Peru

Question 1

Huaca Prieta

Answer 1

• Oldest Peruvian site
• Large mound with ceremonial structure on top, created 7.8 ka
• 30m below the surface, there is evidence of stone tools, bones, and plants dating to 15 ka
• Lifestyle included mostly temporary camps in wetlands
• They did not use fishing lines, nets, or harpoons, instead collecting fish that had been left behind as floodwaters receded
• This maritime subsistence was used instead of farming to support growing populations
• Relied on small schooling fish like anchovies
  Economy became based on the trade of fish inland as nets were eventually developed.

Question 1

Regions

Answer 1

• Division based on the Andes
• Costa (coast)
• Sierra (highlands)
• Selva (jungle)
• Humboldt and El Nino currents contribute to differing climates as well as the landscape

Question 2

Agriculture

Answer 2

• While maritime subsistence was initially dominant, agriculture was eventually developed
• Agriculture typically goes hand in hand with growing populations
• This is what was traded for fish
• Hundreds of food products developed including tomato, potato, peanut, quinoa, cocoa, camelids, and guinea pigs

Question 3

Pre-Ceramic Period

Answer 3

• Ended with Caral Supe culture
• 30+ major centers
• Centered on the city of Caral Supe
• Population 3000
• Located 23 km from the coast in the Supe river valley. Total valley population was 20,000
• Instrumental in the beginning of agriculture, especially cotton and other textiles
• large diversity in monumental architecture
• City was abandoned for unknown reasons, but distinct pieces of Caral culture spread to other places, showing that the culture did not end

Question 4

Early Intermediate / Early Horizon Periods

Answer 4

• Centered around lake Titicaca and the Moche culture
• Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, and the largest freshwater lake in the Andes
• It is surrounded by flat land which is good for large herds of camelids
• It was a source of major wealth for the many cultures associated with it

Question 5

Moche Culture

Answer 5

• Centered on Northern Peru
• Capital city called Moche
• One of the first state formations of Peru, divided archaeologically into North and South based on language, art, and architecture
• Loose confederation of interconnected states, but very well organized into a hierarchy. There were single rulers for each city, and possibly a single ruler for the whole confederation
• Social division is depicted on art and pottery
• Textiles were an important indicator of social status. Cotton or wool from camelids was used most.
• Expert metal workers. They did not hot work their metals, but hammered gold over objects. They had some of the most advanced metal objects of their time
• Some of the most varied pottery in the world. They used molds rather than a wheel, and depicted scenes of rituals, war, agriculture, and erotica in red and white colours

Question 6

Middle Horizon Period

Answer 6

• Tiwanaku culture
• Wari Culture

Question 7

Tiwanaku Culture

Answer 7

• Centered around lake Titicaca
• Monumental architecture reflected their ideologies and cosmology. Their built environment largely reflects their beliefs, down to their city’s placement between two sacred mountains, which they saw as deities. They aligned their buildings with the landscape and cosmology
• They saw their city as the center of the universe, and the birthplace of the creator god Viracocha
• Material culture belongs to the Southern Andean Iconographic Series

Question 8

Wari Culture

Answer 8

• Contemporary with Tiwanaku
• Their empire building system included keeping local leaders in place as long as the takeover was not very violent. These leaders would be supervised by Wari leaders in provincial cities
• Another empire building practice was their implementation of a very developed system of state controlled roads to keep the empire connected
• They implemented state run storehouses which would redistribute food collected from taxes when needed
• First true empire in the Andes
• Architecture implemented in taken-over cities imitated Wari imperial architecture to remind people who was in charge

Question 9

Inca

Answer 9

• Heavily influenced by Wari culture
• largest pre-Colombian Andean empire
• The name Inca comes from a small group of elites within this culture
• They were masters of architecture and masonry, incorporating topography into their structures. They did not use mortar, and even without metal tools their bricks were precisely shaped enough to stay in place

Question 10

Inca Methods of Expansion

Answer 10

• Peaceful approach first, invasion second
• Peaceful expansion involved marriage between ruling families, or surrender under threat of invasion
• Invasions were done by the massive Inca army, which used sharp stone tools and wooden clubs because the Inca never developed hot metal working. These armies were incredibly effective and organized
• After their cities were conquered, leaders who had not complied were killed and their children were taken to be raised in Inca society. Once the children were indoctrinated, they were brought back to their homes to rule
• Every time the Inca invaded, they expanded their roads and architecture similar to the Wari

Question 11

Quipu

Answer 11

• The Inca never developed a written language. Instead they used Quipu, or knotted strings, and oral tradition
• In Quipu, the order and number of knots, as well as the colour of the strings had information coded into them
• This knowledge was maintained by scribes, and the Quipu are unable to be translated today
• Quipu could be relayed across the empire by runners in as little as 8 days

Question 12

Sapa Inca

Answer 12

• The Sapa Inca was the emperor of the Inca, and was seen as the sole ruler
• He was a god, and there were only 5 Sapa Incas in the span of the empire
• Textiles were used as status symbols. Commoners used llama wool, the Inca used alpaca, and the Sapa Inca was the only person allowed to use vicuña
• Split inheritance was used when a Sapa Inca died. The new Sapa Inca would gain the title, but not the wealth and economic control of the old.
• The wealth of old Sapa Incas went to their families, and was used to maintain their mummy, which was seen as still alive in some way

Question 13

Spanish Takeover

Answer 13

• 16th century the last Sapa Inca came to power after a civil war with his brother. This is when the Spanish arrived. Francisco Pizarro invaded with only 200 men, 1 cannon and 27 horses. Endemic diseases had already arrived though, so the Inca population was largely decimated already. The Spanish allied themselves with groups who did not like the Inca. They still were not winning, so Pizarro set up a meeting where they were supposed to be unarmed. When the Sapa Inca came, he was ambushed and captured, and held for ransom. Pizarro demanded an entire room filled with gold and silver, which was given, and then he killed the Sapa Inca anyway
• Pizarro then ruled over Peru for decades until his assassination. He was responsible for the systematic destruction of Inca culture. Even the Spanish thought he went too far. Inca and Andean rebellion existed but they were unsuccessful