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Questions tagged [inca]

Questions pertaining to the Inca and their culture, language, or empire.

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13 votes
1 answer
3k views

If he was garroted, why do depictions show Atahualpa being burned at stake?

I'm reading the Wikipedia page about the execution of Atahualpa. It says he was garroted: In accordance with his request, he was executed by strangling with a garrote on July 26, 1533 But the ...
robertspierre's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
554 views

Given that there were there larger, more organised civilisations in South America compared to NA, why did they not colonise North America themselves?

Why were there seemingly larger, more organised civilisations in the South American part of the American continent compared to the North before European colonisation and why did they not migrate North?...
Sophía Sugondèz's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
287 views

Were pre-columbian peoples aware of "America" as a three parts continent? [closed]

Sorry if the questions seem too vague. I would like to know if the indigenous people of what we now know as the Americas knew the continent as a two- or three-part continent (North, Meso, and South ...
Devin's user avatar
  • 1,508
2 votes
0 answers
130 views

How did Incas chroniclers learn to draw?

I came across the magnificent work of an Inca chronicler named Waman Puma de Ayala -- or Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala -- and I wondered: how did he learn to draw his codex? Resources for viewing his ...
atrefeu's user avatar
  • 803
-1 votes
1 answer
276 views

Was the fall of the Inca Empire inevitable? [closed]

Some time ago I watched a documentary on Inca Empire, since its creation to the death of Túpac Amaru. Although it wasn't stated explicitly, I came out of it with an impression that after Manco Inca ...
Reverent Lapwing's user avatar
17 votes
4 answers
3k views

Did the Inca Empire know about the Polynesians, or vice versa?

I'll split this question into two parts. Pre-Columbus: There's some evidence that Polynesians traveled back and forth between Oceania and South America before the arrival of Europeans. The sweet ...
Riialto's user avatar
  • 179
2 votes
1 answer
604 views

Is there any short summary of John Rowe's theory of horizons about the Incas?

This topic often gets me confused as I have not found much information about John Rowe's chronology of the origins of the Inca's empire. All that I know is that he divided the history of ancient Peru ...
Chris Steinbeck Bell's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
11k views

Was there contact between the Inca, Maya and Aztecs?

Were these three cultures aware of each others existence? Did they trade with one another?
user22453's user avatar
  • 1,383
-1 votes
1 answer
433 views

Did the Incas think Spanish helmets were cooking pots?

Is it true that the Incas thought that the Spanish people where wearing pots to cook(they confused the helmets with pots). As far as I know that there was in some of their religious rituals the ...
Hiwa K 's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
688 views

Why were the Maya's cities abandoned? [duplicate]

I actually have done research on the Maya, the Inca, and the Aztecs, but I'm wondering about a specific question that we had to study on flashcards for a test on a few days ago, which stated, " What ...
Myriam's user avatar
  • 9
24 votes
4 answers
5k views

Did any European ever witness a major Inca religious festival?

Did any European witness an Inca religious festival?
George A. Solodun's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

How were the Incas able to build such great works of architecture without using mortar?

What are the greatest remaining structures the Incas built without using mortar? How could they do it?
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why was North and South America less developed than other parts of the world? [duplicate]

Let me preface this with stating that the pre-columbian period of mesoamerica and the Andes Mountain regions are my favorite areas of study and I am fully aware of the advanced civilizations that ...
user972276's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
107 views

Is this alphabet from tawantinsuyu or is it a modern invention (from the latter centuries)?

I am asking about tawa. When I studied quichua as language, I was told that quichua was not written. However here, in Ecuador, I found many sources (the main one is a magazine delivered by Amawtay ...
Luis Masuelli's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
202 views

Why was Ruminawi not eligible to the throne?

Ruminawi was not eligible for the throne although being son of Wayna Capac and queen (of Pillaro) Choazanguil (source). Atahualpa was his half-brother, same father Wayna Capac, but by mother had ...
Luis Masuelli's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why didn't the Incan Empire use iron?

They could mine copper and silver, but not iron. Was there a reason to not use such materials to build advanced mining tools to work with Iron? What was their main limitation? Couldn't they build ...
Luis Masuelli's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
283 views

Why was the seventh day of the week in Quichua named after the sun?

In Tawantinsuyu, Incan society had a seven day week. The days could be enumerated as following: Monday: AWAKI puncha Tuesday: AWKARIK puncha Wednesday: CHILLAY puncha Thursday: KULLKA puncha ...
Luis Masuelli's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
11k views

What was Pizarro's route between Spain and Peru?

What was the sea route generally used by Francisco Pizarro and his contemporaries to go from Spain to Peru (and back)? Was it: Sea route 1.: Through Panama Isthmus (with a passage in the land) Sea ...
Polk's user avatar
  • 61
4 votes
2 answers
825 views

What is the age of Machu Picchu principal temple?

Brian Foerster in this video tells a theory that Incas built their city on top of an older one, judging by the difference in the block material (granite), size, and the precision of their composition. ...
kvark's user avatar
  • 143
6 votes
6 answers
13k views

Why were northern Native Americans less urban than central or southern?

I was taught that the Native Americans (both North, then South) primarily came down from Canada from what is now Russia. Whether or not that is true, why did the Native American civilizations from the ...
CGCampbell's user avatar
  • 3,596
1 vote
2 answers
248 views

In what year was the conquest of the Incas completed?

Following my other post about the Inca and Francisco Pizarro, I would like to know a simple fact: What year was the conquest of the Incas completed?
user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
7k views

How come Incas believed that the Spanish were the incarnation of their “thunder god”?

I have recently been studying Francisco Pizarro and his domination over the Incas. I watched a clip called "Guns, Germs, and Steel". It was quite interesting, how Pizarro dominated the Incas with only ...
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