The civilization of the Incas
When you reach Machu Picchu (from the Quechua old peak), you can see that the Inca civilization reached a high degree of development, unequal to that of the West, but parallel.
Until recently, it was thought that Machu Picchu had been discovered by the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911. In 2008, however, news was made public that the Inca citadel was actually discovered, and unfortunately looted, by an German adventurer, Augusto Berns, in 1867. Some documents, whose authenticity was verified, testify that Berns established a company to exploit the archaeological site, with the consent of Andrés Avelino Caceres, the president of Peru at that time.
In any case, Hiram Bingham was the first to study the archaeological site, describing two hundred palaces, sanctuaries and rooms.
Why was it abandoned during the 16th century? Perhaps because of a devastating epidemic? Initially it was thought to have been a military fortress to protect the valley. However, no weapons or remains of young men were ever found, but only women, elderly people over seventy years old, and five children.
Some archaeologists have developed the hypothesis that Machu Picchu was a kind of convent for chosen women called the Virgins of the Sun. If this had been the case, the elders whose remains were found nearby would be the eunuchs who guarded them.
How was it possible to build solid palaces of such heavy stones without the help of pack animals? (Neither cattle nor horses existed in America before the arrival of Europeans). The Incas, furthermore, did not use the wheel or iron metallurgy. They only had stone hammers, bronze axes, and wooden clubs. In the temple of Sacsayhuamán, not far from Cusco, there are stones that weigh hundreds of tons. The colossal structure, probably a ceremonial center, is made up of a set of three polygonal walls whose length exceeds 500 meters. In some places, the walls are 18 meters high. The stones that are placed on the foundations of the structure weigh up to 200 tons. Also because of this gigantic construction, the question arises about what the building process was like. How was it possible to transport these immense rocks and how were they joined together with millimeter precision?
The questions that arise when getting involved in the study of this civilization are multiple. Above all, the origin of the Incas: where did they come from?
Some archaeologists, such as Julio César Tello, maintained that the Inca civilization, (like all Andean peoples), had its origins in the Amazon. According to him, the temple of Kotosh, located in the Sierra Norte of Peru, which was built in the 3rd millennium BC, halfway between the city of Chavin and the tropical jungle, is a clear indication of the Amazonian origin of the Andean towns.
Others believe that the origin of the Incas should be sought in Tiwanaku, the stone city located not far from Lake Titicaca, in present-day Bolivia.
In any case, the Incas evolved from pre-existing cultures around the 12th century AD. It was during the government of Pachacutec, around the middle of the 15th century, that the kingdom was transformed into an empire and was called Tahuantisuyo (the empire of the four regions). At the arrival of the conquerors, the empire extended for approximately 4,800 kilometers from north to south. From present-day southern Colombia to the Maule River, in Chile. Towards the east, the empire covered part of the Amazon, called Antisuyo (hence the name of the Andes). The population of the empire was approximately 12 million people, larger than that of Spain or England at the time. The territory of the empire was covered by a complete network of roads whose length exceeded 16,000 kilometers. These arteries, similar to the Roman ones, were up to 7 meters long in the coastal areas and reached the most remote towns located at altitudes unthinkable for Europeans, greater than 5,000 meters. How was it possible that an empire of such enormous dimensions, with paved streets that connected the cities, and a complex social system, could function without the use of a written language (Quechua was only oral) or a numerical system? In reality, all news and information was transmitted orally, by people in charge called Camayocs (those who remember). The accounts were made with Quipus, long knotted ropes of different colors, which worked in a similar way to the abacus. With the help of the Quipus, the Camayocs could inventory each warehouse or deposit of corn and potatoes. Upon arrival, the Spanish destroyed the Quipus without trying to understand their meaning.
The king, called Inca, was the absolute monarch of the entire territory and controlled the religious powers. The sun, revered as God, was considered his progenitor and his wife was seen as a descendant of the Moon Goddess. The main Inca deity was Viracocha, the Creator of the world. Other divinities were also worshiped, in a kind of naturalistic pantheism, such as mountains, caves and waters. The king lived in extreme luxury: he ate with gold plates and cutlery, had hundreds of concubines and dressed in vicuña wool. All the lands in the empire were his and he assigned them to various clans based on need. The arable lands were divided into three parts: the production of the first part corresponded to the clergy, to the priests assigned to the cult of the sun. The second part was destined for the needs of the king and his court, and the third part was for the people. Going down the social ladder were the Curacas, the nobles of the provinces. Then there were the heads of the clans who recognized themselves in the totemic ancestors. Then there were the artisans, goldsmiths and weavers, and the people, who dedicated themselves to agriculture and livestock. The subjects of the empire lived without deprivation: they had plenty of food and appropriate clothing to protect themselves from the cold of the Andes.
None, however, could feel truly free. The omnipresent bureaucracy of the Incas ordered the peasants when to plant, what to plant, what designs should be woven into fabrics, who they were allowed to marry, and in general, how to live. Lying, laziness and adultery were punished with death. At the base of the Inca economy was agriculture, which was based on the cultivation of many plants, most of which were unknown on the ancient continent. There were about 200 different types of potatoes, 300 varieties of corn and cassava (manioc). The Incas made great use of Andean maca (Lepidium meyenii), a type of tuber rich in proteins and vitamins, today used as a medicinal plant. In addition, meat was important in their diet, especially alpaca and llama. Coca leaves had great relevance in Inca society. Mixed with lemon juice and a limestone, they were chewed by every subject of the kingdom, including women and children. They produced a state of euphoria that made it possible to work, walk and carry weights even at very high altitudes, where air is scarce. The Incas drank chicha, still used today in many South American states, a type of beer obtained from the fermentation of corn. In some religious rites, getting drunk on chicha was considered a respectable act, rather than a vice.
The fabrics produced by the Incas were wonderful. Cotton, alpaca and vicuña wool were woven. They were used for covering, but also as a means of exchange and as ceremonial ornament. In goldsmithing, the Incas achieved excellence. In the gold museum of Lima, you can admire fabulous gold necklaces, jewelry, diadems and statues representing the Divinities. Gold was considered the “sweat of the Sun,” while silver was seen as “the tear of the Moon.” These precious metals were used mainly by the priestly caste and were considered sacred.
Unfortunately, most of these treasures were looted and melted down by the Spanish invaders who were not interested in their enormous artistic and historical value, but only in their intrinsic value.
From some archaeological evidence it is deduced that the Incas practiced, on rare occasions, human sacrifices. These rites, called capacocha, were normally performed to ingratiate themselves with the gods and put an end to long periods of drought. Inca human sacrifice was essentially distinguished from Mesoamerican, since the latter was carried out against the will of the victim, in order to drink her blood and appropriate her power.
On the other hand, in the Inca empire, the sacrificed victims were aware of their destiny, they knew that they were going to face death but they accepted their future and were proud of this, since they were totally convinced, according to their beliefs, that they would die for the good of the community.
One of the best preserved examples of Inca human sacrifice is the little “Juanita”, the mummified body of a young girl of 13-14 years old, found by the team of anthropologist Johan Reinhard, in 1995, on a slope of the Ampato volcano (department of Arequipa), approximately 6000 meters above sea level.
After putting her to sleep with herbal infusions, they killed her with a well-aimed blow from a macana (a stone ax in the shape of a toothed wheel) to her forehead. For the Incas, the mountains were sacred, since water, which is a source of life, emerges from them. Currently, Juanita's mummified body is exhibited in the Andean Sanctuaries Museum of Arequipa.
In the Inca empire there was no currency. Each commercial exchange was carried out with barter. For example, trade was carried out with the region called Antisuyo, corresponding to the current Peruvian department of Madre de Dios, to obtain coca, gold, bird feathers and medicinal plants.
Were there commercial exchanges with foreign peoples? It doesn't seem like it, and this is also one of the reasons that explains why the Incas were not prepared for the Spanish invasion: they had no information about foreign towns or kingdoms and therefore, they did not know about the arrival of the Spanish near the coast of Panama around 1510.
The lack of information was decisive for the fall of the Empire. The lack of a written language, above all. It is curious to see that the Spaniards who conquered the kingdom, however, even taking into account the precious information that they could understand from the indigenous people, were all illiterate, like their leader, Francisco Pizarro. As far as scientific knowledge is concerned, the Incas were very advanced, for example in the field of medicine and surgery. Purgatives and bloodletting were used, which tended to eradicate evil from the patient's body, which was seen as a diabolical entity. Inca surgeons were able to heal fractures and drilled holes in the skull to cure mental illnesses. Trepanation consisted of opening the scalp and removing a piece of round or square bone to cure the evil or dislodge the evil spirit. In short, this culture developed along a line parallel to the Western one. The Incas, however, probably just because they had never had any real external threats, did not develop iron weapons, such as swords or spears.
The paradox of 1532, however, remains.
How was it possible that 168 Spaniards, poorly armed, with old harquebuses and crossbows, completely unaware of the territory and without the possibility of any reinforcement, have conquered an empire that had millions of persons and approximately 80,000 soldiers? Above all, there was the surprise effect that played in favor of the invaders, and it cannot also be forgotten that the Spanish also had horses, animals unknown in America, which inspired respect and fear in the native peoples.
Francisco Pizarro acted in a cunning and cold manner: he immediately took the Inca king Atahualpa prisoner.
The king insisted on filling the room where he was with gold jewelry and Pizarro promised him freedom once his promise was fulfilled. The cruelty of the Spanish commander was such that when he obtained the enormous treasure, he did not keep his word and agreed to kill the king, yielding to the pressure of his lieutenants. Once the empire was conquered, the indigenous people began to be decimated by diseases carried unconsciously by the Spanish.
Mainly smallpox, but also chickenpox, measles or the common influenza. The population of Tahuantinsuyo, henceforth called the Viceroyalty of Peru, went from 20 to 2 million people in the following fifty years. The survivors, whose religion was quickly replaced by Christianity, found themselves exiled. Their language was left aside and the names of the rivers, towns and valleys were Spanishized. Everything was changing at a disconcerting speed, the Incas lived in a world that was no longer theirs, and many of them desired death, seen as the only way out of an existence full of humiliation and suffering.
YURI LEVERATTO
