Encyclopedia of the Incas

The region of Lake Titicaca was one of the earliest targets of Inca expansion far beyond the Cuzco heartland; ...

many towering over 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) above sea level. Many peaks, most notably 6,739-meter- ...

The chronicler Juan de Betanzos describes generational campaigns in which the mobilization of the army co ...

Suppression of revolts provided the empire with the opportunity to consolidate its administrative power, establishin ...

Whereas the chronicler Betanzos offers vivid accounts of Inca armies in the Amazonian heart of darkness, ...

CORICANCHA The principal Sun temple of Tahuantinsuyu, the Coricancha (“golden enclosure”) lay in the southern part ...

Because of the temple’s wealth and grandeur, many chroniclers devoted long passages to its description. Cieza ...

they weren’t attending ceremonies in the city’s main plaza or visiting their country estates, atte ...

lliclla, pinned at the breast with a tipki pin, which is generally smaller than a tupu pin. Like ...

leaves of the fique plant, Furcraea andina), or moccasins of deer or camelid leather. Men’s attire consis ...

This finely woven tapestry uncu, or man’s tunic, of cotton and camelid fiber is decorated with small ...

llautu that resembled a sling and was composed of a braided headband twisted around the head several time ...

According to the native chronicler Poma de Ayala, those who committed the most serious crimes were thrown in ...

public humiliation, exile, and torture, to death by hanging or by being thrown into a prison and mauled b ...

was one’s turn to water one’s own fields got an “arbitrary punishment.” Bridge burning was regarded as a s ...

CUISINE What, how, and with whom we eat are among the most fundamental ways that humans define themselves ...

One of the most important uses of maize was for the production of chicha, or maize beer. Chicha preparation ...

Further Reading Bray, Tamara L. “To Dine Splendidly: Imperial Pottery, Commensal Politics and the Inca Stat ...

Vicuñas pause in the shadow of Coropuna in Cuntisuyu, regarded by the Incas as one of the empire’s most s ...

A major feature of Cuntisuyu is the Colca valley, famed for its elaborate terracing systems, ...