Chicago Natur 



Formerly 



History Museum 



.liseum News 



\\ 



Vol. 16 



SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1945 



Nos. 9-10 



DIORAMA SHOWS HOW THE INCAS LIVED BEFORE THE SPANISH CONQUEST 



By DONALD COLLIER 



CURATOR, SOUTH AMERICAN BTHNOLOOY 

 AND ARCHAEOLOGY 



One of the most brilliant and dramatic 

 episodes in the discovery and colonization 

 of the New World 

 was the conquest of 

 Peru in 1532 by Pi- 

 zarro and his intrepid 

 band of 190 warriors. 

 At this time Peru was 

 the center of the great 

 Inca Empire, which 

 extended from Colom- 

 bia to central Chile, 

 a distance of nearly 

 3,000 miles. The 

 Spaniards were 

 amazed not only by 

 the va.st store of golden 

 treasure that they en- 

 countered, but also by 

 the complex organiza- 

 tion of the Inca state 

 and the engineering 

 .skill of the Incas. 



Inca civilization, as 

 it was shortly before 

 the coming of the 

 Spaniards, is the sub- 

 ject of a diorama re- 

 cently installed in the 

 in the Hall of New 

 World Archaeology 

 (Hall B). The exhibit 

 shows the everyday 

 life and some of the 



more spectacular accomplishments of the 

 Incas. The site of the diorama is at Ollan- 

 taytambo in the Urabamba Valley, high 

 in the Andes of southern Peru and not 

 far from Cuzco, capital of the empire. 



The scene is dominated by the rugged 

 Andes rising to snow-covered peaks more 

 than 19,000 feet high. Elaborate systems 

 of agricultural terraces, built to hold the 

 soil and facilitate irrigation, extend from 

 the edge of the river far up the mountain 

 slopes. The ditches that carry water from 

 high mountain streams to the heads of these 

 terrace systems are cut into the solid rock 

 in places, and where necessary are carried 



through tunnels and across the sheer faces of 

 cliffs on stone aqueducts. 



From a mountain shoulder juts a massive 

 stone fortress built by the Incas to protect 

 this corner of the empire from hostile tribes 



Jiorama in i 



AN ANDEAN VALLEY AT THE TIME OF THE INCAS 



miniature, recently placed on exhibition in the Hall of New World Archaeology (Hall B). It shows in 

 detail the typical terraced farms, and the irrigation system, a suspension bridge and stone fortress which demonstrate the 

 remarkable engineering skill and organizing ability of the early Indians of Peru. 



living down the river. Probably the struc- 

 ture served also as a temple. On a broad 

 terrace below the fortress is the village of 

 OUantaytambo. It has the straight streets 

 and meticulous symmetry so typical of 

 Inca planning. 



Near at hand the highway from Cuzco 

 crosses the rushing river on a great suspen- 

 sion bridge that sways and vibrates in the 

 wind. The foot-thick cables of maguey 

 fiber hang from stone piers that rise from 

 massive abutments built of carefully fitted, 

 very large, polygonal stones. Above the 

 end of the bridge are the stone houses with 

 thatched roofs of the bridgekeeper and his 



family. In the yard and near-by, various 

 homely activities are being carried on. Two 

 of the women are offering corn beer {chieha) 

 and parched corn to some llama drivers who 

 have halted their pack train to refresh them- 

 selves before going on 

 to the village market. 

 On the adjacent ter- 

 races are growing the 

 staple crops of the 

 locality — corn, beans, 

 squash and chili pep- 

 pers. Higher up on 

 the mountain slopes 

 are green fields of 

 potatoes and quinoa. 

 The latter is grown 

 for its small, round 

 seeds which are made 

 into a kind of por- 

 ridge and ground into 

 flour. Farther down 

 the valley, where it is 

 warmer, tomatoes and 

 manioc are grown. 



The Urubamba Val- 

 ley was one of many 

 similar, thickly popu- 

 lated valleys within 

 the Inca Empire. The 

 realm was composed 

 of formerly independ- 

 ent and linguistically 

 diverse Indian tribes 

 and kingdoms that 

 had been conquered 

 by the Incas. 

 The Incas, often called Quechuas from 

 the name of their language, were originally 

 a small but powerful tribe confined to the 

 Cuzco Valley. Through a remarkable .series 

 of military campaigns and an effective 

 program of political and social measures to 

 assimilate the conquered peoples, they 

 created a vast, closely-knit empire in which 

 they were the ruling class. The hierarchy 

 of administrative officials, from the gover- 

 nors of the four provinces of the empire to 

 the humblest officials having supervision 

 over ten families, was headed by the Sapa 

 Inca or "Sole Emperor," who was head of 

 church and state. The emperor was called 



