At its zenith it extended northward from the Inca capital Cuzco along the spine of the Andes to embrace most of modern Peru and Ecuador, and southward into Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The sheer scale of the empire, coupled with the challenges of the rugged landscape, made the Inca achievement truly remarkable.
This is the most up-to-date and authoritative account available of the Incas: their politics, economics, religion, architecture, art, and technology. The authors look in detail at the four parts of the empire, exploring not just famous sites such as Machu Picchu but all the major regional settlements. The book concludes with the end of the empire: the arrival of the Spaniards, the assassination of the Inca ruler Atawallpa, and the final years of the rebellious, neo-Inca state in the tropical forests of Vilcabamba.
Reviews
A lively, deeply informed and highly readable account of the last great empire of pre-Columbian South America.
— Gary Urton, Harvard University
Contributors
Craig Morris
Author
The late Craig Morris is renowned for his excavation of Huánuco Pampa, the largest surviving Inca ruin. He was Curator of Anthropology of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Adriana von Hagen
Author
Adriana von Hagen is co-director of the Leymebamba Museum in Chachapoyas, Peru, and an expert on Peruvian archaeology.
