World History

Chapter SixSection Two

Culture of the Andes

• At first people settled in villages along the coast of Peru and Chile

• Expanded inland and farmed the river valleys that spread inland

• Used irrigation on fields from rivers – grew corn (maize) cotton, squash, beans

• On the slopes of the mountains they grew potatoes – eventually 700 verities

Early Andean Civ.• Chavin - Earliest of the Andean cultures• 900 B.C. – large temple built• Don’t know much about them but religion

probably was a unifying factor in Peru• Moche – 100 – 700 A.D. – civilization on the coast

of Peru• Farmers fertilized and irrigated fields• Leaders built roads to travel on• Created large adobe structures – clay and plant

fibers formed into bricks hardened in the sun

Southern Andes

• Nazca – 200 B.C. – 600 A.D.• Created geoglyphs in the earth by removing

rocks and soil – creating lines miles long – created pictures in the earth – religiously significant

• Huari – developed in Peru’s mountain and coastal areas

• Tiahuanaco – developed near lake Titicaca• Shared many same art styles

Inca

• The most powerful Andean civilization• 1100’s – first Incan dynasty founded• Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui – skilled warrior and

leader made himself emperor or Sapa Inca• Capital of Cuzco – set out to conquer

surrounding areas• His son Topa Inca Yupanqui continued to

expand the empire until it stretched 2500 miles up and down the Andes

Inca• Sapa Inca – emperor – had absolute power• Claimed to be of divine origin the son of the sun• Gold was the “sweat of the sun” and was the emperors symbol• Controlled everything in the empire• No personal property so not much trade or sale• Trade did not play a large role in economy• Government was efficient – nobles ruled provinces along with local

chiefs of conquered • Officials carried out day-to-day operations• Some kept records on quipu – collection of colored strings knotted

in different ways to represent numbers• No writing system and may have used the quipu to record all

necessary information

Inca

• Inca forced all conquered people learn their language of Quechua and their religion

• Created one of the greatest networks of roads in history – 14,000 through mountains

• Built hundreds of bridges across rivers and gorges• Steps carved into mountain sides and tunnels dug

through hills• Roads were only for army and messengers and

other government officials

Inca

• Temple of the Sun – main temple in Cuzco – were all the roads of the empire led to

• Walls lined with gold• Built with large stone blocks finely cut and

polished so that no mortar was needed to hold the buildings together

Daily Inca Life

• Leaders of each village, called an ayllu, carried out the governments orders

• Assigned families jobs organized the community to work the land

• Arranged marriages to ensure the proper ages of married couples

Farming

• Carved out flat strips in the hillsides to farm on that were held in place with stone walls

• Kept the rain from washing away the dirt and made farming possible in an area with little flat land

• Part of the year they worked for the government and the other part for the community

• Allotted people parts of the harvest and stored the rest in case of a famine

Textiles

• Inca mastered metal working and weaving• Could work and alloy (blend) – tin, copper,

bronze, silver and gold• Used silver and gold for statues of gods and all

other metals for useful items• Raised cotton and mastered the art of

weaving• Also mummified their dead

Religion• Polytheistic that represented nature• Offered food, drink and clothing to gods• Every month had a festival• Priests, powerful, served the gods• Chief god was Inti – sun god• Sun gods attendants the “chosen women” were selected

from all over the empire• Spent years in training – learned to prepare food and drink

for the gods, made elaborate wool garments worn by the Sapa Inca and the Coya

• After training most continued to serve Inti and some married nobles or joined the courts