The Mind Creative March 2014
Nearly five thousand kilometres from north to south, it was not only
the largest empire in the Americas, but also comparable in size to
empires in other continents. Its population is estimated to have
been 15 million, but it could have been anywhere from 4 million to
40 million. The Inca kept excellent census records using their
“quipus”, but these were lost under Spanish occupation.
Cuzco in fact is two cities in one: the Spanish town built over,
sometimes alongside, the Inca structures, using the massive stone
walls of the Incas. The Inca walls were made of massive stone
slabs, cut to shape to fit like a jigsaw puzzle. These interlocking
walls of stone slabs not only held in place without the use of mortar
but even survived major earthquakes.
Given the magnitude of Inca
achievement with stones,
their paved roads spanning
the empire and an efficient
communication system using
relays, it is surprising that
they knew neither the wheel
nor even any system of
writing. Some historians and
anthropologists argue that,
because of the mountainous
terrain, the Incas had no use
for the wheel.
The 2720 metre high peak of Huayna
Picchu, rising behind Machu Picchu 2430
metres.
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Cuzco is impressive enough,
but Machu Picchu in the
Urubamba valley, perched
over a ridge of the Andean
mountain
range,
2,430
metres above sea level, is
simply astounding. Situated
80 kilometers northwest of