AOE: Lesson - Pre-Columbian Empires: The Incas

The Inca

The Incas emanated from the Peruvian highlands in the early 13th Century CE. Like the Aztec, they conquered different groups of people but assimilated the conquered people. Like the Maya, the Inca leader was believed to be divine. The Inca thought he was the son of the sun.

As an empire, the Incas continued their path of conquest along the Pacific Ocean. At their height, the Incas reigned over 2,000 miles of coastland using a professional army (which explains their success at expansion), a single language (Quechua), an efficient bureaucracy based in the capital of Cusco, and a sophisticated road system to ease connections with the empire and Cusco. The Inca Empire became the largest and richest of the Pre-Columbian empires in the Americas.

Inca Culture

The Inca were technologically advanced like their North American counterparts. Records of their census (and most likely more) were kept via a system of complicated knots called Quipu. The Inca kept no written records, and our understanding of the meaning is still basic. Incan doctors performed surgery and Incan engineers designed walls that held together without mortar and could withstand earthquakes.

The End of the Pre-Columbian Empires

The Inca Empire was the last Pre-Columbian empire in the Andes Mountain region and the Aztec Empire was the last Pre-Columbian empire in Mesoamerica. Beginning in the 16th Century CE, European explorers arrived in the Americas altering the local course of history forever. 

Inca Achievements

Select each term below to learn more about Inca achievements.

Inca Record Keeping

This image shows an example of an Inca Quipu. These cords were made of cotton and knotted in a variety of ways to communicate. Historians think they may have been used like a census. It is clear: whatever specific purpose they were for, quipu were a form of record keeping.

Inca Architecture

This image shows a detail of an Inca wall. Notice how the shapes are irregular? That allowed them to fit together like a puzzle. They held without mortar and were also earthquake resistant!

Inca Archaeology

This image shows the Inca archaeological site of Machu Picchu, high up in the Andes mountains. This archeological site was built in the 1400s for Inca royalty and possibly also was used for astronomy, worship, and as a mausoleum.

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