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Just outside of Cuzco is
Sacsayhuaman (pronounced: sox-say-WHO-man), the Inca fortress that guarded
the sacred city of Cuzco.
This military complex has a double wall in
a zigzag shape, some say to imitate the teeth of the puma figure whose
head the fortress may have formed. Some of the huge stones weigh over
300 tons, and are positioned with such exact position that their
construction defies modern building techniques. Their
understanding of design was so sophisticated that they could place a 100+
ton stone, with angled cuts, perfectly. The stones, which fit so
tightly without mortar in an interlocking design, have withstood
earthquakes for centuries. The Incas had no draft animals or wheel
to move the stones - yet, not even a razor blade can fit between them. Archeologists
estimate that tens of thousands of workers labored on this massive
structure for up to seven decades, hauling the immense stone blocks that
make up its double outside walls, and erecting the nearly indestructible
buildings that transformed the complex into one of the most wondrous in
all the empire.
The fort at one time had at least three fabulous
huge towers, and a labyrinth of rooms large enough for a garrison of 5,000
Inca soldiers. It marks the birthplace of the river that runs under Cuzco, channeled through stone conduits cut to give the city an invisible
water supply. |
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The Incas were extremely efficient and
knowledgeable in agriculture with terracing, and huge surpluses of
food could be grown. Staple crops were potatoes - hundreds of
varieties, maize (corn) and quinoa (KEEN-wah), something like
spinach. The favorite drink of the Incas, chicha, a type of
beer, was brewed from fermented maize, and Inca varieties are still
popular today. Avocados are abundant, coming from the rain
forest area.
Land was, and still is, communal - a group of
families shared land, crops and animals. Each year the land
was redistributed so newlyweds and those with more mouths to feed
could receive an allotment. Land was harvested as: part to the
Incas (the state), part to the Gods (the Priest), part to the
families. In return, the Inca rulers made sure that everyone
was fed and clothed, even in times of poor harvest. Many of
the crops dedicated to the Gods were returned to the people during
religious feasts and ceremonies.
There was also a "labor tax", known as mit 'a,
that was paid by working for the empire for a period of time each
year. This work included serving in the Army, building roads,
working on irrigation and drainage projects, constructing terraces,
quarrying stone, building and more. |
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