Anthropology 2100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Machu Picchu, Inca Road System, Sapa Inca
12 Apr 2019
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The inca: the term inca has multiple meanings. Sapa inca: thought to be related to sun god so he was devine. Had no writing system: notic strings, kept for transactions, used by herittary class of accountants. Machu picchu: discovered by hiram bingham in 1911, although bingham described machu picchu as a lost city it was never truly lost as it had been known by local people for many years. Spanish conquest: he was not an archaeologist, he did find vilcabamba, which was a site called espiritu pampa, but once he found. Setting of machu picchu: high in mountains, ridge between two mountain peaks, ruins: temples, courtyards, elite and nonelite residental structures, staircases. Terraces at machu picchu: go down mountain side, like stairs almost, terraces served three functions, they controlled water runoff during heavy rains, built on graval, they stabilized the slope by preventing erosion, they created more arable land.
