Inca technology

The builders of the empire planned and built impressive waterworks in their city centers, including canals, fountains, drainage systems and expansive irrigation.

[1] Major Inca centers were chosen by experts who decided the site, its apportionment, and the basic layout of the city.

[2] Tipon also had natural springs that they built fountains for that supplied noble residents with water for non agricultural purposes.

[3] The famous lost Inca city is an architectural remnant of a society whose understanding of civil and hydraulic engineering was advanced.

[4] At 2560 m above sea level, sitting atop a mountain, the city planners had to consider the steep slopes of the site as well as the humid and rainy climate.

[citation needed] Before construction began the engineers had to assess the spring and whether it could provide for all of the city’s anticipated citizens.

This incredible feat supplied the population of Machu Picchu, which varied between 300 and 1000 people when the emperor was present and also helped irrigate water to the farming steppes.

The agriculture terraces are a feature of the complicated drainage system; the steppes helped avoid erosion and were built on a slope to aim excess water into channels that ran alongside the stairways.

This carefully planned drainage system shows the Incas' concern and appreciation for clean water.

Previously, this erosion was so powerful that it had potential to wipe out major areas of the Inca road, as well as wash away all of the nutrients and fertile soil.

[6] The Inca even grew specific crops together, to balance out the optimal amount of nutrients for all plants.

For example, a planting method is known as "three sisters" incorporated the growth of corn, beans, and squash in the same terrace.

This is what made it very popular for transportation purposes and storage because dried meats lasted twice as long as non-freeze-dried foods.

They would start by laying all the different foods on rocks and during the cold nights in high altitudes with dry air they would freeze.

For which they took a large bracelet, which they call Chipana (similar to others that the Incas commonly wore on the left wrist) which the high priest had; it was large, larger than the common ones, it had for a medallion a concave vessel, the shape of a half orange and brightly polished, they put it against the sun, and at a certain point where the rays that came out of the vessel hit each other, they put a bit of finely unravelled cotton (they did not know how to make tinder), which caught fire naturally in a short space of time.

"[13] The vast size of the Inca empire made it essential that efficient and effective transportation systems were created and built to assist in the exchanging of goods, services, people, etc.

"[15][16] As pictured to the right, these structures were used to connect two land masses, allowing for the flow of ideas, goods, people, animals, etc.

"[16] Since the Incan people did not use wheeled vehicles, most traveled by foot and/or used animals to help in the transporting of goods.

[15][16] These structures were able to both support the weight of traveling people and animals as well as withstand weather conditions over certain amounts of time.

[18][19] People today continue to honor Incan traditions and expand their knowledge in the building of rope bridges.

"Each June in Huinchiri, Peru, four Quechua communities on two sides of a gorge join together to build a bridge out of grass, creating a form of ancient infrastructure that dates back at least five centuries to the Inca Empire.

[20][21] This tradition links the Quechua communities of the Huinchiri, Chaupibanda, Choccayhua, and Ccollana Quehue to their past ancestors.

[21] “According to our grandfathers, this bridge was built during the time of the Inkas 600 years ago, and on it they walked their llamas and alpacas carrying their produce.” - Eleuterio Ccallo Tapia[21] "A small portion of a 60-foot replica built by Quechua weavers is on view in The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.

[23] Either way, museums like the Smithsonian are working to preserve and display examples and knowledge of the Inca inspired rope bridges today.

John Wilford shares in the New York Times that students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are learning much more than how objects are made.

[16] At this time, students involved in a course called “materials in human experience,” were busy making a 60-foot-long fiber bridge in the Peruvian style.

[16] After creating their ropes and cables, they had planned to stretch the bridge across a dry basin between two campus buildings.

"[12] Several sources challenge Cartwright's claim in stating that the Inca roads covered either more or less area then he describes.

This number is difficult to solidify since some of the pathways of the Inca still may remain unaccounted for, being that they may have been washed away or covered by natural forces.

"Inca engineers were also undaunted by geographical difficulties and built roads across ravines, rivers, deserts, and mountain passes up to 5,000 meters high.