ANTH 100A Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Machu Picchu, Culture Hero, Smallpox
Document Summary
Anaconda people: believe plants are people in another dimension. Peru: mountains, dry costal desert, rich marine source. Empire stretched over 3,000 miles; there was no hunger. all were perceived to be divine. But then came the small pox - killing 90% of the people. It was a place of agricultural genius; even if 1/3 crops failed and hail would wipe out the entire eld, if you pledged loyalty to the king, you would never go hungry. Freeze dried food such as dried potatoes; created jerky - dried meat. Could transport enormous populations from one place to another. When the spaniards saw the architecture, they could not believe it was man made. They insulted the engineering achievement to these indian people by calling it the work of the devil.
