EARLY CIVILIZATIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA
The Chavin, Nazca, and Moche cultures, which existed in South America before
the Inca, built stone buildings and sophisticated irrigation systems. Later, the Inca
became a spectacular, well-organized empire. The Inca Empire was still flourishing
when the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century.
Early Civilizations
As in Mesoamerica, great civilizations flourished in early South America. The
people of the Chavin, Nazca, and Moche cultures lived before the Inca gained power
in South America. The cities, buildings, and artifacts these peoples left behind provide
clues about their cultures.
The Chavin and Nazca Cultures
In the Supe River valley of Peru, Caral is the oldest major city in the Americas. It
is believed to be 1,000 years older than the cities previously known in the Western
Hemisphere. The city has stone buildings for officials, apartment buildings, and grand
residences. The inhabitants of Caral also developed a sophisticated system of
irrigation. Caral was abandoned between 2000 and 1500 b.c. Around 900 b.c., the
Chavin people in the coastal regions of modern-day Peru and Ecuador built a temple
with stones gathered from nearby hills. Part of a larger ceremonial complex, the temple
was surrounded by stone figures depicting different gods and two pyramids. For
unknown reasons, the Chavin declined around 200 b.c. Around the same time, the
Nazca culture appeared in Peru. The Nazca prospered from around 200 b.c. to a.d.
600. Nazca culture preserved some aspects of Chavin culture, especially its style of
pottery. However, the Nazca culture built no great temples. They may have practiced
their religion out of doors, as suggested by ancient formations known as the Nazca
Lines. These are grooves etched into the rocky soil of southern Peru in the image of
animals, especially birds, as well as humans and other geometric shapes. The images
are so large, however, that their shapes can only be seen from the air.
The Moche
After the collapse of the Moche civilization in the eighth century a.d., a period of
decline set in until the rise of a new power about 300 years later. The kingdom of
Chimor dominated the area for nearly four centuries until the Inca destroyed it and
created a spectacular empire. In the late 1300s, the Inca (IHNG•kuh) were only a small
community in the area of Cuzco (KOOS•koh), a city located at 11,000 feet (3,353 m)
in the mountains of southern Peru. In the 1440s, however, under the leadership of the
ruler Pachacuti, the Inca launched a campaign of conquest. Eventually the entire
region was under Inca control.
Political Structures
Pachacuti and his immediate successors, Topa Inca and Huayna Inca—Inca
means “ruler”—extended the boundaries of the Inca Empire as far as Ecuador, central
Chile, and the edge of the Amazon basin. The empire included perhaps 12 million
people. The Inca state was built on war, so all young men were required to serve in
the Inca army. With some 200,000 members, the army was the largest and best armed
in the region. Because the Inca, like other people in the early Americas, did not make
use of the wheel, supplies were carried on the backs of llamas. Once an area was
under Inca control, the local inhabitants were instructed in the Quechua
(KECH•uh•wuh) language. Control of new territories was carefully regulated. A noble
of high rank was sent out to govern the new region. Local leaders could keep their
posts as long as they were loyal to the Inca ruler.
To create a well-organized empire, Pachacuti divided it into four quarters, with
each ruled by a governor. In turn, the quarters were divided into provinces, each also
ruled by a governor. Each province was supposed to contain about 10,000 residents.
At the top of the entire system was the emperor, who was believed to be descended
from Inti, the sun god. Forced labor was another important feature of the state. All Inca
subjects were responsible for labor service, usually for several weeks each year.
Laborers, often with their entire communities, were moved according to need from one
part of the country to another to take part in building projects. One such project was a
system of some 24,800 miles (around 40,000 km) of roads extending from the border
of modern-day Colombia to a point south of modern-day Santiago, Chile. Two major
roadways extended in a north-south direction, one through the Andes and the other
along the coast, with connecting routes between them. Rest houses and storage
depots were placed along the roads. Various types of bridges, including some fine,
pre-modern examples of suspension bridges, were built over ravines and waterways.
Social Structures
Inca society was highly regimented. So, too, were marriage and the lives of
women. Men and women were required to select a marriage partner from within their
own social groups. After marriage, women were expected to care for the children and
to weave cloth. For women, there was only one alternative to a life of working in the
home. Some young girls were chosen to serve as priestesses in temples. In rural
areas, the people lived chiefly by farming. In the mountains, they used terraced farms,
watered by irrigation systems that carried precise amounts of water into the fields.
These were planted with corn, potatoes, and other crops. The farmers’ houses, built
of stone or adobe with thatched roofs, were located near the fields.
Building and Culture
The Inca were great builders, the best engineers among Native American
peoples. They built roadways over mountains and tunnels through them, as well as
bridges and aqueducts. The buildings and monuments of the capital city of Cuzco were
the wonder of early European visitors. These structures were built of close-fitting
stones without mortar—the better to withstand the frequent earthquakes in the area.
Nothing shows the architectural genius of the Inca more than the ruins of the
abandoned city of Machu Picchu (mah•choo PEE•choo). Machu Picchu, elevation
8,000 feet (2,400 m), was built on a lofty hilltop surrounded by mountain peaks far
above the Urubamba River. Machu Picchu was hardly a city, containing only about 200
buildings. In one part of Machu Picchu, a long stairway leads to an elegant stone
known to the Inca as the “hitching post of the sun.” Carved from the mountain, this
“hitching post” may have been used as a solar observatory. During the sun festivals
held in June and December, the people of Machu Picchu gathered here to chant and
say prayers to Inti, the sun god. The Inca had no writing system. Instead, they kept
records using a system of knotted strings called the quipu. The lack of a fully
developed writing system, however, did not prevent the Inca from attaining a high level
of cultural achievement.
The Inca had a well-developed tradition of court theater, consisting of both tragic
and comic works. Plays often involved the recounting of valiant deeds and other
historical events. Actors were not professionals but rather members of the nobility or
senior officials who memorized their parts. Poetry was also recited, often accompanied
by music played on reed instruments.
