Introduction to the Incas

• Around 1500 CE, Incan Indians lived high in the Andes Mountains of South

America. Located in Peru today.

• In just 100 years, they built one of the largest empires in the world.
•  It was the last great empire in the Americas—an empire that was 2500 miles long, 500 miles wide, and home to over 12 million people.
• The Incas never invented the wheel.
• They never invented a system of writing.
• They had no use for money.
• Yet, high in the rugged Andes Mountains of South America, the Incas built thousands of miles of well-paved roads, kept accurate records, and enjoyed vast wealth. Everyone in the empire was well fed and no one was homeless.
• Incas called themselves the Children of the Sun

Geography of the Incan Empire

Directions: Map the Incan Empire

1. Label the following places on your map on page 430: Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Andes, Atacama desert, Amazon River, Quito, Lake Titicaca, Lake Poopo, Santiago, Talca.

2. Using the natural barriers works sheet write down a two-sentence summary and include it in your map, next to that location.

3. Color the three geographical barriers in 3 different colors.

 Note: The capital city of Cuzco is spelled Cuzco, Cusco, Qusqu, and Qosqo. We prefer the Spanish spelling of Cuzco, but all are correct. It is important that students know of these alternate spellings.

Manco Capac

 “Most ancient cultures have an origin story, a story about how their civilization began. The Incas were no exception. They had many origin stories.

They believed in a great many gods and goddesses, and they loved stories. One of the legends the Incas loved to tell about the founding of Cuzco, the capital of the Incan empire, told of a great bird. One day, the people looked up and saw a

great bird in the sky with colorfully beautiful feathers. As the bird soared away, the people ran after it, pointing at the sky. Then the bird finally landed, it immediately turned into stone, creating a great rock. The people knew that it was a sign, an omen. The bird had been sent by the gods to show the people where to build their city. Certainly, with such a beginning, the city they built would be the

finest in all the land. And so it was.

Another origin story about the founding of the city of Cuzco is the story of Manco Capac and the sun god, Inti.”