Who were the Incas?

Where did they live? Andes Mountains of South America

There was desert on the coast and rainforest to the East.

There was a valley that lay between the mountain peaks.

The Incas called it the “Sacred Valley”.

What natural resources did they have to work with? They had Gold and silver.

They had metal to make weapons. Head of an Axe Club

They had the fur of animals to weave cloth out of. Vicuna fur- the Emperor wore this cloth.

Alpaca Fur

They used llamas as pack animals?

Llamas are intelligent and can learn to do simple tasks after a few repetitions (tries). They can carry up to 150 lbs on their backs.

How did they provide for their needs using the natural resources they had? They terraced everything!

They built cities on terraces.

They used terraced farming.

They even experimented with various types of terracing to see how they could grown the most crops ( The most Efficient farming methods.)

They built storehouses of food and scattered them around the empire, so the army would always have food available.

The Inca were very ingenious. Chuno- freeze dried potatoes.

They wove (to weave) the fur from animals into warm, colorful cloth.

They built a HUGE system of roads so they could communicate. 14,000 miles long.

When they had to cross large rivers they built suspension bridges.

They didn’t have money. They had to give their time and work to pay the Mita (kind of like a tax). mandatory public service

They were hard working people that worked communally.

Cummunal The work and the benefits are shared by all.

They were also perfectionist builders.

They didn’t use any type of cement or mortar.

Their doors were made in the shape of a trapezoid to stay up during earthquakes.

And how do the stones fit together so perfectly?

How did they move these huge stones from the rock quarry?

Rock quarry: A place where you find stone in the earth. They then cut out the pieces from the mountainside.