Civilization #2: Inca Empire

1. Describe major innovations, advancements, achievements, or cultural
practices of this civilization.

1 answer

- The Inca Empire was known for its impressive engineering feats, including the construction of a vast network of roads and bridges throughout their empire. The most famous of these is the Inca Road system, which connected various parts of the empire and allowed for communication and transportation of goods and people.

- The Inca Empire is also known for their advanced agricultural techniques, particularly the use of terraced farming on steep mountain slopes. This allowed them to grow a variety of crops in the Andean highlands, including maize, potatoes, and quinoa.

- The Inca people were skilled metalworkers and created intricate gold and silver jewelry, as well as tools and weapons. They were also known for their fine textiles, which were made from alpaca and llama wool.

- The Inca Empire had a highly organized and centralized government, with a system of taxation and labor obligations known as the mita. This system allowed the Inca rulers to mobilize huge numbers of laborers for public works projects, such as the construction of temples and fortresses.

- The Inca civilization also had a sophisticated administrative system, which included a network of quipu, or knotted strings, used for record-keeping and communication. This allowed the Inca rulers to keep track of the resources and population of their empire.

- The Inca Empire was known for their religious practices, which centered around the worship of the sun god Inti and the importance of sacred mountains and shrines. They also practiced human sacrifice on a small scale as part of religious rituals.

- The Inca Empire had a complex social structure, with the ruling elite at the top, followed by the nobility, priests, and artisans, and then the common people. Slavery was also practiced in the empire, with prisoners of war and debtors being used as laborers.