Inca Empire

Geogragraphy

• moving to South America

• long stretch on Andes Mountains

  • Western South America

• ecological diversity

Cuzco

• capital city high in the Andes

• roads crossed valleys and deserts

Religion

• polytheisitic

• sacrifices

  • mostly not human

  • more animals

  • honor to be sacrificed

• sun god, thunder god, creator god

• believed in afterlife

• complex ritual calender

Achievements

• quipu

  • made of string, yarn, grass

  • people could read these

• roads

  • very mountainous

  • need for roads

• conquered people with large armies

• had large armies

Machu Picchu

• don’t really know what it is

• has some stonework around

• northwest of Peru

Political

• centralized control

• did integrate people

  • conquered people

• weak succession rules (downfall)

• to find next leader, had to fight to death

• ruler was Sapa Inca or unique idea

  • claimed descent from sun-god

Economic

• centralized redistribution of products

• when married, were given things

  • store-houses

• crops were grown in several different zones (like quinoa)

• measured money through labor they put in and goods

  • form of tribi

Social

• organized into family groups

  • ayllu

• aristocrats=priests

• most ayllu were divided into smaller subgroups

  • men tended to marry women from another subgroup

• delegated power to indigenous leaders

Aristocracy 3 tiers

• close relatives of ruler and previous rulers

• more distant relatives

• the leaders of the groups the Inca had conquered