The Inca, a lost society.
Duration: 50 minutes.
Let’s take a look at today’s lesson
This lesson explores the theme of Inca society and helps you develop your ability to take information from a text and form your own opinions about it.
Lesson Key: (U) = Understanding. (R) = Reading. (W) = Writing.
Warm-Up Questions.
- What countries are in South America? Can you name three countries?
- When you think about South America, what cultures, food, or traditions come to your mind?
- Have you heard of the Incas before?
- What do you already know about them?
- How do you think people lived a long time ago without phones, cars, or the internet?
- How do you think nature and geography (mountains, rivers, land) helped people live and build their societies in South America?
Let’s watch this short video about the Incas.
Machu Picchu is a testament to the power and ingenuity of the Inca empire.
Built without the use of mortar (a type of cement) metal tools, or the wheel, Machu Picchu stands as an archaeological wonder of the ancient world.
But why was it built—and deserted?
Video Transcript
0:00 – [Narrator] The stone city of Machu Picchu
0:02 is one of the most fascinating archaeological sites
0:05 on the planet.
0:07 Located northwest of Cuso, Peru, Machu Picchu
0:11 is a testament to the power
0:12 and ingenuity of the Inca people.
0:16 During its prime, the Inca civilization stretched
0:19 about 2500 miles (ca. 4,023 km) along South America’s Pacific Coastline.
0:24 From modern day Ecuador down into Chile.
0:27 This distance is nearly the horizontal width
0:29 of the continental United States.
0:33 Machu Picchu located at the centre of this once expansive
0:37 empire is one of the few well-preserved remnants
0:40 of the Inca civilization.
0:42 Built around the mid 15th century,
0:44 Machu Picchu is a stunning example
0:47 of the Inca’s engineering feats.
0:49 The Inca constructed Machu Picchu’s palaces, temples,
0:53 terraces, and infrastructure using stone
0:56 and without the help of wheels or tools
0:58 made of steel or iron.
1:01 One particularly notable aspect of their construction
1:04 is foregoing the use of mortar, a material often used
1:08 to bind stones together.
1:10 Nonetheless, the stones of Machu Picchu
1:13 were cut so precisely that they snugly fit together.
1:17 Located on two fault lines, Machu Picchu
1:20 often experiences earthquakes
1:22 but because of the stones’ exceptional cut and fit,
1:25 they bounce during tremors and then are able
1:28 to easily fall back into position.
1:30 These engineering marvels have preserved Machu Picchu’s
1:34 remarkable condition for over 500 years.
1:40 Machu Picchu’s purpose is still a mystery
1:42 to many archaeologists.
1:44 Some theorize that it may have served as a ceremonial site,
1:48 a military stronghold, or a retreat for nobility.
1:52 The site’s geographic layout may be significant
1:55 in another way.
1:56 Many of both the man made and natural structures appear
1:59 to align with astronomical events.
2:02 But in the early 16th century,
2:04 only about 100 years after it was built,
2:07 Machu Picchu was abandoned.
2:10 And since the Inca had no written language,
2:12 no records exist to explain the exact purpose of the site.
2:17 Although local communities knew about Machu Picchu,
2:21 the site remained largely unknown to the outside world
2:24 for hundreds of years.
2:25 Spanish conquistadors who invaded the Inca civilization
2:29 in the 16th century never came across the site.
2:33 It wasn’t until the early 20th century when Melchor Arteaga,
2:37 a local farmer debuted Machu Picchu to outsiders when he led
2:41 Yale University professor Hiram Bingham to the site.
2:45 Bingham and successive explorers devoted much of their
2:48 academic careers to studying the archaeological wonder.
2:51 Despite its enigmatic nature, Machu Picchu still stands
2:55 as one of the world’s most important archaeological sites.
2:59 It is a testament to the power and ingenuity
3:01 of one of the largest empires in the Americas.
3:04 In 1983, UNESCO designated Machu Picchu
3:08 as a world heritage site and today visitors
3:11 from around the world come to pay homage
3:14 to this piece of history.
Task 1: Let’s take a look at some vocabulary.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. spanned | Extend across a period of time. |
| 2. ruled | To exercise ultimate power or authority over an area and its people. |
| 3. brutal | To be punishing, hard or uncomfortable. |
| 4. conquerors | A person who conquers a place or people. |
| 5. impressed | Feeling or showing admiration or respect for someone or something. |
| 6. fortresses | A military stronghold, especially a strongly fortified town. |
| 7. diseases | A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that has a known cause and a distinctive group of symptoms. |
| 8. beside | At the side of something or next to. |
Task 2 Reading text: The Inca, a lost society.
How is it that a people who had no written language and didn’t even know of the existence of the wheel could within the space of a hundred years build an empire that spanned some 2,500 miles across South America?
The people I’m referring to are of course the Inca. The Inca were a small ethnic group who came to rule an empire of more than 12 million people. They ruled their empire from Cusco in Peru and were not the brutal conquerors that many think them to be. They took control of other cultures through a mixture of arms and gifts.
They were skilled craftsmen who were able to produce beautiful jewellery and textiles. Many villagers were so impressed by them that they thought of them as gods. The Inca were in many ways very tolerant and assimilated new peoples, their cultures, and even their religions into their own, but not so the Spanish conquistadors who arrived in 1532.
With an army of less than 400 men they were able to defeat the 40,000 strong Inca army, and they soon set about looting and plundering the riches of the Inca culture. Most of the amazing architecture and complex building, they had worked to build up were torn down and made into palaces and fortresses for the conquering Spanish.
Amazingly, one Inca site remained undiscovered until 1911. It was the amazing Machu Picchu, the Inca temple to the sun, but by this time of course the Inca were long gone, either killed off by conquistadors or the diseases that they brought with them. Today it still stands, at the top a mountain beside the Urubamba River in Peru, a memorial to the greatness of a people that we can now only read about in books.
Task 3: Now put the facts below under one of the headings that they refer to.
| The Inca Empire | Inca Society | The Conquistadors | Machu Picchu |
a. 12 million people
b. a religious place
c. a small ethnic group
d. an army of 40,000 men
e. an army of less than 400 men
f. arrived in 1532
g. brought many diseases
h. brutal conquerors
i. capital city Cuzco in Peru
j. close to the Urubamba River in Peru
k. covered an area of 2,500 miles (ca. 4,023 km)
l. didn’t know about the wheel
m. discovered in 1911
n. had no written language
o. very good at making things
p. very tolerant
Answers
| The Inca Empire | Inca society | The Conquistadors | Machu Picchu |
| 12 million people an army 40,000 men capital city Cuzco in Peru covered an area of 2,500 miles (ca. 4,023 km). | A small ethnic group didn’t know about the wheel had no written language very good at making things very tolerant | An army of less than 400 men arrived in 1532 brought many diseases brutal conquerors | A religious place close to the Urubamba River in Peru discovered in 1911 |
7 questions about the Incas, please explain your answers and give me your opinion.
- What do you think about the Inca people’s empire building abilities?
- What is your opinion on the Inca’s method of taking control of other cultures?
- How do you view the Spanish conquistadors’ treatment of the Inca Empire?
- What is your reaction to the discovery of Machu Picchu in 1911?
- How would you describe the Inca’s tolerance of new cultures?
- What is your opinion on the Spanish looting and plundering of the Inca culture?
- How do you see the Inca as a people today?
Foto de Ben Ostrower & Adrian Dascal on Unsplash
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