Inca
Report
By Mekhi Blair
The Inca were a complex society of about 10 million people. Almost everything they
made was complex and intricate. They build large building made of stone, large temples, and
a complex government system. They however lacked many basic technologies such as
wheels, writing or records, and iron. They did know how to make roads, so they had roads
that would go all throughout the empire.They were commonly made of paved stone, these
were also used for steps to climb up mountains and for bridges. The big importance of these
roads were to be used for communication, moving army troops, and as transportation for
goods. How they communicated was through runners or people who would run along the
roads and travel to different places to deliver messages. These men were also called chaskis.
There acually was a way they could communicate, this was done through quipus. This was a
series of ropes knotted together. The number of knots, the size of the knots, and the distance
between knots conveyed meaning to the Inca, like some sort of writing.
The Incas had a planned economy, perhaps the most successful ever seen. Its success
was in the efficient management of labor and the administration of resources they collected
as tribute. By working together people in the ayllu created such wealth that the Spanish were
astonished with what they encountered. Every citizen was required to contribute with his
labor and refusal or laziness was punishable with the death penalty. Labor was divided
according to region, agriculture would be centralized in the most productive regions, ceramic
production, road building, textile and other skills according to ayllus. The government
collected all the surplus after local needs were met and distributed it where it was needed. In
exchange for their work citizens had free clothing, food, health care and education.
For the Inca clothing and textiles meant everything to them such as wealth ,power, status. In
addition it could also represent currency or tax so the very best were worth the most. This
were worth even more than gold or silver. This civilization’s weavers are acually the most
accomplished that the America’s have ever seen because they had the best fabric which made
it very expensive. In fact, this were given to the Spanish in the 16th century instead of metal
goods. Sadly very few Inca textiles survived from the empire and some were burnt to prevent
them from falling into the hands of other civilizations. But, many of the ones from Andean
environment did survive. Luckily Spanish Chroniclers had drawn some of the designs of the
textiles so that people could get a picture of what it would have looked like.
All women of most classes had to learn how to weave. Women mainly did the
weaving but, men could as well. The best or finest wo...
