Encyclopedia of the Incas

for instance, and sometimes colonies from a community moved to other
environmental zones to grow crops for their home village.
As many scholars note, one of the major repercussions of the large numbers of
mit’a workers (the rotational labor force) who were called up for army duty was
the added burden it placed on those who stayed put (see Labor; Warfare). As
crops have specific planting seasons, villagers had to tend to their crops as well
as those of their absent neighbors.
The Huanca people of the upper Mantaro valley, in the highlands east of Lima,
provide a window on their household economy before and after the Inca
conquest. Residential household compounds were the basic units of production
and consumption. All households used basically the same tools and carried out
the same activities, regardless of whether they were commoners or elites (the
two basic statuses identified in this population).
As for craft production, many of the basic tools used by local people before
and after the Inca conquest were locally produced. Both elite and commoner
households spun thread and wove cloth. Some crafts, however, were specialized,
such as the stone blades that were quarried and worked into blanks by the
villagers living closest to the quarry. Fine quality pottery too was produced at
certain villages and then traded to the rest of the region. All households in these
villages created specialized crafts—again, regardless of status.
Settlement locations, however, saw a marked shift after the Inca conquest.
Whereas the Huancas located their settlements in highly defensible positions, the
Incas depopulated many of their villages and relocated them to lower elevations
to focus on maize production. Nevertheless, the domestic economy of commoner
households remained essentially the same, except for an increase in cloth
production, no doubt reflecting the demands of the Inca state. High-altitude
households were more likely to be engaged in stone tool production (since they
were located closer to the quarries) while low-altitude ones were more focused
on maize production. Settlements nearer to the Inca administrative center of
Hatun Jauja were more likely to be specialized than ones farther away,
suggesting Inca interest in controlling craft activities nearer the center. Elite
households, however, were incorporated more into the Inca sphere of influence,
indicated by a decrease in agricultural activities and textile production of elite
households.
Thus, the Huanca region shows how Inca policies affected local communities
as well as leadership roles. The conquest of this region initiated a Pax Inca that
saw previous conflicts between Huanca villages eliminated and populations