More Important Topics Cylinder

Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with pottery and textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture. The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless construction process first used on a large scale by the Tiwanaku.

The Inca imported the stoneworkers of the Tiwanaku region to Cusco when they conquered the lands south of Lake Titicaca.

The rocks used in construction were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another and carving away any sections on the lower rock where the dust was compressed.

The tight fit and the concavity on the lower rocks made them extraordinarily stable in the frequent earthquakes that strike the area. The Inca used straight walls except on important religious sites and constructed whole towns at once.

The Inca also sculpted the natural surroundings themselves.

One could easily think that a rock along an Inca trail is completely natural, except if one sees it at the right time of year when the sun casts a stunning shadow, betraying its synthetic form.

The Inca rope bridges were also used to transport messages and materials by Chasqui running messengers. The Inca also adopted the terraced agriculture that the previous Huari civilization had popularized.

But they did not use the terraces solely for food production. At the Inca tambo, or inn, at Ollantaytambo there is evidence that the terraces were planted with flowers.

The Inca provincial thrones were often carved into natural outcroppings, and there were over 360 natural springs in the areas surrounding Cusco, such as the one at Tambo Machay. At Tambo Machay the natural rock was sculpted and stonework was added, creating alcoves and directing the water into fountains. These pseudo-natural carvings functioned to show both the Inca's respect for nature and their command over it.

It has the form of a base (50 % of his height) at several small levels (in distance of decimeters between each one) and in his center a "turret" of four angles rises. Every angle indicates to one of the principal geographical directions: north, east, south and west.

The palabre has, according to some scientists, the meaning " where it sticks (or it moors) the sun (inti) ", and one

believes that it was serving as calendar, to define the stations, according to the shade that was giving the sun to the base of this stone.

Intihuatanas or Intiwatanas in good state are in the ruins of Pisac and Machu Picchu.

In addition, the Inca played drums and on woodwind instruments including flutes, pan-pipes and trumpets made of shell and ceramics.

The Inca made beautiful objects of gold. But precious metals were in much shorter supply than in earlier Peruvian cultures.

The Inca metalworking style draws much of its inspiration from Chimú art and in fact the best metal workers of Chan Chan were transferred to Cusco when the Kingdom of Chimor was incorporated into the empire.

Unlike the Chimú, the Inca do not seem to have regarded metals to be as precious as fine cloth. When the Spanish first encountered the Inca they were offered gifts of qunpi cloth.

A quipu usually consists of colored spun and plied thread from llama or alpaca hair or cotton cords with numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base 10 positional system.

Quipus may have just a few strands, but some have up to 2,000 strands.

(Quipu is the Spanish language spelling and the most common spelling in English. Khipu is the word for "knot" in the Cusco dialect of the Quechua language (the native Inca language); the kh is an aspirated k. In some other dialects, the term is kipu.)

During the development of the system, there was no attempt to remaster, or recreate phonetic sounds as the script in European writings does.

The quipu have yet to be fully deciphered, and there are a variety of theories as to how much information they contain.

For instance, the black and white checkerboard pattern topped with a red triangle is believed to have been worn by soldiers of the Inca army.

Some of the motifs make reference to earlier cultures, such as the stepped diamonds of the Huari and the three step stairstep motif of the Moche.

In this royal tunic, no two squares are exactly the same.

Cloth was divided into three classes. Awaska was used for household use, having an approximate threadcount of about 120 threads per inch.

Finer cloth, qunpi, was divided into two classes: The first, woven by male qunpikamayuq (keepers of fine cloth), was collected as tribute from throughout the country and was used for trade, to adorn rulers and to be given as gifts to political allies and subjects to cement loyalty.

The other class of qunpi ranked highest. It was woven by aqlla (female virgins of the sun god temple) and used solely for royal and religious use.

These had threadcounts of 600 or more per inch, unsurpassed anywhere in the world, until the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.

Aside from the tunic, a person of importance wore a llawt'u, a series of cords wrapped around the head.

To establish his importance, the Inca Atahualpa commissioned a llawt'u woven from vampire bat hair. The leader of each ayllu, or extended family, had its own headdress.

In conquered regions, traditional clothing continued to be worn, but the finest weavers, such as those of Chan Chan, were transferred to Cusco and kept there to weave qunpi. (The Chimú had previously transferred these same weavers to Chan Chan from Sican.)

The wearing of jewellery was not uniform throughout the empire.

Chimú artisans, for example, continued to wear earrings after their integration into the empire, but in many other regions, only local leaders wore them.

The Inca metalworking style draws much of its inspiration from Chimú art and in fact the best metal workers of Chan Chan were transferred to Cusco when the Kingdom of Chimor was incorporated into the empire.

Unlike the Chimú, the Inca do not seem to have regarded metals to be as precious as fine cloth. When the Spanish first encountered the Inca they were offered gifts of qunpi cloth.

Arequipa is a creator of the Yaraví, a style melacólico from singings to capella that evokes the solitude of the

mountains. The song most known about this style is " The Condor Happens ", a traditional song that was popularized in the United States by the duo Simon and Garfunkel.

The original composition consists of a Yaraví followed by a street band Inca and an escape of Huayno. The Huaylas, a rhythm of walk head offices, it is happy. The coast, more influída for the Spanish culture, there combines traditional

European rhythms as the Waltz and the Flamenco with other rhythms as the Gypsy and the African music. The most well-known style of Lima is the Peruvian Waltz popularized by big Chabuca Granda, who is he considers to be " Thin Picture " and " José Antonio " the principal composer of the Creole music, with songs " The Flower of the Cinnamon ", '. Other songs known about this genre are a: " Soul, Heart and Life ", " Hate me ", " My Private Property " and " Return me the Rosary of my Mother ".

The Incas as well as the ancient Peruvians from the epoch of Caral, of which the Incas are tributary believed that the horizontal space was divided in two parts, and each of them subdivided in other two, the world was turning out to be composed by three planes:

Hanan Pasha: The world of above Parts Hanan Pacha world of above and Ñaupa Pacha ancient world or of the forefathers. Kay Pacha: The world of here Sanka Pasha world of the punishment or the reprobates and Kay Pacha world of here. Uku Pasha or Urin Pacha: The world of below.

(Note of Portable Planetariums: Notice the seem with Norse Cosmology).

The Andean pre-Hispanic age animist, was outlining to the stars and to the big facts and geographical phenomena as deities in yes same. The only god in

the complete sense of the word, was Viracocha, the creative god. Other important deities were the sun (inti), the moon (Breast Killa) protector of the women, the ground (Pasha Sucks) of the agricultural fertility, and the beam (Illapa) Trinity of the beam, thunder and lightning. god of the battle.

Mamma Sara: Goddess of the food. Conopa (religious representation) of the corn, the most important food.

Pachacamac: Creative god on the coast. Other of the names of Viracocha. God of the quakes.

Mamma Cocha: Goddess of the sea.

Worship

Because the Inca religion was based around nature, the sun was perhaps the most important aspect of life because it provided warmth and light. Inti therefore is also known as the Giver of Life.

He was worshipped mostly by farmers who relied on the sun to receive good harvests.

Although he was the second most revered deity after Viracocha, he received the greatest number of offerings.

Legends and History

He and his wife, Pachamama, the Earth goddess, were generally considered benevolent deities but Mama Quilla, his sister and the moon goddess, is also considered his wife.

According to an ancient myth, Inti taught his son Manco Capac and his daughter Mama Ocllo the arts of civilization and they were sent to earth to pass this knowledge to mankind. Another legend however states Manco Capac was the son of Viracocha.

Inti ordered his children to build the Inca capital where a divine golden wedge they carried with them, would fall to the ground. Incas believed this happened in the city of Cuzco. The Inca ruler was considered to be the living representative of Inti.

Inti was also known as Apu Punchau, which means "leader [of the] daytime".

Inti is represented as a golden disc with a human face. A great golden disk representing Inti was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1571 and was sent to the Pope via Spain. It has since been lost.

Inti Raymi

The festival of Inti Raymi, which honours the sun-god, now attracts thousands of tourists each year to Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Inca empire.

The festival of Inti was held during the winter solstice, which was around June 24 in the Incan Empire. The festival was held in Cuzco and was attended by the four nations of Tahuantinsuyu. In Quechua, Inti Raymi, means "resurrection of the sun." Military captains, government officials, and the vassals who attended were dressed in their best costumes, and carried their best weapons and instruments.

Preparation for the festival of Inti Raymi began with a fast of three days, where also during those days there was no fire lit and the people had to refrain from having sex. This festival itself would last nine days, and during this time the people consumed massive amounts of food and drink. There were many sacrifices as well which were all performed on the first day. After the nine days everyone would leave with the permission of the Inca back to their states.

In 1438 AD, under the command of Sapa Inca (paramount leader) Pachacuti, whose name literally meant "world-shaker", they began a far-reaching expansion. The land Pachacuti conquered was about the size of the Thirteen Colonies of the United States in 1776, and consisted of nearly the entire Andes mountain range.

Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cuzco into an

empire, the Tahuantinsuyu, a federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders: Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Contisuyu (SW), and Collasuyu (SE). Pachacuti is also thought to have built Machu Picchu, either as a family home or as a Camp David-like retreat.

Pachacuti would send spies to regions he wanted in his empire who would report back on their political organization, military might and wealth. He would then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles, and promising that they would be materially richer as subject rulers of the Inca.

Most accepted the rule of the Inca as a fait accompli and acquiesced peacefully. The ruler's children would then be brought to Cuzco to be taught about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility, and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire.

It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army; Pachacuti's son Túpac Inca began conquests to the north in 1463, and continued them as Inca after Pachucuti's death in 1471. His most important conquest was the Kingdom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru. Túpac Inca's empire stretched north into modern day Ecuador and Colombia.

Túpac Inca's son Huayna Cápac added significant territory to the south. At its height, Tahuantinsuyu included Peru and Bolivia, most of what is now Ecuador, a large portion of modern-day Chile, and extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia.

Tahuantinsuyu was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. For instance, the Chimú used money in their commerce, while the Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour (it is said that Inca tax collectors would take the head lice of the lame and old as a symbolic tribute).

The portions of the Chachapoya that had been conquered were almost openly hostile to the Inca, and the Inca nobles rejected an offer of refuge in their kingdom after their troubles with the Spanish.

The Moche civilization (aka the Mochica culture, Early Chimu, Pre-Chimu, Proto-Chimu, etc.) flourished in northern Peru from about 200 CE to 700 CE.

Today it is understood that they were not politically the same people as the Chimú, and some believe this was not even an empire but rather a group of communities that shared a common iconography and technology.

Years as expansive as 300 BCE to 1000 CE are sometimes described as the era of the Moche. They are noted for the elaborate painted ceramics and pottery, gold work, and

irrigation systems. Moche history is broadly categorized into five periods based on the increasing complexity of pottery decoration. Many Moche ceramic pieces, including their highly detailed erotic pottery, can be found at the Museo de la Nacion and the Museo Larco Herrera, both in Lima.

The Moche lived principally in the valleys of three rivers: Chicama, Moche, and Viru. Major Moche cities include Sipan and Huancaco. There are several Moche ruins not far from the city of Trujillo, Peru. Huaca del Sol, a pyramidal structure on the Rio Moche, had been the largest pre-Columbian structure in Peru but was largely destroyed when Europeans mined its graves for gold.

Fortunately the nearby Huaca de la Luna seems to have been more important to the Moche and remained largely intact. It contains many colorful murals with complex iconography and is being excavated as of 2004.

The Nazca culture flourished in the Nazca region between 300 BCE and 800 CE. They created the famous Nazca lines and built an impressive system of underground aqueducts that still function today.

Near the aqueducts open to tourists, there is an overlook point which includes an Inca building added after the Inca conquest of the area.

On the pampa, on which the Nazca lines were made, the ceremonial city of Cahuachi (1-500 CE) sits overlooking the lines. Modern knowledge about the culture of the Nazca is built upon studying the city of Cahuachi.

The Nazca region is a desert that the Nazca turned into a viable agricultural area using their aqueduct technology. Nazca pottery has been divided into eight phases. Around 200 BCE, at the end of the Early Horizon drought, Nazca I began. Pottery from this era contains the mythical content of Paracas art, but added realistic subject matter such as fruits, plants, people, and other animals.

Realism increased in importance in the following three phases (II, III, IV) referred to as the Monumental phases. The pottery from these phases includes renditions of their main subject matter against a bold red or white background. In the next phase, Nazca V, the backgrounds are filled in and the subject matter now included bodyless renditions of both deamons and

humans. Nazca VI, and VII include the earlier motifs but also add militaristic ones, and portraits of elite members of the society. Nazca VI and VII also begin to show the influence of the Moche. Finally, Nazca VIII saw the introduction of completely disjointed figures and a rich iconography which we have yet to decipher.

The phases were created before the advent of carbon dating and today have some problems. While the general order did not change there is a great deal of overlap of the phases, and while the Nazca IX phase ends c. 600 CE, some of the pottery in that category was created at least as late as 755 CE.

Since the Nazca were a coastal people, who relied on the sea for their livelihood, archaeologists are fortunate that they portrayed aspects of their everyday lives in and on their pottery. The motifs generally seen on Nazca pots are those of animals and plants used and seen by the ancient people.

These include sea birds, hummingbirds, whales, sharks, fish, snakes, seeds, flowers, and cacti. Also, more gruesomely, the Nazca also portrayed disembodied heads, presumed to be trophy heads, on their pottery.

The Nazca are also known for their textiles. They began using llama and massive quantities of alpaca a thousand years before the north coast cultures began to esteem the camelid wool. The source of the wool is believed to be from the Ayacucho region. The motifs that appeared on the pottery appeared earlier in the textiles.

Textiles may have been as important to other cultures in the region as to the Nazca, but the desert has preserved the textiles of both the Nazca and Paracas cultures and comprise most of what we know about early textiles in the region.

Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture that ruled the northern coast of Peru, beginning around 850 CE and ending around 1470 CE.

Chimor was the largest kingdom in the Late Intermediate period, encompasing 1000 km of coastline and including up to 2/3 of the people of the Andes.

The greatest surviving ruin of this civilization is the mud city of Chan Chan.

The Chimú grew out of the remnants of the Moche culture. The first valleys seem to have joined forces willingly, but Sican was acquired through conquest. They also were significantly influenced by the Cajamarca culture and the Huari.

According to legend the capital Chan Chan was founded by Taycanamo who arrived in the area by sea. Chimor was the last kingdom that had any chance of stopping the Inca. But the Inca conquest was begun in the 1470s by Tupac Inca and was nearly complete when Huayna Capac assumed the throne in 1493 CE.

His head office located to the northwest of the lake Titicaca, between Ayaviri and Azángaro, in the district of

Pucará, province of Lampa, in the region Handle. The principal zone of domain, it was the plateau of the Collao, about 3.700 msnm.

His zone of influence extended 500 kilometers to the west of the lake and to several kilometers for the this side. It was another culture of muffling or " bridge " between Chavín and Tiahuanaco. This culture was the first one in

dominating the systems and skills of the agriculture and the cattle of height. His feeding was by means of olluco, goose, mashua, it swallows and corn, the last one in minor proportion, which they were producing in the regions suni and puna. The base of their economy, was the cattle of auquénidos: vicuña, flame, alpaca and guanaco.

Kings Pucará, conquered towards the west up to the Pacific Ocean, to stock up with food of other ecological flats; " of the Pacific Ocean they were stocking up with fish ".

Pucará, builds his constructions in stone, overcoming in the court lítico (form, polishing and union of the rocks; beams, cornices and columns), to the teachers of Chavín de Huántar.

Parallel to Chavín de Huántar, other cultures were developing, they achieving such a development that they overcame in some things the chavines; definitively towards 500 B.C., Chavín de Huántar lost his hegemony.

In this epoch, those of Pucará in ceramics and the Paracas in textiles, exported products of better quality than the Chavín. Having obtained ésto, it did these surer peoples of yes same and they were capable of becoming independent and " they detached of the obedience the State Chavin and of the foreign administration ".

After the influence Chavín gone being diluted in his artistic and technical declarations, it diminished evidently his ideological subjection for the terror. There appeared other regional cultures that were expanding extending his borders that were even defended with internal wars.

It is as well as Chavín de Huántar, loses his importance and gradually, there are becoming more important other cultures of the coast and saw of Peru, to develop independently, in the successive years and to form independent cultures.