Inca Culture Paper
Inca culture 1
The Inca culture
Samir Ahmed Vallejo
Prof. Carmen Anhalzer
HIS 0331E
Universidad San Francisco de Quito
9 June 2014
Inca culture 2 Abstract
This paper is a research on Inca civilization, especially denoting the most important characteristics that people should know about this people. The Incas had the biggest empire known in America and they had an incredible ability to manage and merge culture to their social structure. Also, they were expert engineers and architects, because at the time they did not had sufficient technology but still they accomplished to built amazing buildings. At the most, the Incas developed agriculture as their main activity and they achieved many breakthroughs …show more content…
“The empire consisted of more than ten million inhabitants and had, at the time, a very unique political and economic system” (Harris, n.d.). The vast Incan empire had many people living under its territory so it had to have a very systematic political and social structure in order to maintain stability. The Incas “organizational ability captivated the interest of later Spanish conquerors almost as much as did their gold. Indeed, so effective as rulers were the Inca that some of their ideas and practice survive today in the countries their empire once encompassed” (Expansion of the Inca Empire).
As an agricultural society the Inca communities were structured around this activity.
Harris (n.d.) cites Bakewell in this matter: “the basic unit of society, apart from the family, was the ayllu, […]”. The ayllu, was a social structure, bigger than the family, characterized by the tasks it enclosed. “These tasks included building irrigation canals or cutting agricultural terraces into steep hillsides. The ayllu also stored food and other supplies to distribute among members during hard times” (Mr. McEntarfer 's , n.d.). …show more content…
In this field they developed many improvements and introduced new concepts unknown for the time. The first concept was the use of agricultural terraces. These terraces had two main purposes, first
Inca culture 8 they provided farmers and land workers a flat terrain to cultivate their crops and secondly they helped protect cities from erosions (Contrabutions, n.d..). In these terraces, they developed a microclimate form of cultivation. The Incas experimented with these terraces to develop better crops. In the terraces the climate was colder at the bottom and warmer at the top, so different product could be cultivated in the same place (Contrabutions,
n.d..).
In conclusion, Incas were one of the most impressive culture and empires built in
America. They had amazing capabilities to conquer and expand through the land, but also it is remarkable the way they managed their political and social structure. Also, as the core of their society, agriculture was one of the main activities they developed, setting a stage for investigation in the field because of their advanced development of this activity.
Furthermore, one of the most impressive gifts Incas left to the world was their
The Inca culture
Samir Ahmed Vallejo
Prof. Carmen Anhalzer
HIS 0331E
Universidad San Francisco de Quito
9 June 2014
Inca culture 2 Abstract
This paper is a research on Inca civilization, especially denoting the most important characteristics that people should know about this people. The Incas had the biggest empire known in America and they had an incredible ability to manage and merge culture to their social structure. Also, they were expert engineers and architects, because at the time they did not had sufficient technology but still they accomplished to built amazing buildings. At the most, the Incas developed agriculture as their main activity and they achieved many breakthroughs …show more content…
“The empire consisted of more than ten million inhabitants and had, at the time, a very unique political and economic system” (Harris, n.d.). The vast Incan empire had many people living under its territory so it had to have a very systematic political and social structure in order to maintain stability. The Incas “organizational ability captivated the interest of later Spanish conquerors almost as much as did their gold. Indeed, so effective as rulers were the Inca that some of their ideas and practice survive today in the countries their empire once encompassed” (Expansion of the Inca Empire).
As an agricultural society the Inca communities were structured around this activity.
Harris (n.d.) cites Bakewell in this matter: “the basic unit of society, apart from the family, was the ayllu, […]”. The ayllu, was a social structure, bigger than the family, characterized by the tasks it enclosed. “These tasks included building irrigation canals or cutting agricultural terraces into steep hillsides. The ayllu also stored food and other supplies to distribute among members during hard times” (Mr. McEntarfer 's , n.d.). …show more content…
In this field they developed many improvements and introduced new concepts unknown for the time. The first concept was the use of agricultural terraces. These terraces had two main purposes, first
Inca culture 8 they provided farmers and land workers a flat terrain to cultivate their crops and secondly they helped protect cities from erosions (Contrabutions, n.d..). In these terraces, they developed a microclimate form of cultivation. The Incas experimented with these terraces to develop better crops. In the terraces the climate was colder at the bottom and warmer at the top, so different product could be cultivated in the same place (Contrabutions,
n.d..).
In conclusion, Incas were one of the most impressive culture and empires built in
America. They had amazing capabilities to conquer and expand through the land, but also it is remarkable the way they managed their political and social structure. Also, as the core of their society, agriculture was one of the main activities they developed, setting a stage for investigation in the field because of their advanced development of this activity.
Furthermore, one of the most impressive gifts Incas left to the world was their