Peruvifag here
I want to get to know more about my people's history and culture, before the Spanish dogs came and perverted our bloodlines. /his/torians, please dump any and all info you may have on the matter.
Bump for interest
I know that the Incan Empire was united about 150 years before the conquest, but I don't know what happened before that or where they came from. Did enough historical records survive the conquest or is it all based on archaeology and interpretations of folklore?
From what I know, the Incan Empire basically invented the equivalent of the modern highway system. There were thousands of miles of roads allowing easier travel through the mountainous terrain. In addition, the coca plant played an interesting role. Due to a lack of horses, all messages had to be relayed by foot. To expedite the process and keep the runner alice, he or she would nibble on a coca leaf to stay awake and keep hunger at bay. On the same note, waystations were set up along the highways to give the runner a quick meal and rest if absolutely necessary.
Also Machu Picchu is fucking majestic but you can easily look that up anywhere.
IIRC Peru has been inhabited since 10,000 or 9000 BC. Norte Chico was a pre-Columbian Peruvian civilization, considered to be the oldest civilization in America, dating to 3000 BC. Very strange compared to ancient Europe and Asia. They had no ceramics and one instance of visual art that I recall, some scratch on a gourd, although they did have musical instruments. Norte Chico may have started based on maritime food sources like fishing rather than crops like most civilizations. Agriculture for textiles and weaving for fishing nets likely developed before food crops. The economy was based on cotton and possibly dried anchovies. They had strings resembling quipu, although it's not sure if they were mnemonic devices instead of record keeping. There is no evidence of warfare or defensive fortifications, but they had platform mounds and terraced pyramids.
>>430238
Native American cultures, in general, developed complex agricultural techniques to compensate for the lack of large working animals. Incan terrace agriculture is a majestic example, also further north the Aztecs farming on rivers, but that's getting off-topic.
The Inca resemble an early totalitarian society in many ways. The Sapa Inca was considered a divine autocrat, which isn't unusual for premodern societies, but they had a command economy based on direct labor towards communal projects in groups called ayllu that commoners had no freedom to leave, with most surplus going to the Sapa Inca or nobles. Men who didn't marry at 20 were assigned a wife. Inspectors were very powerful, you had to keep your door open in the day so they were free to examine your house, and they'd check at night to see if you were sleeping. Houses had no windows and babies were usually just left alone during the day. The empire was integrative and would typically display its vast wealth to encourage people to join it, instead of first resorting to military conquest. Inti, the sun deity, was considered the greatest god, but other gods were allowed with their folklore being adapted and mixed by the Inca priests to form a consistent narrative. Quechua was the main language, with many regional dialects, although some other languages were allowed. The empire was principally divided into four regions called suyu, with the capital of Cuzco intersecting at the corners.
>>430000
Hey OP, you might want to check this out. The Caral Supe ruins are pretty cool.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caral-Supe_Civilization
>>430125
I think many of the records that exist were written by those of religious orders, who in turn collected history through word of mouth.
You can imagine that they added a little bit of twist to it, since their main goal was to convert the locals to Christianity.
OP: Are you in Peru still? Or Living abroad? I can give you some good English resources about the Incas when I get home.
>>430238
>Norte Chico had no art
STOP
THE
MEME
They had a little art, unsophisticated and simple, but it still was there.
>>430000
But anon, the history of your country gets rad after the Spanish arrive.
>>430125
Pre-hispanic andeans didn't write.
