Inca Empire and Inca Culture Posters, Prints & Charts
for the social studies classroom, home schoolers, and themed decor for office and studio.

The Incas
(A.D. 1200 — A.D. 1533)

The Inca Indians ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the Western world which at its height stretched for 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America. It included parts of the present-day countries of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. The empire was centered around the capital city of Cuzco, located high in the Andes mountains, from there the Inca ruler controlled the lives of his 6 million subjects.

The Inca began their rise to power in the year 1200. At that time, there had already been civilizations in the highlands of Peru for more than 1,000 years. It was from these earlier civilizations that the Incas learned to build fortress walls made from huge blocks of carefully carved stone. The Incas did not use mortar to hold the stones together. Instead, they carved the stones so precisely that they fit perfectly. And many of their walls still stand, despite the many earthquakes that have struck Peru.

Agricultural Terraces, Machu Picchu, Peru, Lost City of Inca Rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, Photographic Print

The Inca were farmers, and they found ways to grow corn and potatoes at elevations of 11,000 feet and higher. They build terraced fields along the steep mountainsides in order to increase the amount of land they could use for growing food. The Inca were also known for their fine cloth and beautiful jewelry.

The vast Inca empire was held together by a system of stone highways. Swift runners used these highways to carry messages from the Inca ruler to all parts of the empire.

Religion was very important to the Inca. Their most important god was Inti — the sun god.

The Inca never developed a system of writing. But special officials kept detailed records with a device called a quipu (key-poo), which was a length of cord with knotted strings of different sizes and colors. Each color or knot stood for a different item.

In 1532, the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro arrived in South America. Within months, Pizarro and his army had slaughtered most of the Incas and taken the Inca ruler, Atahualpa, prisoner. And even though he paid a huge ransom of gold and silver, Atahaulpa was killed.

The Spanish tried to destroy all traces of the Inca empire. But fortunately many Inca objects and ruins have survived the centuries — including the famous city of Machu Picchu ... (Text from a no longer available poster.)

• The Ancient Inca (People of the Ancient World)