The Inca: Lost Civilizations

The Inca: Lost Civilizations by Kevin Lane

The Inca are an intriguing population. They had built up a great empire that only seemed to last a short time before it succumbed to the Spaniard guns and germs. The Inca had very little intercourse with other populations (in part due to their geography). Thus they developed many of the hallmarks of humanity (such as writing) in their own fashion. With the vast elevation changes in an equatorial region, they had a variety of climatic regions in a small geographic area.

This book on the Inca is written from a very academic style. Anthropologists and archeologists are given abundant credit for their insights. There is little concrete narrative on the life of Inca, but rather a scientific dissection of the various aspects of their society. This leads to some repetition with parts that fit in multiple categorizations.

Some areas that I found interesting included the fact that the Inca empire was relatively short lived. There were other civilizations that had grown up before. The Inca unified some close regions and had a strong empire for only a few generations. They also used means of moving people around to keep them in order. Road networks were fairly well established as was agriculture (especially potatoes).  The religion seems to not be very well understood, but it did include some human sacrifice. Dynastic leadership was quite complex with multiple aspects of inheritance and old clans "hanging on".

Inca Apocalypse: The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World

The history of the contact between the Spanish and the natives on the American continent has been heavily colored by the conquerors. The Spanish had thought of their Christian culture as superior to others. They had recently expelled the Muslims from the Iberian peninsula and continued to use this righteous zeal in new areas. As part of these, they amplified the negatives of the others and the positives of themselves. Islamic society continued in other nearby parts of the world, so there are alternate historical sources to consider. In the new world, much of the historical record and oral traditions have been lost. Thus, the narrative of the conquerors dominates.

The Inca had a substantive civilization that was not without conflicts. The Spanish conquistadores were not among the noblest of people, yet they were able to conquer and rule. At times, the previous Inca aristocracy were given elevated positions, while at other times they were treated together with the rabble. There was intermarriage and adoption of Spanish norms. The result was a new civilization that differed from either before.

There was also a concept of "race" introduced with many justifications made. White Europeans were superior. The Inca were suited for certain tasks, especially when there was work to do at high elevations. Imported African slaves also had their role. The people of this combined society would later unite for their freedom from the Spanish.

I was hoping for more of a book about the history of the pre-Spanish Inca. This book, however, focussed on teasing out the details of the post contact experience. Many of the records we have were written many years after the fact, and colored by the current times when they were written. Trying to understand the true on-the-ground experience is challenging and has value. It was just not what I was looking for.