Encyclopedia of the Incas

The region of Lake Titicaca was one of the earliest targets of Inca expansion
far beyond the Cuzco heartland; indeed, excavations of an Inca house south of
Lake Titicaca revealed pottery predating the mid-fifteenth century (see
Chronology, Inca). No doubt, the area’s enormous herds of wild and
domesticated camelids made it especially attractive to a people keen on
procuring fiber to weave cloth, regarded by Andean peoples as one of the most
valuable of commodities (see Weaving and Textiles). The Incas also focused on
the region’s religious shrines, in particular the Island of the Sun in Lake
Titicaca, where a sacred rock marked the Sun’s birthplace and featured in an Inca
origin myth that claimed the founding Incas emerged from the lake. On the
mainland at Copacabana, as well as on the Island of the Sun and the neighboring
Island of the Moon, the Incas built temples, shrines, roads, and facilities for
pilgrims—one of the most elaborate building schemes and reorganization of
sacred space ever undertaken in Tahuantinsuyu. A long-distance ceque linked the
lake to Cuzco and, via another ceque, to the Pacific Ocean. The ceque mirrored
the path of the sun as it emerged from the lake and set into the sea.
To the east of Lake Titicaca, the temperate valleys of the Andean foothills are
particularly well suited to maize production. This region was the target of an
ambitious resettlement program by the Inca emperor Huayna Capac in the
Cochabamba valley. Beyond Cochabamba, the Incas built an imperial
installation at Incallacta, a monumental ceremonial site at Samaipata, and a chain
of “forts” and other installations geared to securing tropical resources from
largely uncooperative tribes living along the empire’s eastern fringe, and
defending the region from attacks by the feared Chiriguano people.
The Incas began expanding into Chile and Argentina by at least the early
fifteenth century. Faced with less centralized societies and an uneven distribution
of natural and human resources (in stark contrast to Chinchaysuyu), the
approach was more gradual and focused on Collasuyu’s underground wealth:
metallic ores, mainly copper, tin, and silver. Tin was especially important
because when alloyed with copper, it produces tin bronze, the “stainless steel” of
the Inca empire (see Metallurgy; Mining). The lack of monumental architecture
belies the intensity of Inca rule in this region, where the Incas established
relationships with dozens of local groups, built scores of settlements, and
expanded the road network. Nonetheless, the region witnessed numerous revolts
by powerful ethnic confederations up until the time of the Spanish invasion.
The Incas left their mark on the sacred landscape as well. Collasuyu is
renowned for the high incidence of human sacrifice on its snow-clad mountains,