Inca Land
The place the Inca call home is the beautiful Cuzco Valley. The valley is in the Central Andes. The Central Andes are a diverse land full of mountains up to 22,000 feet above sea level and rivers that cut into the mountainsides on their way downwards. There are bare, plateaus above the tree line of the fertile valley where the Inca live. The Andes lie along the western side of the South American continent. The Andes are the highest mountain range in the world, only second to the Himalayas. The Andes can be difficult to settle in, due to the rocky mountain slopes and cold climate. At the high elevation there is a lack of oxygen, making it difficult. But when you move away from the mountains, you meet the hot and steamy Amazon Basin. The Amazon Basin contains the world’s largest rainforest, it covers a third of the continent. To the west of the Andes is a narrow coastal plain, which is mostly desert with the occasional rainfall. The majority of the water comes from rivers from the mountains. Inca Agriculture |
The Cuzco Valley |
The Inca have a very sufficient system of farming. The Inca are so successful in their farming, that they rarely go hungry. The Inca use all the food they grow and raise to their advantage. They divide up were they grow and raise their sources of food, so food production is efficient. In the lowlands they grow corn, beans, and squash, and in the mountains they raise llamas, alpacas, and vicuna for wool and meat. The growing of crops according to the height of the land is called vertical economy. One technique the Inca use is terrace farming, terrace farming was were the Inca brought top soil and gravel from the lowlands up to the hillsides were the soil is thin and there is barely any rain. After carrying the soil up they pack the soil into narrow farming terraces, and make elaborate canal systems top protect the crops from drought. Additionally the government builds warehouses to save the extra food in case of crop failure or war. The government assigns people called, quipu to record how much and where food is stored. Due to the government in control of the flow of food, there is no free trade and markets like those the Aztecs have. Finally, the Inca drain swamps and made canal systems to keep the crops irrigated and the animals hydrated. The drained swamps not only lead to more land for farming, but overall benefits the entire Inca people.
|
An Example of Terrace Farming on a Hillside in Peru |