According to the native chronicler Poma de Ayala,
those who committed the most serious crimes
were thrown into an underground dungeon to be
devoured by pumas, jaguars, bears, and snakes.
Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe. El primer nueva
corónica y buen gobierno. Edited by John V.
Murra and Rolena Adorno, 277/302. Mexico City:
Siglo Veintiuno, 1980 [1615].The chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega notes that crimes were recorded on
quipus, adding that knots of certain colors stood for the crimes punished, and
small threads of various colors attached to the thicker cords showed the penalty
meted out and the law that had been applied. Men and women did not receive the
same punishment for the same crimes: men, for example, could be exiled to
work in the coca fields of Antisuyu or dispatched to perform hard labor in the
mines, while women were forced into temple service. Punishments ranged from