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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| April 8, 2005 |
Incan Civilization: The Children of the Sun – Alejandra Figueroa Flores |
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| Ms. Alejandra Figueroa Flores |
Ms. Alejandra Figueroa Flores is a Peruvian archeologist who specializes in Incan civilization and culture and works closely with the Peruvian government’s archaeological efforts. In her first time onboard Peace Boat, she presented a series of lectures on Incan history, society, and architecture to 48th voyage participants in preparation for their upcoming visit to Peru. As many will be visiting ancient Incan sites such as Machu Picchu and the Nazca lines, participants were eager to learn more about the civilization that built the sites they would be visiting. |
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The following are just a few of the many questions Ms. Flores was asked.
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| The famous Nazca lines, constructed by the Inca, remain a mystery. (photo by Okiyama Kazuhiko) |
Q: As we will be visiting Peru, I was hoping you might be able to give us a little information about Peru’s natural environment.
Peru is a country located in the middle part of South America, so it should have a tropical climate; however, because of the presence of the Andes, a high mountain range, that is not so. Generally speaking, Peru can be divided into three major regions: the coast or the desert, the highlands or upper mountains, and the Amazonian rainforests. Most of the history of Peru is focused in the desert and the mountains, because the rainforests have a climate that does not preserve material culture. Cultural history in Peru is very ancient; one of the first evidences of human inhabitation in Peru is 9000 years before Christ, a painting in a cave.
Q: We’ve all heard about the Incan empire, but where exactly was the main area of the Incan Empire?
The capital of the Incan empire was Cuzco. Today’s capital is Lima, but the Incas were mainly situated in the highlands of Peru. The highlands are very high mountains and have very cold weather at night. This is where the traditional poncho comes from. When Incas first started, they lived in the Cuzco area. It is a valley and they cultivated there. The original culture that Incas emerged from is known as Killke. Eventually, the Incas conquered all the area along the coast of the middle part of South America. |
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| Machu Picchu (photo by Okiyama Kazuhiko) |
The history of the Incas has two very peculiar things. First, they didn’t have writing; it was a society in which all history was passed orally. What we know about the Incas comes from the Spanish Conquerors; they wrote their impressions of what they saw, kind of like a travel book. They wrote this when they arrived in Peru in 1532. The second thing peculiar thing about the Incan empire is that it was the only empire in South America
Q: People call this civilization the “Inca Civilization”. Why don’t we call it the “Andes Civilization”, as it was developed in the Andes mountain range?
Inca was the term used for the ruler of the empire when the Spaniards arrived in Peru. That is what the Spaniards used to refer to everyone; however, the word inca referred only to the king, or ruler of the land. The most important inca was Pachacutec, “He who Shakes the Earth”, because he is the one who conquered most of what was known as the Inca empire. Pachacutec lived around 1438, and before him, the Incan society was more like a chieftain society, not an imperial society. He was the one who unified the land and also started the Myths of Origin in the empire. There are two of these in the empire, both related to the sun. In both myths, the Incas were the children of the sun, alive on earth. |
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| Peace Boat participants learned more about the principal of yanantín in this interactive workshop. |
Q: Can you tell us more about Incan society?
The base of the Incan society is the extended family. It is formed by the parents and sons, grandparents, aunts and uncles. This unit, called an ayllu, could be up to 200 people, working the land and supporting each other. The Inca had three main principles in their society: reciprocity, redistribution, and yanantín.
Reciprocity meant that everybody should help another person, because they could help them in return. This meant that individuals did not exist in Incan society; it was a group society. There were no individuals alone, everyone owed favors to others. Reciprocity was not just a concept or idea, but it was also expressed in events or celebrations, mostly parties in which things were offered to the land. In these parties, the inca provided food and alcohol in big quantities. Everyone would drink and dance and the inca would provide everything. However, he was no fool – in return, the people would have to work for him.
Redistribution was also exercised by the Incan people. As there was no currency or market economy at the time, people gave work or goods to the inca and he redistributed it to the people, so they would have what they needed. Everybody had access to all the products and was in debt to the ruler because he was generous enough to share with them.
For the Incas, everything was about balance, and the third principal, yanantín, was about that. Everything is made of two things – men and women, left and right, and you cannot understand one without the other. You cannot understand “up” unless you understand “down”; that is what yanantín means. |
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| photo by Okiyama Kazuhiko |
Q: Could you explain more about the politics and economy of the Incan Civilization?
The Spaniards told us that the land was a monarchy, ruled by one person. But now we know that the land was ruled by the king, and the heir to the throne. It was not a true monarchy, but was ruled by two people at the same time. Also the Incas had nobility; the royal family group had a lot of power because they helped to deicide what the inca should do. They had a job, however, they were not nobles who didn’t work. They were in charge of bridges, warehouses, agricultural terraces – they were like supervisors for the inca.
The heart of the Incan economy was agriculture. Agricultural terraces, called andenes were built by the population and these andenes helped not only to produce food, but to prevent erosion of the mountainsides, as they were in a rainy area… One thing that is important to remember about Inca technology is that it was adapted to the space the Incas lived in, the highlands of the Andes in Peru. Some people say that Incas did not develop the wheel so they were behind other civilizations. However, if you see Peru, you will see there is no use for a wheel. Even today, most transportation is done by walking, as the highlands are very steep.
Q: If they didn’t use the wheel, how did they carry big stones in steep areas?
Mostly, they used people to carry them. The greatest strength of the Inca was the power of its people. They worked for the state and built these great structures for the state. Unlike Egypt, or other civilizations, Incan people were not slaves. They worked for the state because they expected the state to give them something back. That is what reciprocity is all about. |
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| The stones of Machu Picchu are estimated to weigh 150 tons
each. (photo by Okiyama Kazuhiko). |
Q: Did the Incas have a religion?
Yes. It is often said that Incas believed in the sun, which is true. But they also believed in nature. The sun, moon, and mountains were part of nature. They also believed in scared rocks. You can see in Macchu Picchu that there are many sacred rocks. In addition to the sun, Incas also believed in a creator god called Wiracocha. It is interesting that this god only creates; the one who gives life is the earth, Pachamama. This is yanantín in action – one creates, the other gives life. Without both, we could not have the world, because they do not have all power by themselves. Another important thing they believed in was the worship of their ancestors. They worshiped both their ancestors and their place of origin, where they would go to worship.
Q: How did the empire fall, and when?
The Incas had this expansion and it made two big centers of power. One was Cuzco, and the other was Quito, which is now the capital of Ecuador. Because the Incas conquered this territory through military actions, some people were not happy. When Pachacutec decided to live in Quito instead of Cuzco, this caused problems. He had a son in each capital who was supposed to be ruler when he died. When the Spanish people arrived in 1532, Pachacutec got sick from smallpox, likely from contact with the Spaniards. When he died, the two sons went to war. Then, the people who had originally been conquered also revolted and went to war with the Incas. So, the Spanish found a group of people fighting for power and took advantage of the situation. They conquered the Incan empire and put an end to it.
Q: What of the Incan civilization can we see in Peruvian society today? What legacy, other than the material, has the Incan civilization left behind?
In the coastal region, relatively little actually. But in the highlands you can see that the communities are still based on reciprocity principals and they also speak Quechua, which was the language of the Incans. Also, you can see things like food and traditional clothing is still the same. People wear jeans and t-shirts, of course, but the traditional clothing is basically the same. The Incan roads are still also being used by people in their everyday lives. The Pan-American Highway actually uses the Incan road on the coast; it’s built on top of it. |
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