The Inca
By Amy Gilstrap
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Last updated over 3 years ago
10 Questions
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1.
Which of the following did the Inca NOT have when they built their empire
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Machu Picchu, built at the height of the Inca empire, is a complex located almost 8,000 feet above sea level. It is composed of some 220 structures that were used for agricultural, ceremonial, and astronomical purposes.
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2.
What allowed the Inca to control remote parts of the empire?
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3.
What was the name of the Incan capital?
Inca Government
The Sapa Inca held absolute power. Claiming to be divine, the son of the sun itself, he was also the empire’s religious leader. Gold, considered the “sweat of the sun,” served as his symbol. His queen, the Coya, carried out important religious duties and sometimes governed in his absence.
The Sapa Inca laid claim over all the land, herds, mines, and people of his empire. As the Inca people had no personal property, there was little demand for items for barter or sale, and trade played a much smaller role in the Inca economy than it had in the earlier Maya economy. Periodically, the Sapa Inca would call upon men of a certain age to serve as laborers for short periods, perhaps a few months. By so doing, he could access millions of laborers at once.
Inca rulers ran an efficient government. Nobles ruled the provinces along with local chieftains whom the Inca armies had conquered. Below them, officials carried out the day-to-day business of enforcing laws and organizing labor.
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4.
Which sentence shows that people were forced to work for the state?
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5.
Why wasn’t trade an important part of the economy of the Inca?
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Quipu
Specially trained officials kept records on a quipu, a collection of colored strings that were knotted in different ways to represent various numbers. Scholars think that the Inca, who never invented a writing system, may have used quipus to record economic, bureaucratic, religious, and other information. The Inca then took the quipa and used it with the yupanas, a system of stone grids representing various mathematical values, to make complex calculations.
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6.
What were quipu?
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Inca Life
The Inca strictly regulated the lives of millions of people within their empire. The leaders of each Inca village, called an ayllu (eye loo),carried out government orders. They assigned jobs to each family and organized the community to work the land. Government officials arranged marriages to ensure that men and women were settled at a certain age.
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7.
Check the ways in which the Incan government controlled the lives of people.
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Terraced Farming
Inca farmers expanded step terraces built by earlier Andean peoples. They carved out flat strips of land on steep hillsides and built stone walls to hold the land in place. The terraces the Inca created kept rains from washing away the soil and made farming possible in places where naturally flat land was scarce.
Farmers spent part of each year working land for their community, and part working land for the emperor and the temples. The government allotted part of each harvest to specific groups of people or for particular purposes. It stored the rest in case of disasters such as famine.
The Inca used stone retaining walls to build terraces for farming, selecting varying types of stones for the best water retention and drainage. The retaining walls trapped heat from the sun during the day and kept plant roots warm by releasing that heat at night.
Religion and Ritual
The Inca worshipped many gods linked to the forces of nature. People offered food, clothing, and drink to the guardian spirits of the home and the village. Each month had its own festival, from the great ripening and the dance of the young maize to the festival of the water. Festivals were celebrated with ceremonies, sports, and games.
A powerful class of priests served the gods. Chief among the gods was Inti, the sun god. His special attendants, the “Chosen Women,” were selected from each region of the empire. During years of training, they studied the mysteries of the religion, learned to prepare ritual food and drink, and made the elaborate wool garments worn by the Sapa Inca and the Coya. After their training, most Chosen Women continued to serve Inti. Others joined the Inca’s court or married nobles.
Astronomy was an important part of Inca religious beliefs. The Inca worshipped the sun god as their primary deity, and they placed buildings and art in locations that would best reflect the sun. They used the moon to calculate timing for planting and harvesting crops.
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8.
How did the worship of the god Inti help unify the Inca empire?
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Medical Practices
The Inca developed important medical practices, including surgery on the human skull. In such operations, they cleaned the area to be operated on and then gave the patient a drug to make him or her unconscious—procedures similar to the modern use of antiseptics and anesthesia.
This is not dissimilar from the Aztec, whose doctors set bones and prepared prescriptions to cure illnesses. The Inca also used medical procedures to mummify the dead.
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9.
Which of the following is one of the most important medical advances developed by the Inca?
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10.
Why did the Inca use terraced farming?
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