The Inca’s vast empire spanned from modern day Colombia and Ecuador in the north, to the city of Santiago in Chile. At the lowest level of the organisational hierarchy were the ayllus, units of people made up of large extended families. These were headed by lords called curacas, who in turn reported to more powerful regional curacas.
Category: "History"
Watch: Secret of the Incas (1954)
“An Incan legend states that the Inca Empire was destroyed by the gods when a gold and jeweled starburst was stolen from the Temple of the Sun centuries ago, and that the ancient civilization will be reborn once the treasure is returned. Harry Steele (Charlton Heston), an American adventurer, is seeking the artefact, as is his nemesis Ed Morgan (Thomas Mitchell), along with Elena Antonescu (Nicole Maurey), an Iron Curtain refugee.” – Watch the full movie here.
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Conquest of the Huarco of the Cañete Valley
Six centuries have now passed since the young Túpac Yupanqui, chief commander of the victorious army of his father the grand Inca Pachacútec, set eyes on this extensive green valley for the first time from the dry desert hills above, the valley that today is called Cañete. Strategically allied with the Chincha further south and the local rulers of what is now a town called Asia further north, perhaps the young Inca thought the conquest of the prosperous Guarco (Huarco) people would be simple.
Dinosaurs in Peru
Though they disappeared millions of years ago, the vestiges of their existence are evident today in the form of fossils. These remains are the objects of study for palaeontologists who recognise, clean and classify them like pieces of a puzzle, giving us an idea of how the prehistoric would would have looked like.
Intact Wari tomb at the Huaca Pucllana
Built by the Lima Culture, the Huaca Pucllana eventually came under the control of the vast Huari (or Wari) Empire. Although various Wari artefacts have been discovered here, this is the first Wari-period tomb to be uncovered.
Ruins of Maucallacta
Six hours from Arequipa, on the route to the Coropuna volcano, are the ruins of an ancient ceremonial centre eventually assimilated by the Inca Empire. Today, Polish and Peruvian archaeologists, with the help of locals, are restoring what is truly a lost treasure.
Quechua
It is often considered to be the language of the Incas, invented by them and spread across the Andes. The truth is that this family of languages is much older, far more diverse and far more interesting than you imagined.
Destruction of Lima’s architectural heritage [Featured]
Lima grows ever higher. In districts like Miraflores, Chorrillos, Barranco and San Isidro are loosing more and more of of their traditional homes, the majority of which built in the early 1900s. They are forced to make way for grand towers and modern apartments that ignore the style of the surrounding area and simply don’t fit. Worse still many defy urban-planning rules implemented by local municipalities.
Japanese hostage crisis and Operation Chavin de Huantar
In the evening of the 17th of December 1996, hundreds of senior diplomats, government ministers and other VIPs were attending a party at the official residence of Japan’s ambassador to Peru, Morihisha Aoki, in celebration of Emperor Akihito’s 63rd birthday.
Did the Incas explore the Pacific?
There has long been evidence, most of it barely investigated, that Andean peoples and Polynesian peoples have had contact various times in their pre-Columbian pasts. It has even been suggested that people arrived in South America from Polynesia – evidence of human activity in Chile from a time before humans were supposed to have crossed the Bearing Straits has been found.
Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú
If you plan to visit only one museum while in Lima it should probably be this one. The National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru beats the Museo de la Nacion, which can close for a month or two at a time with little notice, hands down. Located in the district of Pueblo Libre, in the beautiful little plaza, there’s no excuse not to try some of Lima’s world-renowned food while you are there.
Yma Sumac
Probably Peru’s greatest artist and definitely the best known internationally, female soprano Yma Sumac is nothing less than a legend.
Born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo, she is said to be a direct descendent of Inca Atahualpa on the part of her mother, Ima Shumaq, though this, as well as her exact year and town of birth, isn’t truly known by anyone other than the woman herself.
