Math and Astronomy Math
http://galleryhip.com/inca-architecture.html
Even though the Incas lived so long ago, they developed a very useful counting method. It is called a quipu. The Incas used quipus to record numbers. The quipus would consist of a long sting across the top, with many strings hanging down. They used the base ten system. Say you wanted to record the number 586. You would put 6 knots down near the end of the string to represent the ones place. Then you leave a space and put another 8 knots near the middle of the string. This was for the tens place. Lastly, you would put 5 knots at the top of the string for the hundreds place. If you had a bigger number like 1,542, it would have 2 knots at the bottom. Then a space. And then 4 more knots. Space, 5 knots, space, 1 knot. That would be the ones, tens, hundreds, and then thousands.
THE INCA
THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF PERU
Architecture
Incan architecture was very well built. The rocks were slid in so well you couldn't slide a knife blade in between the rocks. They did not use mortar for the rocks. Inca people had long roads that are still here today. The roads were used for sending messages to different towns or cites. Inca people also had big bridges to cross rivers to get to towns or to good farm land.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
http://www-groups.dcs.stand.ac.uk/history/ HistTopics/ Inca_mathematics.html
Astronomy
CUZCO Cuzco was the highest capital city in the ancient world. It’s 1.9 miles above sea level. Cuzco is in southern Peru. It was the capital city of the Inca. The emperor called “The Inca” lived in Cuzco. Some people thought that The Inca was a god.
MACHU PICCHU People thought that only women and girls lived in Machu Picchu. They then found out that both women and men lived there. Machu Picchu is at an elevation of 7,710 feet and is about 50 miles northwest of the city of Cuzco. Machu Picchu may be where the ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui lived (see rulers and royals).
Astronomy played a key role in Incan agriculture. They made carefully placed pillars so when the sun rose or set between them it meant that it was time to plant at a certain altitude. They often made sacrifices to the Sun god asking him to rise in the correct spot for planting. The city of Cuzco was arranged so it pointed to specific astronomical events. The most important events involved the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and stars. For example, when the Pleiades star cluster rose, it signaled the start of the Incan new year.
http://www.todaysphoto.org/potd/machu-picchu.html
† WHO WERE THE INCAS? ¢ The Incas were a group of Native Americans. They lived pretty much peacefully in the Andes Mountains in Peru. The Incas lived in South America from somewhere in the thirteenth century until they were conquered by Europeans in 1537.
Rulers and Royals
Artisans
The first great ruler was Pachucuti. His name meant “he who transforms the earth.” Pachucuti conquered Cuzco in the 1400s. Then he took his troops north. If he had not come to power, then the Incas would have had very little territory. Pachucuti had a son, Tupa Inca. He was the tenth Inca. Tupa Inca was good at making war. When his rule was done he had an empire almost as big as Rome. Tupa Inca also had a son, Huayna Capac. When Huayna Capac wanted to extend the empire to the forested lands the canian Indians didn’t want to give up the land. Some Incan rulers married their own sisters just to keep the royalty in the family. The sister was the ruler’s chief wife. But the ruler had hundreds of other wives also. The ruler ruled for as long as he lived. Before his death the ruler chose someone to take his place. He chose from the sons of the chief wife. When the Sapa Inca died it was believed that the sun god had called him. A female or servant would keep him company on his journey. Archeologists are unclear if the women gave up their lives by choice or were murdered. Even though the Sapa Inca was dead, they still consulted his mummy if they were going to make big decisions.
Inca artisans made all sorts of beautiful items. They made ceramics, wood carvings, textiles, and metalwork. They made ornaments, tools, weapons, and jewelry out of silver, copper and gold. Inca artists made pottery, which was decorated with geometric shapes such as diamonds, squares, triangles, circles and dots. They also made pots, some of which were decorated with animal heads. They used bright colors such as red, yellow, orange, black and white. The Incas were very good weavers. They wove wool into clothes, blankets and ropes.
http://www7.uc.cl/sw_educ/historia/ conquista/parte1/html/if85.html
http://murraydms.ning.com/forum/ topics/masks-around-the-world-behr
http:// www.thecultureconcept.com/ circle/gold-and-the-incasnational-gallery-australiasummer-show
traditional Inca porridge. When the breakfast was ready, everyone ate on a blanket spread on the floor. Each morning, what work they did was already chosen by the Llamactu, an Inca official. He had announced to the Ayllu the afternoon before which fields, traditionally called Chacras, should be tended. On the slopes of the Andes Mountains, raising crops was very difficult. The mountain soil was rocky and hard to plant anything in. Droughts came often. And when rain did come, it might wash away the season’s crops. By creating terraces, or steps, into the hillsides, the Inca solved all these problems. First a trench was dug horizontally across the slope. Next, earth was piled above it, leveled and held in place. The earth was fertilized with human and animal dung. Terraces might get to be 100 feet
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/ 7860099 http://www.rgmunnauctions.com/ INCA-POTTERYVESSLE_i13671991
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Inca_society
Farming and Home Life When the sun started to rise, an Inca woman and her daughter rose and went to a nearby stream to get water. As they went, they were joined by other women from their Ayllu. An Ayllu was a group of women. There might be thousands or maybe just hundreds in this farming group. Together the women filled their jars with water and went back http:// www.rsc.org/ home. When they got chemistryworld/ home the woman would 2012/12/potatovariety-chipsmake a fire in a small clay fries-crispsfireplace. She boiled water acrylamide over the small fire, then added cornmeal and chili peppers to make a
wide, or might be as small as 3 ft. The Inca family would tend to the crops. When they were done in the evening they would reunite for a second meal. It would quite possibly be a bowl of Locro, which is a stew of potatoes, dried meat and chili peppers. When they were done tending their own fields, they would do Charity Work and tend to the fields of the elderly or disabled. Finally, at sunset, their work was done. They curled up on their floor and, wrapped in wool blankets, went to sleep. When planting season came, an Inca Official turned the soil with a special tool made of gold. Men and women then planted the fields. Each field was divided into three: One-Third for the Inca Gods, One-Third for Rulers, and One-Third for the commoners. Farming was a tough job, but it helped the people of the Inca empire grow to be one of the strongest empires of the era. Without the farmers, they wouldn’t have lasted long! http://www.bioflora.com/case-study-corn/