
Ancient DNA reveals staying power of early people of the Andes - pepys
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/ancient-dna-reveals-staying-power-early-people-andes#
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29athrowaway
Some nice trivia about the Tawantinsuyo or 4 regions (also known as Inca
empire):

\- It sustained a population of 10,000,000 people. They did not use currency.

\- The Spanish estimated that Inca warehouses (Qollqa) contained a surplus of
food capable of maintaining the empire fed for 10 years.

\- Their society was structured as a system of self-sufficient family clans
(Ayllus).

\- The Inca road system (Qhapaq Ñan) was possibly the most efficient form of
communications infrastructure of its time.

\- Their aqueducts (Puquios) used wind to pump water.

\- "Ama sua, ama llulla, ama quella" ("Do not be lazy, do not lie, do not
steal") was the Inca moral code.

\- They used 2 languages, the commoners language (Runa simi) and the noble
language (Qhapaq simi). The family of languages known today as Quechua are the
Runa simi language. The Qhapaq simi language is extinct.

\- They had an accounting system based on knotted strings called Quipus. It is
unclear if quipus contained anything other than accounting information.

\- Most modern potatoes descend from the ones cultivated by the Inca and their
predecessors. Potatoes are one of the most efficient crops in terms of land
use and nutrition. European population grew substantially after the
introduction of the potato, prior to that, the staple crop was wheat.

\- After Sapa Inca Huayna Capac died, his 2 sons waged a war of succession.
The prevailing son, Atahuallpa, initiated a purge the Inca nobility,
effectively decapitating the Inca empire. The fall of the Inca empire took
place when Pizarro forces encountered Atahuallpa at Cajamarca during a
Spiritual retreat that took place after the purge. The event is known as the
"Battle" of Cajamarca, although it was more like an ambush since the Inca side
was not expecting a battle and were not in fighting gear. The "battle" ended
when Atahuallpa was took hostage, an idea that Pizarro took from Hernan
Cortes.

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gpapilion
The final bit is chilling when you read the contemporary account. They were
able to defeat a much larger force, and kill at least 2000 incans. It’s
actually one of the most cruel, and horrifying acts of the Spanish conquest.

~~~
remarkEon
The Inca also practiced ritualized child sacrifice, which might partially
explain why the Spanish reacted the way they did upon encountering them.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacocha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacocha)

~~~
29athrowaway
Let's deconstruct the concept of human sacrifice a little bit:

1) A religious motivation.

2) A religious ritual.

3) Someone is killed in order to gain the favor of a deity.

The executions during the inquisition also fit this description. And while
there are differences, my point is that it is straightforward to talk trash
about other cultures without taking an honest look at our own.

And that is not all. There are historical accounts from the Spanish themselves
describing children being killed in brutal ways, such as grabbing infants by
their legs and smashing them against rocks. Compared to that Qhapaq hucha is a
trip to Disneyland.

Pizarro himself as well as his men took children as prisoners and abused them
sexually, including the direct family of the Sapa Inca. The king sent him a
letter saying he should not have done that because the Sapa Inca was a
monarch.

Today, some people claim those historical accounts belong to what is known as
"The Black Legend", a smear campaign against the Spanish empire. That is a
very convenient thing to believe if your country benefited from brutally-
executed exploitation colonialism.

The "human sacrifice" card is often played by people trying to present
colonization as something legitimate and moral. It was not.

Other poor excuses for colonialism often used include: they were
supersticious, they did not effectively use their land, they did not have the
concept of property, they were oppressed by their monarchs, etc. All of them
excuses.

The purpose of the Spanish colonization of the Americas was not only to grow
their economy, and expand their religion and territory. It was to suppress
every culture, language, religion in the Americas, and some conquistadors took
it even further: extermination.

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8bitsrule
Interesting, because what happened to Clovis in N.A. is a big question.
Heading south because of a much colder climate (13ka-12ka) would explain a
lot.

"Ancient DNA reveals two unknown migrations from North to South America"

[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181108142421.h...](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181108142421.htm)

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ncmncm
Is there any actual evidence that Machu Picchu was built by Incas? There are
very different qualities of the old, megalithic construction from what we
actually know the Incas built.

I don't doubt that many of the structures on Machu Picchu are Inca, but I
wonder if they didn't inherit most of it.

