Native Americans of Middle and South America

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Social and Political Organization

In the central Andes, as in Middle America, a highly efficient system of agriculture permitted the growth of a large, dense population and the rise of complex political systems such as states and empires. Food surpluses released large numbers of people from agricultural labor, allowing them to work in government, the military, religious institutions, and art. With centralized state authorities to plan construction and direct masses of laborers, societies could undertake huge public projects, such as the construction of irrigation systems, roads, bridges, forts, and temples.

State societies such as the Moche, Huari, Tiwanaku, Chimú, and Inca had at least three social classes. These included a small group of ruling elite, larger numbers of administrative officials positioned throughout the state, and huge numbers of people who belonged to a commoner class. The Moche state, which flourished on the northern coast of Peru from about ad 100 to 800, was apparently structured as a three-tier hierarchy. At the top were a supreme ruler and an elite group of warrior priests who were believed to be invested with supernatural powers. Beneath them were social and occupational classes of state officials, healers, architects, engineers, and lesser religious officials. At the lowest level was the mass of the population, which produced the food, served in the army, and provided labor for the construction of public works. The population of the Moche state may have reached 650,000 people by ad 450.

The Inca Empire, with an estimated 6 million to 11 million people at its height, was by far the largest and most highly centralized civilization in South America before the arrival of Europeans. It was ruled by an emperor who inherited his office and was thought to be a direct descendant of the sun god. The empire was divided into four quarters, each led by one of the emperor’s relatives. Each quarter was subdivided into smaller provinces or districts ruled by a governor. Below the governors was a descending hierarchy of local officials in charge of 10,000, 5,000, 1,000, 100, or 10 people. Officials used knotted strings called quipus (pronounced KEE-pooz) to keep accurate records on such matters as population, the number of men in the army, the quantities of corn or potatoes in the storehouse, and the size of herds of alpacas and llamas.

In the southern Andes, social and political systems were considerably less developed than in the central Andes. The large state centers were absent and the population was less dense. In the Atacama Desert, one of the world’s driest regions, small, isolated groups of Atacameños inhabited a narrow coastal strip and a few watered oases. South of them, Diaguita farmers and herders lived in autonomous towns. The mild valleys of central Chile were more favorable for farming and supported a large population of Araucanians. Rather than being concentrated in towns or cities, however, the population was spread out among small, autonomous hamlets.

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Warfare

Most Andean states expanded their political boundaries by conquering neighboring populations. Paintings on Moche pottery, for example, depict bloody battles between the state army and warriors from provincial valleys. Following the defeat of a group, Moche warriors removed their captives’ clothing and tied their hands behind their backs. Then the captives were marched across the desert to be presented to the warrior priest before being sacrificed and dismembered.

Because the Spanish conquerors actually engaged in battles with the Inca, and described their tactics in detail, much is known about Inca warfare and the nature of its army. Estimates of the army’s size range from 70,000 men, at the start of the empire around ad 1438, to some 250,000 men a few years later during the Inca conquest of northern Peru. The army was organized in squadrons of men who specialized in the use of different kinds of weapons, including slings, bows and arrows, dart throwers, clubs, and spears. On most occasions, Inca generals sent emissaries to the enemy prior to a battle in an attempt to achieve a bloodless conquest. If diplomacy failed, the first soldiers to engage the enemy were the squadrons of slingers, who attacked from long range. As the two armies got nearer to each other, the bowmen and dart throwers attacked. Finally, the squadrons specializing in the use of clubs and short spears engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting.

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Settlement and Housing

Settlements of commoners in the Central and Southern Andes culture area consisted of densely packed, multiroomed dwellings. In the highlands, dwellings were made of stone with gabled (peaked) roofs to protect against rain. In contrast, dwellings on the rainless coast were simple wattle-and-daub structures, consisting of mud plastered over stick-and-mat frames, with flat roofs to protect against sun, wind, and blowing sand. In Andean states, there were at least three different sizes of settlements: a primary city, or capital; smaller cities that served as administrative centers; and smaller towns, villages, and hamlets where most of the people lived. Capital sites ranged in size from about 5 to 20 sq km (2 to 8 sq mi), and contained palaces surrounded by high-walled compounds, plazas where state ceremonies were held, and religious structures. Chan Chan, the capital city of the Chimú kingdom (12th to 15th century), had a population of at least 25,000 people.

With an estimated population of 100,000, the Inca capital city of Cuzco was the largest urban center of South America prior to European contact. The Incas built magnificent palaces, temples, and forts of stone blocks sculpted to fit together so precisely that no mortar was necessary. The religious focus of the city was the Cori Cancha (meaning “Golden Enclosure”) where life-sized golden llamas and maize plants were placed along with the idols of conquered populations. The Spaniards called this building the Temple of the Sun. Arranged around the main plaza of Cuzco were temples, public buildings, and the palace compounds of the emperor and the descendants of deceased emperors. The entire city was laid out in the shape of a giant puma whose head was formed by the hilltop site of Sacsahuaman, ancient South America’s greatest stone fortress.

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Transportation

Throughout most of the Central and Southern Andes culture area, llamas were used as the principal means of transport. They were able to carry loads of up to 32 kg (70 lb). Moche traders used caravans of these pack animals to carry goods along rock-lined roads. At regular intervals along the roads, small settlements served as stopping places.

The most remarkable Andean road system belonged to that of the Inca Empire. The Capac Ñan, or Royal Road, consisted of two principal routes, a coastal and a highland one, that ran the length of the empire. These routes were connected by a great number of secondary roads that ran between coast and highlands. Suspension bridges made of rope were used to cross the more dangerous Andean rivers, such as the Apurímac near Cuzco, and on adjacent canyon slopes the main route of travel often was nothing more than a narrow trail. As much as possible, however, the Inca built their highways across higher puna flatlands to permit efficient travel by state functionaries, the army, and the runners (called chasquis), who carried the quipu-string messages. The total length of the Inca highway system is estimated at more than 23,000 km (14,000 mi).

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Clothing and Ornamentation

Throughout the coast and highlands, men wore breechcloths, wraparound kilts, and shirts, adding a shawl (or poncho) when temperatures were cooler. Women wore wraparound dresses and shawls that were secured on the chest with a large pin called a tupu. In the warmer coastal climate, clothing was generally was made of cotton; in the cooler highlands most garments were made of alpaca wool, although cotton and llama wool were also used. Elite people wore more elaborate clothing decorated with gold, silver, and semiprecious stones. The elite also wore jewelry known as earplugs. These consisted of decorated disks 7.5 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) in diameter, with an attached metal tube that was placed through a perforation in their earlobes. Ultimately, the weight of the plugs stretched the lobes so much that the Spaniards dubbed the higher-class Inca orejones, or “long ears.” In the service of such elite needs, miners of precious metals and stones were needed as well as fulltime artisans who were expert at smelting and working the metals to make the jewelry and other ornamentation.

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