AGRICULTURE AND LANDSCAPING

Nell Kirchhoff

Inca Architecture

Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola

April 20, 2015

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INTRODUCTION

Like all civilizations and cultures in history, the people of the Inca Empire had to eat. At

the peak of the civilization, the Inca Empire spanned parts of modern-day Colombia, Ecuador,

Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Throughout these regions, different climates, landscapes,

and animals are found which led to many forms of finding and producing food. From the arid

coast to the mountainous highlands and through droughts and heavy rains, the Inca were able

to continue their agricultural practices and feed the empire.

TERRACES AND AGRICULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS

Terraces are an iconic form of Inca architecture that play an irreplaceable role in

agriculture in the Andes. They consist of large vertical walls that are built into a hillside, as seen

in Figures 1 and 2.

Terraces serve two main purposes: to prevent erosion and to retain water. These

objectives are met by the design of the terraces, Figure 3. The terraces were constructed with

retaining walls angled into the hill. Stones and gravel filled the bottom followed by soil. The top

layer is soil chosen specifically for its agricultural value. Irrigation canals frequently ran through

Figure 1: Terraces located at the Pisac

archeological site.

Figure 2: Overgrown terraces located near the

Huchuy Qosqo archeological site.

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the terraces. The specially engineered terraces helped greatly increase the productivity of

Peruvian landscape and helped convert unusable agricultural land into a productive landscape.

The area around Cusco, the

capital of the ancient civilization,

contained very rich farming soil due

to the three rivers that flow through

the area. However, finding usable

land where crops could reliably

grow was a challenge. Terraces

which provided this reliability

sprung up throughout the Andes in

the Inca Empire. Sacred Valley,

another very fruitful valley for

agriculture, is littered with terraces

that remain from the time of the

Inca, some of which are still in use

today.

Many terraces made up a

plot of agricultural land. In order to

move from one terrace to the next,

a common addition to terraces were

the floating steps called “sarunas,”

Figure 4. The floating steps allowed

for the maximum amount of land to

be used for agriculture as opposed

to conventional steps.

Figure 3: A cross section of a traditional terrace that displays the important parts of the terrace,

namely, the stones and gravel at the base of the terrace, the unselected soil, the selected agricultural

soil, and the irrigation canal.

Figure 4: An example of sarunas in

Tipon archeological site.

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Terraces were useful constructions in mountainous areas, but another type of

engineered agriculture was employed in the high plateau surrounding Lake Titicaca called waru

waru. They are a type of raised farming field that was developed by the Tiwanaku Culture (300-

1200 AD), Figures 5 and 6. The area around the raised rows of crops would fill with water during

the rainy season and ensure that the crops had plenty of moisture. The region around Lake

Titicaca has a very cold climate and temperatures drop significantly at night. Waru waru also

served to combat crops freezing in the cold nighttime temperatures. During the day, all of the

water would gain thermal energy from the sun. In the nighttime the water would remain warm

and heat the plants. Chronologically, the Inca civilization followed closely behind the Tiwanaku

and adopted some of their agricultural practices.

Figure 5: A diagram of the waru waru that demonstrates the beneficial properties that the

system provides in the varying climates that occur in the region.

Figure 6: Waru waru

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CLASSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PLOTS

The personnel who worked the plots and who owned the plots varied throughout the

empire. There were three categories of agriculture plots in the Inca Empire: family, state, and

religious. Members of a family, members of a kin group, or laborers of the state tended to the

fields and together they contributed to feeding the entire empire.

The family plots were owned and farmed by members of a family and generally were just

large enough to feed one family. If a family was incapable of tending to their own fields due to

illness, injury, or old age, the family’s ayllu, or kin group would help the family. Members of the

ayllu would tend to the fields in exchange for a meal. This was a reciprocal relationship so

eventually the family would repay their ayllu for the help. The repayment came in the forms of

roofing a neighbor’s roof, tending to a neighbor’s fields, or performing another task that a

member of the ayllu could not perform alone. The family plots were the least important of the

three types of agricultural plots which is demonstrated by the lesser stonework used for

construction.

The second type of plot was the state plots, Figure 7. The Inca did not collect taxes in

the form of money, but instead in the form of labor. This system of labor tax was called mit’a.

Men and women from across the empire would serve in the military, weave textiles, construct

monuments such as Machu Picchu, and farm the state owned agricultural plots. The food

produced was given to the Inca and nobility in Cusco as well as put in storehouses called

qolqas. At the peak of the Inca

civilization, it is estimated that the

population was about 12 million

which is a lot of mouths to feed

especially in the time of drought.

The food in the storehouses

would be distributed to

communities or regions that

suffered from natural disaster or

drought so that everyone could

be fed. Additionally, throughout

the duration of the mit’a, the

laborers would be fed. Figure 7: State controlled plots at Pisac archeological site.

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The third type of agricultural plot was a religious plot, Figure 8. Hundreds of huacas, or

shrines, are located in the Cusco region alone and many more are located throughout the

empire. These huacas were dedicated to various deities such as the sun, moon, and water.

Offerings, often consisting of food or coca leaves, were given to the huacas during rituals to ask

for the rain to come, for the earthquakes to stop, for a good harvest, and many other requests.

Additionally, annual rituals were held to celebrate and honor the deities. The food and other

agricultural products required for the offerings and for the ritual celebrations were produced on

the religious agricultural plots. These plots of land were also cultivated by the laborers of the

mit’a.

AGRICULTURAL TOOLS

There are three main agricultural tools that were used during the time of the Inca to

cultivate crops: chakitaklla, raucanna, and waqtana. The most well-known tool which is still in

use today is the chakitaklla. It is a foot plough consisting of a piece of wood with a crossbar and

a sharp point. The sharp point was made with stone or wood and today is made with metal. The

tool was used by placing a foot on the crossbar and driving the point into the earth. Examples

can be seen in Figures 9 and 10. The two less documented tools are the rauccana and

waqtana. The raucanna is a hoe that was mainly used to harvest tubers and remove weeds.

The waqtana was a tool used to break up chunks in the soil.

Figure 8: Religious plots at

Tipon archeological site.

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Agriculture was not limited to the men. Women and men in equal numbers would go out

into the field for planting. The men would use the chakitaklla, or foot plough, to break up the soil

and the women would follow behind and plant the seeds. This technique can be seen in Figure

9, Poma de Ayala’s depiction of the traditional agricultural practices of the Quechua people.

IRRIGATION

Water plays a critical role in agricultural success. Many huacas were constructed to

honor water and to pray for rains. The

most meticulous and precise stonework

was reserved for fountains. In

archeological sites where both less

important constructions and fountains

reside, a gradual improvement in the

stonework occurs as the stonework nears

the fountain. An important example of

honoring water is the archeological site

Tipon, Figures 11 and 12. Many

Figure 9: Poma de Ayala’s depiction

of traditional agricultural practices. Figure 10: Variations of the chakitaklla, or foot plough.

Figure 11: Fountain at the Tipon archeological site.

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beautifully constructed fountains are located at the site in addition to many terraces with

irrigation canals both above and below the ground.

Much of land in the highlands of the Inca Empire had direct access to rivers. However

irrigation canals allowed for a lot more freedom in the placement of agricultural fields and

provided more stability during times of drought. Irrigation canals were built from the tops of

mountains down toward terraces with great

precision, and many are still functional today,

Figure 13. Canals were also built to control the

water. The ninth Inca ruler, Pachacuteq, is famed

for his great expansion of the Inca Empire. He

extended the limits of the empire, but also took

time to improve the capital city, Cusco. He built

canals to more effectively move and control the

precious resource.

Figure 12: Canal at the Tipon archeological site.

Figure 13: Fountain at the Pisac archeological site

fed from the top of the mountains.

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While the highlands had easy access to water, the coast is filled with dessert. Coastal pre-Inca

cultures, including the Chimu and Moche cultures, existed primarily in river valleys. They also

relied heavily on irrigation canals to gain enough agricultural lands to support the culture. The

reliance on irrigation continued into the times of the Inca Empire.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Agricultural technology like terraces and irrigation canals were essential to the

advancement of Inca agriculture. The first agricultural product grown by pre-Inca cultures in the

region was quinoa. In the years after this first crop domestication, many more crops were

domesticated with help from the Inca. Moray, in Figure 14, is a unique archeological site. Its

exact purpose is unknown, but it has

been hypothesized that the site was

used to perform agricultural

experiments. There are distinctive

circular terraces and it is believed that

the varying levels provided different

ecological zones for experimentation.

Many agricultural products that had been developed prior to the Inca Empire continued

to be produced during the Inca reign. A vast variety of potatoes and maize (Figures 15 and 16),

the grains quinoa and kiqicha, and coca (Figure 17) were the main agricultural products.

Figure 14: Circular terraces at Moray archeological site.

Figure 15: Potatoes. Figure 17: Coca leaves. Figure 16: Maize.

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FOOD STORAGE

The goal for the Inca agricultural system was to have the capability of feeding the empire

during disaster or drought. This was one of the main advantages that poor communities gained

by joining the Inca state, or more realistically by being conquered by the Inca. In order for the

Inca state to be able to feed parts of the empire they were in need, vast amounts of food had to

be stored. The Quechua name for the

Inca storage houses is qolqa, Figure 18.

These buildings were often constructed

high on a mountain so that the buildings

would not take up valuable agricultural

land and so that the cool temperatures

and cool breezes would help preserve

the agricultural products. Qolqas also

stored fine Inca textiles in addition to

agricultural products.

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In modern times, any food that lacks preservatives can last for a month or maybe two

outside of the refrigerator. The Inca needed food that could last until the next harvest. Potatoes,

even today, last a long time without

refrigeration. However, the Inca

developed technologies that is unique to

the Andes to extend the life of a potato.

One such technology produces the

chuño potato. The potato is frozen then

sundried a few times then stomped on

while sundried, Figure 19. Another type

of preserved potato is the moraya

potato. The moraya potato follows the

same process as the chuño except that

Figure 19: Women stomping on potatoes during the

preservation process.

Figure 18: Qolqa located on the opposite side of the

valley of the archeological remains of Ollantaytambo.

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after it is sundried it is submerged in a river for several days then sundried again. Although the

two potatoes follow very similar preservation processes, the appearances of the final products

are strikingly dissimilar. Chuño potatoes are black and moraya are white, Figures 20 and 21.

After undergoing the preservation process, the potatoes can last for many years. In addition to

potatoes, meat was preserved. A form of modern-day jerky was made called charki. It was

produced by drying heavily salted meat, usually from camelids.

INCA AGRICULTURE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Over four hundred years after the Spanish conquest, it is spectacular that so many

agricultural practices from the times of the Inca remain. The Inca had developed so many

agricultural technologies that allowed them to

adapt to the unique environment and allowed

them to efficiently feed millions of people.

These technologies, such as terraces, were

useful to the Spaniards. Instead of

destruction of the agricultural practices the

Spaniards adopted some of them, and many

practices still remain today. Many agricultural

products remain although globalization has

introduced a much greater variety of food to

Figure 20: Moraya potatoes. Figure 21: Chuño potatoes.

Figure 21: Modern-day farming in Peru.

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the Peruvian markets. The preservation of food, namely making chuño and moraya potatoes, is

still done today. The foot plough, chakitaklla, is still used in rural areas. Irrigation canals built in

the times of the Inca are still running today and some terraces are still in use. The presence of

the Inca culture is everywhere.

CONCLUSION

The Inca made many technological advancements that allowed them to support such a

grand empire. They used terraces, irrigation canals, and qolqas to efficiently produce and store

food. Agricultural plots were worked by families, kin groups, and state laborers so that an

appropriate amount of food was produced for the people, for the state officials, and for the

religious offerings. Years of experimentation led to the development of domesticated products

like potatoes and maize which are still largely eaten today. The Inca left a large mark on

agricultural world.

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