﻿INCA 
  CULTURE 
  AT 
  THE 
  TIME 
  OF 
  THE 
  SPANISH 
  

   CONQUEST 
  

  

  By 
  John 
  Howland 
  Rowe 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  This 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  Handbook 
  deals 
  with 
  the 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  Andean 
  

   region 
  between 
  Ecuador 
  and 
  the 
  northern 
  border 
  of 
  Aymara 
  territory 
  

   as 
  it 
  was 
  observed 
  by 
  the 
  Spanish 
  conquerors 
  in 
  the 
  16th 
  century 
  and 
  

   recorded 
  in 
  surviving 
  documents. 
  This 
  area 
  includes 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  

   desert 
  Coast 
  of 
  Perti 
  and 
  the 
  broken 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Peruvian 
  Highlands, 
  

   a 
  region 
  which 
  was 
  the 
  home 
  of 
  many 
  different 
  tribes, 
  nations, 
  lan- 
  

   guages, 
  and 
  cultures 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  superficially 
  unified 
  by 
  its 
  incor- 
  

   poration 
  into 
  the 
  Inca 
  1 
  Empire 
  (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  4) 
  • 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  obviously 
  

   impossible 
  to 
  include 
  a 
  complete 
  account 
  of 
  each 
  tribe 
  in 
  the 
  Hand- 
  

   book, 
  even 
  if 
  the 
  necessary 
  information 
  existed. 
  With 
  minor 
  excep- 
  

   tions, 
  however, 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  literature 
  now 
  available 
  which 
  deals 
  

   with 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Andean 
  area 
  refers 
  to 
  Inca 
  culture 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  

   around 
  Cuzco, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  for 
  the 
  Inca 
  that 
  a 
  complete 
  cultural 
  

   description 
  is 
  possible. 
  The 
  account 
  that 
  follows, 
  therefore, 
  is 
  spe- 
  

   cifically 
  an 
  ethnographical 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  culture, 
  although 
  

   differences 
  in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  are 
  indicated 
  when 
  the 
  limita- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  the 
  source 
  material 
  permit. 
  

  

  The 
  area 
  covered 
  by 
  this 
  section 
  lies 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  

   Equator, 
  but 
  cold 
  ocean 
  currents 
  make 
  the 
  dry 
  coast 
  almost 
  temperate, 
  

   and 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  mountain 
  valleys 
  are 
  at 
  an 
  elevation 
  of 
  7,000 
  to 
  12,000 
  

   feet 
  (2,000 
  to 
  4,000 
  m.) 
  above 
  sea 
  level, 
  where 
  the 
  elevation 
  counter- 
  

   acts 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  the 
  low 
  latitude. 
  Throughout 
  the 
  area, 
  the 
  climate 
  

   varies 
  more 
  with 
  elevation 
  than 
  with 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  Equator, 
  so 
  

   that 
  hot 
  low 
  valleys 
  are 
  only 
  a 
  short 
  journey 
  from 
  cold 
  plateau 
  country 
  

   where 
  little 
  can 
  be 
  grown 
  except 
  potatoes. 
  As 
  a 
  result, 
  it 
  costs 
  the 
  

   inhabitants 
  relatively 
  little 
  effort 
  to 
  vary 
  their 
  diet 
  and 
  dress 
  with 
  the 
  

   products 
  of 
  another 
  climate, 
  and 
  this 
  incentive 
  is 
  as 
  much 
  of 
  an 
  en- 
  

   couragement 
  to 
  local 
  travel 
  as 
  the 
  broken 
  mountain 
  and 
  desert 
  barriers 
  

   are 
  a 
  hindrance. 
  Rainfall 
  is 
  light 
  in 
  the 
  mountains 
  and 
  almost 
  absent 
  

  

  1 
  Inca 
  is 
  used 
  to 
  denote 
  the 
  Quechua-speakmg 
  peoples 
  around 
  Cuzco, 
  and, 
  more 
  generally, 
  the 
  Empire 
  which 
  

   they 
  ruled. 
  It 
  seems 
  better 
  to 
  avoid 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  "Inca" 
  as 
  a 
  title 
  for 
  the 
  Emperor 
  or 
  to 
  refer 
  specifically 
  to 
  the 
  

   royal 
  family, 
  although 
  such 
  a 
  practice 
  is 
  common 
  and 
  historically 
  correct. 
  

  

  183 
  

  

  

  