The Andes; Prehispanic Complex Societies of western South America

ARC 150

what was the Inca Empire in the midst of when Pizarro and the Spanish arrived?

a civil war between brothers, Huascar and Atahualpa

the Inca Empire ruled _

Inca and non-Inca

there were _ in the Inca Empire

socio-economic/ethnic distinctions

the Inca Empire was a _

territorial empire that built/expanded on earlier infrastructure, but also disrupted it; “Architecture of Power”

other distinct Andean groups

Chimor (Chimu) kingdoms of Ecuador (Capital of Chan Chan)- interactions,conflicts

the Inca was the last of several _

large states/empires

land of extremes

glaciated peaks -> slopes and piedmont -> coastal desert

modern nations of the Andean Region

primarily: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
also: Northern Chile, Northwestern Argentina

the Andes region contains some of the earliest evidence for the _

peopling of the Americas (Monte Verde, Chile), numerous Native complex societies, highlands largely indigenous today, Euro-descendant communities in urban coastal centers- colonial transformations

foundational concepts important to state formation

vertical archipelagos, ayllu, ayni, ancestor worship and “cults of the dead”, split inheritance

vertical archipelagos

adjustment to environmental extremes

Murra: Vertical Archipelagos (aka Verticality)

ecological complementarity mediated by cultural institutions of cooperation and reciprocity; linking chains at different scales

what is the basic unit of verticality?

ayllu

ayni

principle of reciprocity, central to verticality, minga, and ancestor care

minga

voluntary, rotating, collective labor for community infrastructure (still practiced)

the Inca transformed minga into _

m’ita

m’ita

mandated labor; assumed role of “great ayllu”

Apus

great ancestors to be respected and appeased

Huacas

“sacred thing”; mummies, mountains, sometimes captured

Camay

life force; not distinctive between animate and inanimate

split inheritance

wealth, land/territory separate from political power; triggers expansion

domesticates of the Andean region

cotton (near coasts), camelids and cuy, beans, quinoa, tomatoes, aji, potatoes, coca

first complex society: Caral-Supe / Norte Chino

predates San Lorenzo in Mesoamerica, reliance on coastal resources (including anchovies)

Initial Period and Early Horizon (c. 1800 - 200 BC)

population increase, ceramics, transition to society with significant wealth and power differences, intensified regional trade and interactions, associated iconography with commonalities in content, style, and material, Chavin tradition

Chavin de Huantar

major late IP/EH center, preceded by several IP centers with similar ancestral styles, interacted with several peer centers

when did Chavin de Huantar decline by?

500/200 BC; 200 BC at the latest

Moche Heartland (c. 200 BC - AD 600) natural disturbances

tectonically active, El Nino, and Humboldt currents; dramatic natural events in iconography/myths/cosmology system

___ and ____ were depicted in the Moche Heartland

conflict and death

elite vs. non-elite social division in the Moche Heartland

the failure to mediate broke social cohesion

what were the two major Andean Empires?

Huari and Inca

unique sets of challenges for the Huari and Inca

Very large and diverse territories
Alliterate (no indigenous pre-conquest documents- quipus and iconography)

Middle Horizon (c. AD 600-1000)

Wari (Huari, 1st Andean Empire), Tiwanaku

end of the Middle Horizon corresponds with _

climatic changes and political fragmentation

Late Intermediate Period (c. AD 1000-1438)

North: Chimor
~ arose c. AD 900, succeeded to Moche, later conquered by Inca emperor Tupa Inca Yupanqui

Late Horizon (AD 1438-1532) Inca Empire

Quechua language, Tawantinsuyu, established on LIP pre-imperial Inca sites in geopolitical vacuum

Inca capital

Cuzco

Inca seat of power

Coricancha

archaeological features of Inca imperialism

Mitmaqkuna, roads, way stations (tambos), stove houses (colcas), garrisons, expanded construction of ag. terraces

Mitmaqkuna

forced resettlement to disrupt local ties/allied resistance

how was expansion accomplished by the Inca?

manipulation of communal labor service, organization by ayllu, “paid” with chicha

chicha

participation in Inca ritual

Spanish Arrival timeline

Huayna Capac dies (1524), appoints son as successor (also dies), nobles appoint Huascar as “Sapa Inca”, Civil War: Huascar declares war on Atahualpa for fear of coup d’etat, Pizarro (1531)

when Pizarro arrived, Atahualpa had defeated and imprisoned Huascar, then the Spanish _

ambushed and imprisoned Atahualpa (he paid his exorbitant ransom but was still killed)