Incas
Pre-Inca Empire
2500 BC - Around this time people in the region began farming.
They grew potatoes, corn, cotton, and other crops. They also started
forming villages.
900 BC - The Chavin civilization begins to form in the northern
Andes highlands.
850 BC - The Chavin build the city and temple of Chavin de
Huantar. It is located around 160 miles north of where Lima, Peru
is today.
700 BC - The Paracas civilization begins to form.
200 BC - The Chavin civilization collapses.
100 AD - The Nazca civilization begins to flourish. The Nazca are
known for their complex textiles and ceramics. They are also
famous for the Nazca Lines drawn in the desert floor. These lines
form the shapes of large animals when viewed from the air.
200 AD - The Paracas civilization collapses.
600 AD - The Huari civilization begins to form in the area.
800 AD - The Nazca and Moche civilizations come to an end.
1000 AD - Many more cultures begin to form in the area
during this time including the Chimu.
1200 AD - The Chimu build their capital city Chan Chan.
Inca Empire Time Line
Inca Empire
1200 AD - The Inca tribe, led by Manco Capac, founded the city of
Cuzco in the Cuzco Valley region.
1200 AD to 1400 AD - The Inca live in and around the city-state of
Cuzco. During this period of time they do not try to expand their area
of control.
1438 AD - Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui becomes the leader of the Inca. He
begins to conquer nearby tribes and expand the control of the Inca
Empire. He reorganizes the government into the Tawantinsuyu and
builds the city of Machu Picchu.
1471 AD - Tupac Inca Yupanqui, Pachacuti's son, becomes
emperor. He will greatly expand the Inca Empire.
1476 AD - Emperor Tupac defeats the Chuma Empire and their
lands become part of the Inca Empire.
1493 AD - Huayna Capac, Tupac's son, becomes emperor. The
Inca Empire will reach its peak under the reign of Huayna
Capac.
Decline and Fall of the Inca Empire
1525 AD - The sons of Emperor Huayna, Atahualpa and Huascar,
fight over the crown. The Inca Empire fights a civil war for the
next five years.
1532 AD - Atahualpa defeats Huascar and becomes the emperor.
At the same time, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrives
in Peru. Pizarro captures Atahualpa and holds him for ransom.
1533 AD - The Spanish execute Atahualpa and install Manco Inca
as Emperor.
1535 AD - Francisco Pizarro founds the city of Lima, Peru and
names it the capital of the region.
1537 AD - Manco Inca flees to Vilcabamba and forms an Inca
government separate from the Spanish.
1541 AD - Francisco Pizarro is killed.
1572 AD - The Spanish execute the last of the Inca emperors, Tupac
Amaru, signaling the end of the Inca Empire.
Map of the Empire Tawantinsuyo Inca
Ethnic Groups
Cuzco
Machu Pichu
Cuzco and Machu Picchu
Cuzco, Fort
Cuzco
Cuzco, Fort Sacsayhuaman
Cuzco
Cuzco, Inca street
Pre-Hispanic writing systems Picto-graphic
• In Mesoamerica
• Logo-graphic
• Logo-syllabic
In Mesoamerica there was a grotto graphic and logo-graphic systems
• Tlaxiaco (Ball court where it rains)
• Chimalpopoca (Smoking shield)
The logo-syllabic or glotto-graphic system represents the spoken language
To include the study of Mesoamerican and Andean systems of recording
information, the term Semasiographic has been used
• Semasiographic comes from semasia (From the Greek)
that means meaning with a graphic presentational style to
indicate those graphic systems of communication where
marks communicate meaning directly and within the
structure of their own system.
• Semasiographic systems of communication convey ideas
independently from language and on the same logical level
as spoken language. They are called to be supralinguistic
Types of semasiographic systems
• 1) Conventional: Meaning is indicated by the interrelationship of
symbols that are arbitrarily codified. Mathematical notation. Meaning
is also conveyed by relative placement, by the spatial relationships of
the parts to each other. Scientific, musical choreographical notations
belong to this category
• 2) Iconic: We are seeing these in our ever increasing visual culture,
stop signs, bathroom dry hands, telephone, @ or
Iconic
Pre-Columbian people used both glottographic and semasiographic
systems
• In the Andes, the systems used for recording information
are different from the Mesoamerican ones
• Quipus function semasiographically, but unlike
Mesoamerican system, their elements are conventional
rather than iconic.
• Quipus store abstract information through color, texture,
form and size (of the knots and the cords), and relative
placement, but they do not picture things or ideas.
• Quipus are like mathematical and scientific notation, and
somewhat like musical notation where arbitrary codified
symbols hold meaning according to their interrelationships.
Quipus means of recording
knowledge and communication
Other forms of semasiographic conventional system in the
Andes
• Some scholars believe that Inca tunics and ceramic were used
also as means of communication or record keeping.
• The squares or tucapu or t’oqapu that form the typical
checkboard like design or called (collcapata) can alternate in
color and contain a standard pattern that a scholar has called the
“Inca Key”
• The collcapata designs and the different types of tunics that the
Inca ruler worn, convey information on alliance or of power and
succession.
• The design it is also thought to suggest the rows of stone to
which agriculture tribute flowed from the four quarters of the
empireTawantinsuyu or the “Land of the Four Quarters”
Tunics
Inca Keros (Ceremonial beakers) made of chachacoma (Alder-tree) wood,
with polychrome decorations
More tunics
Tunics
Tunics
Keros, with tocapu to convey
messages
Nobles incas
Inca