III. Inca Civilization
C. Society

The basis of Inca society was the ayllu, typically ayllus were families living together and sharing land, animals, and crops.

The ayllus varied in size, from small farming villages to larger towns. Everyone belonged to an ayllu. An individual was born into an ayllu and died within it.

Even the choice of a mate could be determined by the ayllu. If an Inca man did not marry by the age of 20, the head of the ayllu selected a mate for him.

Most Incas were farmers who worked the land. The emperor owned all the land in the empire. He administered its use through the ayllu, which divided land into allotments large enough for a family to farm. Families planted and harvested the land communally. Each autumn the ayllu adjusted land allotments to match increases or decreases in the size of each family.

Aside from producing their own food, each ayllu worked additional fields to support the emperor and the state religion.

The daily life of the people of the Inca Empire varied widely according to social class.

The emperor lived in a dazzling palace with gold and silver walls, plates, and cups. He wore a gold fringe around his forehead as the emblem of his office. His throne was merely a low stool, possibly of red wood, although sometimes of gold. Although his blankets were made of soft vicuna wool, he slept on the floor like his lowliest subjects.

Although the emperor and other nobles often had many wives, the emperor traditionally married his sister as his principal wife. The next emperor would be chosen from among the sons born of this union. Since both the emperor and his sister were considered direct descendents of the god Inti, this union guaranteed that the son who succeeded to the throne would also be a pure-blood descendant of Inti. The heir was given strict training to make him able to outdo other boys in strength and endurance.

Royalty and nobility were exempt from taxation and had such privileges as land, llamas, fine clothing, and litters, which were mats upon which the royalty and nobility would sit and be carried around by people of lesser social levels. Inca farmers, in contrast, led a life of hard work.

After breakfasting at daybreak on chicha, a kind of thick beer made from fermented corn, the entire family worked in the fields until midmorning. Then they ate the day's main meal, consisting of such foods as corn kernels boiled with chili peppers and herbs; soup or stew of guinea-pig meat thickened with potato flour; or cornmeal mixed with water and baked in hot ashes into a hard bread. Potatoes were a staple, especially in the mountains.

In addition to working in the fields, women made chicha, ground corn and potatoes into flour, and produced cloth by spinning and weaving cotton or wool.

If an Inca man were not a noble, he could have only one wife.

A typical Inca house was a one-room rectangular building of adobe brick or stone with a thatched, gabled roof, and without windows or a chimney.

At night people slept on the floor around a crude stove, which was made of stone cemented with mud. During the day, people spent most of their time outdoors.

Upper-class houses were often larger and partitioned into several rooms.

Although the quality of clothing varied, poor and rich and even the emperor dressed in the same basic fashion. Men wore breechcloths, sleeveless knee-length tunics, and cloaks or ponchos. Women wore long dresses and capes fastened with a pin of copper, silver, or gold. All garments were of woven cotton or wool cloth.

The men fixed their hair in a distinctive style to signify the allyu to which they belonged and wore decorative earplugs of shell or metal.

Although there was little social mobility, some Inca peasants escaped the grinding labor and harsh life of their class. Specially gifted boys were trained in crafts or in keeping records and used their skills to serve the emperor.

Also exempt from menial labor were the yanacona, unusually intelligent boys who were trained and employed by the emperor as servants, pages, or temple attendants. They were slaves, but they made important contacts and might rise high in government service.

Some Inca girls also received education and distinction as "chosen women." The most beautiful 10-year-old girls of each ayllu were selected. After studying religion and domestic arts, they were placed in the households of the emperor and his nobles. Sometimes they were sacrificed to the gods and buried atop Andean mountain peaks.

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