Inca Religion

1. In the heterogeneous Inca Empire, polytheistic religions were practiced by its different people. Most religions had common traits such as the existence of a Pachamama and Viracocha. The Incas had conquered peoples add their traditional deities to the Inca pantheon. Sadly, We do not know much because Incas did not have a writing system.

Inca Video!

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-inca-empire-part-1/17wwij862?cpkey=7a3a0502-0385-4b98-9050-1ce56e9832a3%257c%257c%257c%257c

The Fall of the Inca Empire

Francisco Pizzaro was a Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire. In 1531, Pizzaro and a group of 180 Spanish and African soldiers traveled from Panama to the West Coast of South America. They hiked through the Andes Mountain stealing gold and riches from the native people. Pizzaro and his men came across the Inca camp which stretched over more than 2000 miles. When Pizzaro arrived, the Inca's were just ending a civil war between brothers Atahuallpa and Huascar. It ended when Atahuallpa killed Huascar and became emperor. Pizzaro wanted to convert the Incas to christianity and he wanted them to follow the King of Spain. When Atahuallpa refused, Pizzaro was taken as prisoner. To gain his freedom, Atahuallpa offered Pizzaro a room full of gold and silver. When Pizzaro was granted access to the room, he killed Atahuallpa. The Spaniards took over making all of the Incans slaves.

Inca Food

The Inca Food

In the Inca Empire the food there was mainly of crops, but there were some meats in the food pyramid. The vegetables consisted of  beans, squash, sweet potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, and manioc. The main source of vegetables was potatoes. The root vegetables were one of the big parts in the Inca diet because they can withstand in the cold weather. In the lower elevation, the Incas would grow maize. They also ate meat such as llamas and alpacas. The poverty stricken people ate guinea pigs cooked on hot stones. Their entrails were used in soups and sauces. 

Trading and Transportation

        

The Inca would trade and transport goods to different locations. For long distance, the Incas would travel on foot. Loads of 100 pounds or less were carried by llamas. The main trading and transport roads are from Quitio to Columbia. The other roads were from Bolivia to Santiago in north-west Argentina. The road system would stretch up to 25000 miles. The roads had a width up to 3-5 feet. A special stone would be laid over the roads if there was an area that is wet. This road system was used very often.

                   

Inca Clothing

 The Inca clothing is very colorful. The upper class have special clothing. Their clothing have bright patterns. The shape of the clothing is similar to a poncho. The clothing that they wear is made of very soft wool. However, the Incas aren't just represented by their clothing, but also by their jewelry. They wear huge necklaces, vibrant bracelets, and round medallions. The royalties wear enormous feathers on their clothes.Warmer clothing was worn by Incas that were made from textile fibers such as cotton or wool. They were always worn whole and never cut or tailored and they were held together by large metal pins. The Incas also wore hats to protect their faces from the sun.  "Sapa Inca wore each cloth for only once. Afterwards the worn clothes were burnt. So you know, they need to supply lots of cloth for Sapa Inca. As you know "chosen women" were the ones who prepared clothes for Sapa Inca. So they had to remain busy on this purpose. Only the Inca could wear a headdress with his special fringe of gold and feathers. His headdress was of different kind: round his head was wreathed a turban of many colored folds, called the llautu, with a tasseled fringe, like that worn by the prince, but of a scarlet color, while two feathers of a rare and curious bird, called the coraquenque, placed upright in it, were the distinguishing insignia of royalty. His coat was covered with jewels and pieces of turquoise. ." (http://www.machupicchu-inca.com/inca-clothing.html)

Island

The Incas lived on a remote Peruvian Island of Taquile surrounded by the Great Lake Titcaca. Its landscape consists of many mountains and churches and temples. In the incan language, Quechua, their empire was known as Tawantinsuyu. "This means "land of the four quarters."  The empire and all four of the quarters which it was divided into met at the Incan capital Cuzco, Peru in South America (Ogburn, 1998).  Today, pieces of the Incan empire still remain in different areas of the central highlands of the Andes.  The Incas were a vast group, and the strongest of this were located in the highlands.  By 1532 they had an accumulated mass of land that spanned from the Pacific coast across the Andes to the Atlantic coast and from central Chile to Ecuador."

(http://www.angelfire.com/pa4/theincas/location.html)