Danny
2/08/-2/13/02
L.A.
The Incan's Predecessors
Did you know that there were no chairs or beds in the average Incan household? The Incans would squat and lay on thin mattresses. The Incan people had many predecessors that helped them become a very successful empire. The Inca's predecessors made tools that later on made life easier for the working Incan people.
The Incan civilization was located on the west shoreline of South America. The people there were very busy and in addition there was almost no rest time. Everyone in the average family must work extremely hard and everyone had a job. The mother made the clothes, while the daughter spun and dyed the thread. The men planted grass to make slippers or they made sandals.
There was also work to be done outside the family household. There are fishermen who made boats out of strong reeds to keep the boat sturdy. There were kings called the Sapa Inca and commoners called sorcerers. There were wall makers who would find the stones, pull it to its place, pound and scrub it down to make it smooth, and after that it would be placed down. The final touch was when people would chisel down on the stone, so the stone would stay put.
The Incan culture also had people who came before them. They had three main predecessors: The Nazca, the Moche, and the Chimú. First, there was the Chimú, who built the largest pre-Columbian city in Peru. Their civilization lasted from about 1,000 A.D. to 1,470 A.D. They were a very organized society that built many buildings including the city of Chan Chan which still remains today. The city of Chan Chan covered about 285 square kilometers and housed 50,000 people.
Secondly, there was the Nazca people who lived in the coastal valleys from 3,000 B.C. to 600 A.D. The Nazca people were known for their arts, metal work, and their painted pottery that was decorated with mythological scenes. Their civilization consisted of three stages: Early stage, middle stage and the late stage. The Nazca people believed in many things such as how the mountain gods protected humans and controlled weather. They also believed that animals represented symbols such as the monkey and lizard meant hope for water, shark or killer whale meant success of fishing, and spiders (millipedes) and plants were associated with rain.
Lastly their was the Moche people who were located on the northern desert and lived from the time of Christ to 700 A.D. They built huge pyramids and other buildings. Like the Nazca, the Moche people also had impressive pottery. The people sometimes made beautiful gold and silver ornaments that were sold in the market place. Like the other three civilizations, the Moche were skilled goldsmiths and weavers.
All in all, the Incan race was very successful until the Spaniards conquered them. Later on they were enslaved and the Incan empire was destroyed. Though their kingdom was lost, the ruins of them still remain today. The Incan civilization was one of the most sophisticated empires to rule South America and should not be forgotten.
| Ancient tools | Ancient ruins | Incan people |