DAILY LIFE

INCA SOCIETY      

               Most  Inca  were  commoners  who  were  farmers,  herders,  and  soldiers.    Each  age  group  had  a  different  job.    For  instance,  girls  aged  9-­‐12  had  the  job  of  gathering  wild  plans,  while  boys  around  the  same  age  herded  llamas  and  alpacas.    Men  between  the  ages  of  25  and  50  did  most  of  the  heavy  labor.    Some  women  were  chosen  at  16  to  train  for  state  service.    The  “Chosen  Women”  did  special  jobs  like  weaving  cloth  for  the  Inca  nobles.    Everyone  was  required  to  help  in  some  way,  even  the  elderly  were  expected  to  do  light  weaving  and  other  tasks.    Families  lived  in  homes  made  out  of  sunbaked  bricks  with  thatched  roofs.    Commoners  homes  did  not  include  windows,  and  no  homes,  even  that  of  the  noble  class,  had  doors.    Inca  citizens  wore  simple  clothing  made  from  alpaca  wool.    They  had  plenty  of  leisure  time,  though.    Inca  citizens  spent  almost  a  third  of  the  year  celebrating  ceremonies  and  festivals.               Inca  house,  probably  that  of  a  noble.  

 

 

SOCIAL STRUCTURE  

     

INCA RULE  The  Inca  emperor,  the  Sapa  Inca,  owned  everything  in  the  Inca  Empire.    The  Sapa  Inca  was  a  warrior-­‐king.    Everything  done  within  the  empire  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  king  and  the  empire.    Inca  commoners  had  no  personal  freedoms.    They  could  not  own  anything  beyond  what  was  needed  for  their  job,  and  were  not  allowed  to  travel  on  roads.    Commoners  were  divided  into  communities  called  ayllus.    Administrators  of  the  Sapa  Inca  regulated  when  a  person  worked  and  how  often.    Breaking  laws  was  meant  with  harsh  consequences,  usually  the  death  penalty.    People  rarely  broke  the  law.    The  state  divided  land  into  three  parts:  one  for  the  government,  one  for  religious  purposes  (the  priests),  and  one  for  the  ayllu.    It  was  the  job  of  commoners  to  farm  for  the  government  first,  their  families  second.    Citizens  also  had  to  pay  a  labor  tax,  or  mita.    The  Inca  loved  gold  and  silver  but  had  no  use  for  it  as  a  currency.    People  paid  their  tax  with  labor  to  benefit  the  empire.    This  labor  allowed  the  Inca  to  expand  very  quickly.    The  mita  also  included  military  service,  which  also  helped  the  Inca  to  expand.  

Sapa  Inca  

Nobles  by  Birth  

Appointed  Nobles  

Non-­‐Inca  Chiefs  

Commoners  

• Warrior-­‐king  • Believed  to  be  decedent  of  sun  god,  Inti.  

• Close  relatives  of  the  ruling  family  • Had  most  elaborate  houses,  ate  best  food,  wore  finest  clothing  • Held  highest  positions  in  government  

• Those  who  were  made  nobles  as  a  reward  for  service  to  empire  

• Enjoyed  many  of  the  privileges  of  birth  nobles  

• Non-­‐Inca  chiefs  whose  lands  had  become  part  of  the  Inca  Empire  

• They  kept  ruling  privileges  and  some  noble  benefits  

• Divided  into  categories  based  on  age  and  gender  

   

INCA ECONOMY  The  Inca  had  no  money,  and  instead,  used  the  barter  system.    Since  the  government  owned  everything,  there  was  very  little  use  for  trade.    This  also  meant   that  that  gaining  wealth  was  near  impossible.    Simple  markets  existed  for  some  trade,  but  overall,  people  

produced  what   they  needed.    Wool,  potatoes,  maize,  peppers,  tomatoes,  and  other  food  goods  were  traded  in  these  markets.    Of  course,  gold  was  the  favorite  item  for  trade.    The  Inca  also  built  seagoing  ships  called  balsas  to  move  goods  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  the  other.        

   

Peruvian  corn.  

Peruvian  Balsa  Ship.  

CASE STUDY: MACHU PICCHU  Machu  Picchu  sits  almost  8,000  feet  above  sea  level,  high  up  in  the  Andes  Mountains  where  it  meets  the  Amazon  Basin.    The  area  is  a  tropical  forest,  filled  with  flora  and  fauna.  The  site  was  built  at  the  height  of  the  Inca  civilization  and  was  abandoned  when  the  Spanish  invaded  in  the  16th  century.    Machu  Picchu  sat  hidden  for  centuries  until  a  Peruvian  guide  led  a  Yale  professor  named  Hiram  Bingham  to  the  site  in  1911.    Locals  had  never  forgotten  Machu  Picchu,  but  to  Western  scholars,  it  was  known  as  the  “lost  Incan  city.”    The  Spanish  Conquistadors  had  heard  of  the  place,  but  also  never  found  it.    The  site’s  approximately  200  structures  (used  for  religious  ceremonies,  housing,  and  astronomical  sightings)  were  separated  from  the  almost  700  terraces  used  for  farming.    These  were  all  connected  by  crisscrossing  roads  and  trails  and  scattered  with  many  irrigation  canals  for  water.    Scholars  are  still  trying  to  uncover  the  mysteries  of    Machu  Picchu.    The  site  sits  at  the  center  of  a  network    of  roads  and  structures  that  align  with  astronomical    events,  like  the  summer  solstice.    Scholars  are  sure    that  the  Inca  picked  this  location  very  carefully.    And    they  built  it  with  no  metal  tools  and  no  wheels.      Evidence  suggests  that  all  this  effort  was  expended  for    the  luxury  of  perhaps  only  1,000  people  to  live  there.