were once the arteries of a mighty Empire. Spanning a the continent lengthwise, the Inca road network covered approximately 22,000 miles of roads and trails with about half of that paved. They built stone surfaced roads where the terrain required it, but merely marked the way and distance on dessert or flat coastal terrain. Many miles of the Inca roads were captured from the civilizations they conquered. Some were built purely for ceremonial purposes, but the primary purpose of the roads was to hold the Empire together by providing vital arteries for communications and troop movements. The Inca Empire was less than a century old when conquered by the Spanish although Inca civilization before imperial expansion was significantly older. Inca civilization was based upon the deification of the Emperor who was said to be the Son of the Sun.
Inca Empire Timeline and King List Timeline and Kinglist of the Inca Empire The Inca word for ruler was 'capac', or 'capa', and the next ruler was chosen both by heredity and by marriage lines. All of the capacs were said to be descended from the legendary Ayar siblings (four boys and four girls) who emerged from the cave of Pacaritambo. The first Inca capac, the Ayar sibling Manco Capac, married one of his sisters and founded Cusco. The ruler at the height of the empire was Inca Yupanqui, who renamed himself Pachacuti (Cataclysm) and ruled between AD 1438-1471. High status women were called 'coya', and how well you could succeed in life depended to a degree on the genealogical claims of both your mother and father. Calendrical dates for the reigns of the various kings were established by Spanish chroniclers based on oral histories, but they are clearly miscalculated and so are not included here. Inca Kings Manco Capac (principal wife his sister Mama Occlo) ca. Classes of Incan Society
Quipu - Ancient Writing System of the Incas The Inca writing system called quipu (also spelled khipu or quipo) is the only known precolumbian writing system in South America—well, perhaps writing system isn't quite the correct phrase. But quipus were clearly an information transmittal system, and not just for the Inca. Instead of a clay tablet impressed with triangles like cuneiform, or a piece of paper with symbols written on it like Egyptian hieroglyphs, a quipu is essentially a collection of wool and cotton strings tied together, a knotted page of information which could be easily transported and easily translated across the wide expanses of South America. While scholars have yet to translate the quipu, we do know that information was embedded in the quipu in a number of different ways. Effects of the Spanish Conquest Quipus became known to Europeans in the 16th century, when the Spanish arrived in South America. It must be said: it was an incalculable loss to global society when the Spanish arrived in Cuzco in 1532. Sources