Lost Civilizations of the Andes by David Pratt - pt 1 & 2 complete.pdf - David Pratt - morefaya2006

Lost civilizations of the Andes (1)

Lost Civilizations of the Andes

David Pratt

January 2010

Part 1 of 2

Contents

Part 1

1. The Incas

2. Pre-Inca cultures

3. Transoceanic contacts

4. The Nazca lines

Part 2

5. ÒIncaÓ stonemasonry

6. ÒIncaÓ sites

7. Tiwanaku

1. The Incas

In 1532 Francisco Pizarro and a small band of Spanish mercenaries landed on the

desert coast of Peru and made their way into the Andean highlands. At that time the

Inca empire Î known as Tahuantinsuyu, or Òland of the four quartersÓ Î stretched 5500

km, from southern Chile to modern-day Colombia, and had a population of over 10

million. The Spaniards enticed the Inca ruler, Atahualpa, to a supposedly peaceful

meeting and took him captive, promising to release him if a huge ransom was paid Î a

room full of gold and two of silver. The ransom Î worth about $50 million by todayÓs

standards Î was duly paid, but the conquistadors then strangled Atahualpa to death

and marched on Cuzco, the Inca capital.

Manco Cpac, AtahualpaÓs half-brother, was appointed puppet ruler, but after a few

years of obedience, he rebelled. In 1536 the Inca army gathered outside the walls of

Cuzco and in the fortress at Sacsayhuaman. A fierce battle with the Spaniards ensued.

Lost civilizations of the Andes (1)

Thanks to their powerful war-horses, steel weapons and sheer audacity, less than 200

conquistadors managed to defeat 100,000 Inca warriors, putting 1500 of them to the

sword. Within a few years, and with gold-hungry reinforcements pouring in from

Panama, all serious resistance to the Spaniards was destroyed. The IncasÓ last jungle

refuge, at Vilcabamba, fell in 1572.

There were several reasons why the early stages of the conquest of the mighty Inca

empire were largely accomplished without major battles. First, the Incas were divided:

the death of the 11th Inca ruler, Huayna Capac, around 1527 was followed by a civil war

in which Atahualpa deposed his brother Huascar. Second, after the arrival of the

Spanish in Central America, infectious diseases such as smallpox swept through South

America, reducing the population by two-thirds. Third, the 8th Inca ruler had prophesied

around 1432 that within five generations foreigners would come and conquer the Incas.

Huayna Capac later said that he would be the last emperor, and instructed his sons and

the rest of his court to obey and serve the invaders. 1 The conquistadors were therefore

initially seen as ÒviracochasÓ, a reference to the IncasÓ legendary white culture-bringer

and creator god, Viracocha. However, due to their greed and brutality they were soon

reclassified as devils.

The Inca people are said to have arrived in the Cuzco area in the 12th century AD.

Atahualpa was the 13th Inca ruler since that time. However, Peruvian priests and the

descendants of the amautas, or sages, told Blas Valera, the son of a conquistador and

a female native, that their kings went back to 1220 BC. 2 At first the Incas collaborated

peacefully with other ethnic groups in the Cuzco region. Around 1430 the Chancas from

the north invaded the area. After defeating them, the Incas began the age of expansion

under Pachacuti. Quechua was made the official language, and sun worship the official

religion.

Lost civilizations of the Andes (1)

Fig. 1.1 Inca expansion. 3

The Inca pantheon was presided over by Viracocha, followed by Inti, the sun god, and

Pachamama, the earth goddess. ÒViracochaÓ is usually said to mean Òfoam of the seaÓ,

but more literally it means Òfat of the seaÓ, fat being a symbol of life and strength.

Another possible interpretation is Òtilted plane of the (celestial) seaÓ Î a reference to the

inclination of the ecliptic to the celestial equator. 4 According to Inca mythology, the first

ruler of the Kingdom of Cuzco was called Manco Cpac. In one legend, he was the son

of Viracocha, and in another, he was brought up from the depths of Lake Titicaca by

Inti. The Inca sovereign was held to be the Òchild of the sunÓ.

The Maya of Central America believed that they were living in the fourth world-age,

which is widely thought to end in 2012. The Aztecs held that the current age was the

fifth. The Incas likewise believed that their own culture was the fifth age, or fifth ÒsunÓ. In

the first age, people were nomads, lived in caves and had to fight off wild animals. In

the second, they lived in crude round houses in fixed settlements. In the third age

people multiplied, practised weaving, built houses like those of today, grew crops and

Lost civilizations of the Andes (1)

lived in harmony. The fourth age, or age of warriors, began with internal conflicts;

warriors left field and family, and human sacrifices were carried out. Each world-age is

said to end with a cataclysm: the first was ended by water, the second by the Òfalling of

the skyÓ (a poleshift?), the third by fire, and the fourth by air. 5

The Incas believed that Òin this world we are exiled from our homeland in the world

aboveÓ. In Andean accounts, the ordeal required to find our way back to the celestial

realms was frequently symbolized as the crossing of a narrow bridge made of human

hair spanning a raging river. 6 The Buddhists use a similar metaphor, speaking of the

quest to Òreach the other shoreÓ, meaning the attainment of full adeptship, or as the

Egyptian Pyramid Texts call it, Òthe life of millions of yearsÓ; further incarnation on earth

is then unnecessary and the initiate can either enter nirvana and leave the earth behind,

or stay on earth out of compassion in order to foster the progress of the rest of

humanity. Despite the echoes of the ancient wisdom in Inca beliefs, the Inca leaders

abandoned the instructions of ÒFather SunÓ that they should rule a society based on

justice and reason with Òpity, mercy and mildnessÓ, and introduced the degenerate

practice of human sacrifice to placate the gods Î which stems from taking the

symbolism of certain initiatory rites literally. 7

The conquistador Don Mancio Serra de Leguisamo, in a moment of remorse, wrote as

follows about the impact of the conquest on Inca morality:

They were so free from crimes and excesses, the men as well as the women,

that the Indian who had 100,000 pesos of gold and silver in his house, left it

open, merely placing a small stick across the door as a sign that the master

was out, and no one could enter or take anything that was inside. ... When

they found we put locks and keys on our doors, they supposed it was for

fear of them that they might not kill us, not because they believed that

anyone would steal the property of another. So, when they found we had

thieves among us and men who sought to make their daughters commit sin,

they despised us. But now they have come to such a pass, in offence of

God, owing to the bad example we have set them in all things, that the

natives, from doing no evil, have changed into people who now do no good

or very little. 8

Accomplishments

The Inca civilization is credited with the magnificent monumental architecture that

adorns its sacred sites; polygonal stone blocks are fitted so perfectly that not even a

razor blade can be inserted between them, even though no mortar was used. The

best-known temples and other structures are found at Cuzco, Sacsayhuaman,

Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Machu Picchu. As we will see later, there is no reason to

attribute all examples of this construction method to the Incas.

Lost civilizations of the Andes (1)

Fig. 1.2 Detail of ÒIncaÓ wall in Cuzco. 1

Mainstream archaeologists assume that the Incas built most of the agricultural terraces

that cover the hillsides of the Sacred Valley, through which runs the Urubamba river,

regarded as the terrestrial counterpart of the Milky Way. The terraces usually have

retaining walls made of rough fieldstones, but at Inca royal estates such as Chinchero,

Pisac, Yucay, and Ollantaytambo, they have higher walls made of cut stones. The

terraces consist of a lower layer of coarse rubble for drainage purposes, and an upper

layer of good topsoil, which sometimes had to be carried long distances up the

mountain from the valley below. Terraces were usually 2.4 to 4.3 m high and 1.8 to 4.6

m wide, though on steep slopes they were as narrow as 1 m. In parts of the Andes,

hillsides containing 100 terraces, one above the other, are not uncommon. As Hiram

Bingham wrote: ÒIt fairly staggers the imagination to realize how many millions of hours

of labour were required to construct the agricultural terraces.Ó 2

Lost Civilizations of the Andes by David Pratt - pt 1 & 2 complete.pdf

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