Foundations

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0:00:07 > 0:00:11In 1911, young American explorer Hiram Bingham

0:00:11 > 0:00:13arrived in Peru's Sacred Valley.

0:00:16 > 0:00:19Bingham was looking for a fabled lost city,

0:00:19 > 0:00:21the last redoubt of the Inca

0:00:21 > 0:00:23in their doomed battle against the Spanish.

0:00:25 > 0:00:26He met a local farmer,

0:00:26 > 0:00:30who said he knew of a place which might interest the American...

0:00:31 > 0:00:34..a place overgrown and all but forgotten.

0:00:38 > 0:00:41What Bingham saw astonished him.

0:00:42 > 0:00:45Peeking through centuries of vegetation

0:00:45 > 0:00:47were dozens of granite buildings.

0:00:47 > 0:00:51Vast terraces were cut into the mountainside,

0:00:51 > 0:00:54criss-crossed by hundreds of steep, stone steps.

0:00:59 > 0:01:02The effect on the young explorer was dazzling...

0:01:02 > 0:01:04like a dream.

0:01:08 > 0:01:11When Bingham arrived here at Machu Picchu,

0:01:11 > 0:01:14he thought he had discovered the Lost City of the Inca,

0:01:14 > 0:01:18a place so secret, it had remained hidden as Europeans overran

0:01:18 > 0:01:21the entire continent of South America.

0:01:21 > 0:01:23For Bingham, this site was the Holy Grail,

0:01:23 > 0:01:26the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Inca,

0:01:26 > 0:01:30the largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas.

0:01:33 > 0:01:38But Machu Picchu provides only a glimpse of an incredible empire.

0:01:40 > 0:01:43It's only one part of a remarkable tale.

0:01:45 > 0:01:50This is the story of a people who, 600 years ago, built an empire

0:01:50 > 0:01:55that stretched from barren coastal desert to lush tropical jungle,

0:01:55 > 0:01:57from the edge of the Pacific Ocean

0:01:57 > 0:02:00to the high plains of Chile and Argentina.

0:02:00 > 0:02:05It's a story of wealth, power, innovation and bloodshed,

0:02:05 > 0:02:08all happening in some of the toughest landscapes on the planet.

0:02:10 > 0:02:14Fundamentally, this is the story of an empire unlike any other,

0:02:14 > 0:02:17one with a completely different worldview to the Europeans

0:02:17 > 0:02:19who come to conquer it.

0:02:19 > 0:02:22And it's that different way of seeing the world,

0:02:22 > 0:02:25of gaining and holding power over so many people,

0:02:25 > 0:02:28that make the Inca absolutely fascinating.

0:02:32 > 0:02:34The question I want to answer is,

0:02:34 > 0:02:36how did they do it?

0:02:53 > 0:02:57There are very good reasons why the Inca have long fascinated us.

0:02:58 > 0:03:01Their empire was the biggest in the Americas

0:03:01 > 0:03:03before the arrival of Europeans.

0:03:03 > 0:03:05At its height in the 15th century,

0:03:05 > 0:03:08over ten million people were under their rule.

0:03:11 > 0:03:16Their vast kingdom was connected by a sophisticated road network,

0:03:16 > 0:03:19stretching for thousands of kilometres.

0:03:19 > 0:03:21But most remarkable of all

0:03:21 > 0:03:24is the apparent speed of their rise to power.

0:03:24 > 0:03:29In the 14th century, the Inca were one of many independent peoples

0:03:29 > 0:03:31who lived high in the Andes.

0:03:31 > 0:03:34Yet they emerged from their Cuzco stronghold and,

0:03:34 > 0:03:37seemingly in the space of just 150 years,

0:03:37 > 0:03:43built a vast multiethnic empire which spanned a continent,

0:03:43 > 0:03:46from the Pacific to the Amazon, incorporating huge swathes

0:03:46 > 0:03:50of the modern=day countries of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,

0:03:50 > 0:03:51Chile and Argentina.

0:03:59 > 0:04:02For many years, our understanding of the Inca has been dominated

0:04:02 > 0:04:06by the chronicles written by the Spanish conquistadors.

0:04:06 > 0:04:09But these chronicles are written often with a very specific agenda in mind...

0:04:09 > 0:04:11to justify the Spanish Conquest.

0:04:13 > 0:04:15The Spanish came across an empire

0:04:15 > 0:04:18which they had no frame of reference for...

0:04:18 > 0:04:22effectively a Neolithic Empire run without the pen or the sword.

0:04:22 > 0:04:24No writing, no wheel,

0:04:24 > 0:04:27no animal which could carry a human,

0:04:27 > 0:04:30no markets, no currency.

0:04:30 > 0:04:34So a whole, peculiar, complex society in European eyes.

0:04:35 > 0:04:38I think it's time to question whether we need to re-evaluate

0:04:38 > 0:04:41the Inca rise to power.

0:04:41 > 0:04:45Perhaps early historical records have been misleading.

0:04:45 > 0:04:48Is there a different, far more intriguing, story to be told

0:04:48 > 0:04:51about the emergence of the Inca Empire?

0:04:53 > 0:04:56The most important thing to bear in mind is that this wasn't an empire

0:04:56 > 0:04:59like the British Empire or the Roman Empire,

0:04:59 > 0:05:01where histories were carefully written down

0:05:01 > 0:05:04and power came in the form of a dozen legions

0:05:04 > 0:05:05or the barrel of a gun.

0:05:05 > 0:05:07This was a non-Western empire

0:05:07 > 0:05:11and that's often made it difficult for westerners to study.

0:05:11 > 0:05:13In order to understand the Inca,

0:05:13 > 0:05:17you need to get inside the Incan mind, and think like they thought.

0:05:20 > 0:05:24And that means getting far away from Machu Picchu.

0:05:33 > 0:05:36One of the major differences between the Inca world and our own

0:05:36 > 0:05:39is the concept of time.

0:05:39 > 0:05:41The Inca thought differently than we do

0:05:41 > 0:05:44about the past, present, and future.

0:05:44 > 0:05:47And this has significant implications for understanding

0:05:47 > 0:05:49all aspects of Inca history,

0:05:49 > 0:05:53and not least how long it really took them to build their empire.

0:05:53 > 0:05:56The way that we think is so ingrained that it's very hard

0:05:56 > 0:05:59to try and change our perspective on things,

0:05:59 > 0:06:01but it's something we have to do

0:06:01 > 0:06:03if we are to understand the Inca Empire.

0:06:03 > 0:06:05We have to get inside the Inca mind.

0:06:05 > 0:06:06For us, we have life.

0:06:06 > 0:06:09We are born and then we die.

0:06:09 > 0:06:11And this is essentially a linear path.

0:06:11 > 0:06:14Everything that happens before a moment of our lives

0:06:14 > 0:06:18we would call "history" and it happens behind us.

0:06:18 > 0:06:21Everything that's going to happen beyond this point in this line,

0:06:21 > 0:06:23we would call "the future".

0:06:24 > 0:06:25Crucially, therefore,

0:06:25 > 0:06:28everything that we understand about our ancestors

0:06:28 > 0:06:30and the world that has gone before

0:06:30 > 0:06:32creates and affects our lives along this line.

0:06:32 > 0:06:36And everything that we do in our own life will affect the future

0:06:36 > 0:06:38and this is a linear concept of time.

0:06:38 > 0:06:41That is completely different to how the Inca understood time.

0:06:41 > 0:06:44So for the Inca, start with the first line,

0:06:44 > 0:06:47which they might call Kay Pacha.

0:06:47 > 0:06:49Kay Pacha is essentially a lifeline.

0:06:49 > 0:06:53But there are two parallel lines, Hanan Pacha and Uku Pacha,

0:06:53 > 0:06:56which is the past and the future.

0:06:56 > 0:06:58And these lines run in parallel

0:06:58 > 0:07:00because they can happen at the same time.

0:07:00 > 0:07:04So at any particular moment of life on this line,

0:07:04 > 0:07:08they can transect between the past and the future.

0:07:08 > 0:07:12And this point here is a particular moment of experience

0:07:12 > 0:07:16in the present which is affected directly by the past or the future.

0:07:18 > 0:07:20We get a sense that there were multiple histories,

0:07:20 > 0:07:22there were multiple pasts

0:07:22 > 0:07:23and there were multiple references

0:07:23 > 0:07:26to different things that different ancestors had done

0:07:26 > 0:07:28depending on who was telling the story.

0:07:28 > 0:07:31So, because of this, it becomes very difficult to determine exactly

0:07:31 > 0:07:36what was the historical sequence of the development of the Inca Empire

0:07:36 > 0:07:40in a way that would make sense to us as a nice European chronicle.

0:07:41 > 0:07:45The Inca don't talk the same language of time as we do

0:07:45 > 0:07:47and so we need to think about the chronology

0:07:47 > 0:07:50of their history quite differently.

0:07:50 > 0:07:54By understanding this, we can begin to unravel the true story

0:07:54 > 0:07:57of the rise of the Inca Empire.

0:07:57 > 0:07:59If you contrast the historical information

0:07:59 > 0:08:03to the archaeological information, we get a very different picture.

0:08:03 > 0:08:06Studies of the emergence of the Incas as a power

0:08:06 > 0:08:09over neighbouring societies surrounding Cuzco

0:08:09 > 0:08:12show that they were probably a pretty potent society,

0:08:12 > 0:08:16perhaps even a state, as early as almost 100 years before

0:08:16 > 0:08:19their emergence as a ruling empire.

0:08:23 > 0:08:26This means the origins of the Inca date back much further

0:08:26 > 0:08:29than we originally thought.

0:08:29 > 0:08:32I think it also means that when they started to build their empire,

0:08:32 > 0:08:36the Inca built upon the achievements of people who went before.

0:08:48 > 0:08:49A few hours' drive south of Cuzco,

0:08:49 > 0:08:53there are the remains of a long-forgotten settlement...

0:08:58 > 0:09:00..remnants of buildings and streets

0:09:00 > 0:09:03which stretch over nearly two square kilometres.

0:09:05 > 0:09:08But these ruins aren't Inca.

0:09:08 > 0:09:11They were built by a people who rose and fell

0:09:11 > 0:09:13long before the Inca dominated this region.

0:09:17 > 0:09:20These people were called the Wari

0:09:20 > 0:09:22and this place was known as Pikillacta

0:09:22 > 0:09:25and I believe the Inca learnt a great deal

0:09:25 > 0:09:27from what the Wari built here.

0:09:29 > 0:09:32Throughout this part of South America,

0:09:32 > 0:09:36you can find the remains of cultures stretching back thousands of years.

0:09:36 > 0:09:39These past societies had their own world views, belief systems

0:09:39 > 0:09:41and ways of living their lives.

0:09:41 > 0:09:44And it's understanding the inter-relationships between them

0:09:44 > 0:09:45that is important.

0:09:45 > 0:09:49No society suddenly appears independently on its own.

0:09:49 > 0:09:51But some societies can be so successful

0:09:51 > 0:09:54that their influence spreads far and wide.

0:09:54 > 0:09:56That was the case with the Wari.

0:10:00 > 0:10:04The Wari were the first to unite multiple areas,

0:10:04 > 0:10:08from north to south, covering most of modern-day Peru.

0:10:10 > 0:10:12Pikillacta was one of the Wari Empire's

0:10:12 > 0:10:16most impressive settlements.

0:10:16 > 0:10:19It's been estimated that, cumulatively, it would have taken

0:10:19 > 0:10:22six million days of back-breaking labour to build it.

0:10:25 > 0:10:27This is a vast and beautiful site

0:10:27 > 0:10:29and a really important one for the Wari.

0:10:29 > 0:10:31But it's when you walk around

0:10:31 > 0:10:33that you get a sense of experience of the place,

0:10:33 > 0:10:35because they had these incredibly long corridors

0:10:35 > 0:10:38with these dominating high walls.

0:10:38 > 0:10:40It must have been quite a disorienting experience.

0:10:40 > 0:10:44Perhaps led through one of these doorways,

0:10:44 > 0:10:48you enter out into these open spaces or patios

0:10:48 > 0:10:51that would have covered in white paint and perhaps murals.

0:10:55 > 0:10:58Pikillacta dominated this region

0:10:58 > 0:11:00towards the end of the first millennium.

0:11:00 > 0:11:04And walking through these ruins today, it seems to me the Wari

0:11:04 > 0:11:07laid the foundations of how to build an empire in the Andes.

0:11:18 > 0:11:23Many of the ideas of so-called Inca statecraft which we think of

0:11:23 > 0:11:27actually had their roots in the Wari.

0:11:27 > 0:11:29Not least the road system.

0:11:29 > 0:11:32You can't create a road system in the time period

0:11:32 > 0:11:35that the Incas were around in.

0:11:35 > 0:11:39There was a great expansion of people and ideas at a time

0:11:39 > 0:11:43far deeper than the Inca Empire.

0:11:43 > 0:11:47Critical to the success of the Wari

0:11:47 > 0:11:50was their understanding of this brutal environment

0:11:50 > 0:11:53and the innovations they developed to overcome it.

0:11:54 > 0:11:57The Wari were masters of landscape transformation.

0:11:57 > 0:12:00Canals that brought the water down from the mountain peaks,

0:12:00 > 0:12:02where the rains fall,

0:12:02 > 0:12:05into the rich agricultural regions where they terraced the landscape

0:12:05 > 0:12:10in order to turn the mountainsides into productive agricultural lands.

0:12:10 > 0:12:14The ingenious solutions we see at work at Pikillacta are,

0:12:14 > 0:12:17I believe, crucial in helping us to understand

0:12:17 > 0:12:19not only the success of the Wari,

0:12:19 > 0:12:21but also the Inca who came after them.

0:12:24 > 0:12:29This aqueduct is part of a 48km-long network of canal systems

0:12:29 > 0:12:33taking water from the high mountains right into the heart of the site

0:12:33 > 0:12:37of Pikillacta and down to the agricultural terraces below.

0:12:37 > 0:12:41This region receives barely enough water

0:12:41 > 0:12:44to support large-scale agriculture or settlement.

0:12:44 > 0:12:48And in times of drought, this land can become an incredibly difficult

0:12:48 > 0:12:50place for humans to thrive.

0:12:54 > 0:12:5890% of the rainfall in the Andes falls on the jungle regions.

0:12:58 > 0:13:00Only 10% makes it to the western coasts.

0:13:00 > 0:13:04Only through increased efficiency in agricultural technologies

0:13:04 > 0:13:08and production can humans respond effectively to drought.

0:13:08 > 0:13:11That's what the Wari introduced.

0:13:11 > 0:13:13The lesson of the Wari is that

0:13:13 > 0:13:16before you can build an empire in this part of the world,

0:13:16 > 0:13:20you first need to master the landscape itself.

0:13:20 > 0:13:23The Wari agrarian technology was a drought adaptive technology.

0:13:23 > 0:13:25It was much more efficient in the use of water

0:13:25 > 0:13:29than previous systems had been and that gave the Wari an adaptive edge

0:13:29 > 0:13:33in bringing their new system to these local groups

0:13:33 > 0:13:35that were living in that region at the time.

0:13:38 > 0:13:39Interestingly,

0:13:39 > 0:13:44the challenges faced by the Wari still affect people here today.

0:13:44 > 0:13:481,000 years later, Peru's climate remains one of the most extreme

0:13:48 > 0:13:50and vulnerable in the world.

0:13:59 > 0:14:01Most of the rainfall that falls on the Andes

0:14:01 > 0:14:03comes from South Atlantic sources,

0:14:03 > 0:14:06coming in as part of the monsoonal system across the Amazon

0:14:06 > 0:14:08and brought up into the Andes.

0:14:08 > 0:14:12Whereas the western side of the Andes and the coast is a desert,

0:14:12 > 0:14:17effectively, because the winds that come across the Pacific are dry.

0:14:19 > 0:14:23Most of the population of Peru today live on that desert strip.

0:14:32 > 0:14:35I've come to the village of Maras, high in the Andes,

0:14:35 > 0:14:38where a dry spell has made life tough for local farmers

0:14:38 > 0:14:40like Felicitas Torres.

0:14:40 > 0:14:44THEY SPEAK SPANISH

0:15:22 > 0:15:25Authorities in Maras have responded to the dry spell

0:15:25 > 0:15:29by bussing in containers of fresh water from Cuzco.

0:15:29 > 0:15:34It has helped, but it's in no way a sustainable solution.

0:16:20 > 0:16:25What's happening in Maras today also happened here many centuries ago.

0:16:25 > 0:16:27But the Wari did not have the option

0:16:27 > 0:16:30to bus in tanks of water to sustain them.

0:16:31 > 0:16:34At the end of the first millennium, we know that conditions

0:16:34 > 0:16:38were both dry and really quite cold up in the mountains.

0:16:38 > 0:16:40And that's the time when the Wari disappeared

0:16:40 > 0:16:42from the archaeological record.

0:16:45 > 0:16:48The Wari understood their environment,

0:16:48 > 0:16:52but a prolonged drought may have proved too much, even for them.

0:16:53 > 0:16:57Climate change could have been one of the factors

0:16:57 > 0:17:01which put a lot of pressure on the Wari.

0:17:01 > 0:17:05Now, the societies knew how to deal with short-term climate change.

0:17:05 > 0:17:08They had in place a lot of strategies

0:17:08 > 0:17:09that enabled them to cope.

0:17:09 > 0:17:13But climate at those altitudes is one of the real pressure points.

0:17:17 > 0:17:22However ingenious the Wari solutions were to the challenges they faced,

0:17:22 > 0:17:24their power waned.

0:17:25 > 0:17:29But there can be little doubt that the Inca built on the knowledge

0:17:29 > 0:17:32of what the Wari left behind.

0:17:32 > 0:17:35We have people continuing to live in the Cuzco region,

0:17:35 > 0:17:38continuing the oral traditions and the historical traditions

0:17:38 > 0:17:40of the Wari within the Cuzco region

0:17:40 > 0:17:42that the Inca could have picked up upon.

0:17:42 > 0:17:46The Inca also had the benefit of the monuments that the Wari had built,

0:17:46 > 0:17:48and right in their back yard.

0:17:49 > 0:17:53The Wari created a large and powerful state.

0:17:53 > 0:17:56They were able to harness the harsh environments

0:17:56 > 0:17:59using ingenious large-scale construction projects like this,

0:17:59 > 0:18:02technologies often associated with the Inca.

0:18:02 > 0:18:05But the reason I like this one is that you can see the original

0:18:05 > 0:18:09Wari construction behind, re-used and restored by the Inca

0:18:09 > 0:18:11with this lovely stonework at the front.

0:18:11 > 0:18:15The Inca are using Wari technology, but the crucial difference is,

0:18:15 > 0:18:17they're also up-scaling it.

0:18:22 > 0:18:25To see exactly how they did this, I'm heading north,

0:18:25 > 0:18:27into the heart of the Cuzco Valley.

0:18:30 > 0:18:33This mountainous land is not naturally suited

0:18:33 > 0:18:35to large-scale agricultural production.

0:18:37 > 0:18:41The challenges presented by the harsh climate are considerable.

0:18:42 > 0:18:47But here, the Incas' remarkable ability to problem solve revolutionised agriculture

0:18:47 > 0:18:50and played a key role in the expansion of their empire.

0:19:01 > 0:19:02This is Moray.

0:19:02 > 0:19:06It lies 3,500 metres above sea level

0:19:06 > 0:19:09and is one of the most remarkable human landscapes on earth.

0:19:10 > 0:19:14Moray consists of three huge limestone depressions,

0:19:14 > 0:19:17into which terraces have been carved.

0:19:17 > 0:19:21This is the place where Inca skills in engineering

0:19:21 > 0:19:23and agriculture combined perfectly.

0:19:23 > 0:19:27It's a place which synthesises beauty and technology

0:19:27 > 0:19:31and transformed the lives of the Inca and those they would soon rule.

0:19:35 > 0:19:38These terraces can be up to three metres in height

0:19:38 > 0:19:41and they have this thick retaining wall

0:19:41 > 0:19:44which is angled back to hold back the soil behind.

0:19:44 > 0:19:47And what's behind is actually really clever.

0:19:47 > 0:19:50At the bottom, you have a series of broken stones for drainage.

0:19:50 > 0:19:53Above that, a layer of coarse soil, which acts as a bedding,

0:19:53 > 0:19:57and then a metre of topsoil, which they continually turn over

0:19:57 > 0:19:59to aerate the soil.

0:19:59 > 0:20:02And these stone walls absorb the heat of the sun during the day

0:20:02 > 0:20:06and that radiates through at night, protecting the crops against frost.

0:20:10 > 0:20:13The ingenuity of the terraces lies not just in their ability

0:20:13 > 0:20:18to increase the amount of land the Inca could cultivate.

0:20:18 > 0:20:21They were a mechanism for manipulating the environment,

0:20:21 > 0:20:24altering the ambient temperature of the whole site...

0:20:26 > 0:20:30..and making the production of crops at high altitude possible.

0:20:33 > 0:20:35Today, the temperature at the top of the terraces

0:20:35 > 0:20:37is 16 degrees centigrade.

0:20:38 > 0:20:42Down here at the bottom, you have this crucible effect

0:20:42 > 0:20:44where the temperature is much warmer, there's no airflow,

0:20:44 > 0:20:48and these stone terraces circle round, radiating the heat.

0:20:48 > 0:20:50Here, you can see it's over 22 degrees now.

0:20:53 > 0:20:57The difference in temperature from the top of this site to the bottom

0:20:57 > 0:21:00means that each terrace at Moray represents a different

0:21:00 > 0:21:03ecological zone as you move up the side of the Andes.

0:21:06 > 0:21:08The implications of this are profound.

0:21:09 > 0:21:12It means this was a place where Inca engineers

0:21:12 > 0:21:16created their own micro-climates, allowing them to experiment

0:21:16 > 0:21:19in cultivating a variety of different crops

0:21:19 > 0:21:22which would not normally have been grown at these altitudes.

0:21:26 > 0:21:29Tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins, types of tobacco.

0:21:29 > 0:21:31That's not so beneficial, perhaps,

0:21:31 > 0:21:35but it underlines the point that, although we marvel at

0:21:35 > 0:21:38the Zen aesthetic of Machu Picchu and so forth,

0:21:38 > 0:21:41really what's much more important, in my view,

0:21:41 > 0:21:43is the legacy of their agriculture.

0:21:49 > 0:21:54The Incas were essentially reconfiguring the biotic landscape

0:21:54 > 0:21:57by changing the terrain, changing the heat

0:21:57 > 0:22:00and water retention capacities through their terracing systems,

0:22:00 > 0:22:04which developed a series of warm weather estates

0:22:04 > 0:22:07in a cold weather climate.

0:22:07 > 0:22:09These terraces show how the Inca understood

0:22:09 > 0:22:12the advantages of this vertical landscape.

0:22:12 > 0:22:14In effect, they farmed upwards.

0:22:14 > 0:22:16They managed to turn the harsh contours of the land

0:22:16 > 0:22:18to their advantage.

0:22:18 > 0:22:21And by growing different crops at different elevations,

0:22:21 > 0:22:24it gave them a huge diversity in the crops that they grew.

0:22:24 > 0:22:26This had two key advantages.

0:22:26 > 0:22:29One, they had a healthier and more diverse diet.

0:22:29 > 0:22:32And two, it helped mitigate against the impact in the past

0:22:32 > 0:22:35that had created hunger and unrest...

0:22:35 > 0:22:38droughts and floods, pests and frost.

0:22:41 > 0:22:45This is what I mean when I say the Inca scaled up Wari technology.

0:22:45 > 0:22:50Inca agriculture wasn't just about feeding a family, or even a city.

0:22:50 > 0:22:53It was about scientifically managing production,

0:22:53 > 0:22:55so they could feed an empire.

0:22:56 > 0:22:58By creating this food surplus,

0:22:58 > 0:23:01it provided time to devote to other things,

0:23:01 > 0:23:04like expansion beyond their borders.

0:23:04 > 0:23:08It was also a great calling card as they approached other cultures,

0:23:08 > 0:23:11because Moray shows that the Inca were problem-solvers

0:23:11 > 0:23:17and able to create these very efficient and effective managed landscapes.

0:23:17 > 0:23:21And in a region where climate was unpredictable and catastrophic,

0:23:21 > 0:23:24where people could often face starvation and hunger,

0:23:24 > 0:23:28the ability to provide a reliable, regular and good quality amount

0:23:28 > 0:23:31of food was a source of supreme power for the Inca.

0:23:34 > 0:23:36But that's only part of the story.

0:23:36 > 0:23:40For the Inca state to flourish, they needed not only to grow enough food,

0:23:40 > 0:23:43but also to distribute it quickly and efficiently,

0:23:43 > 0:23:45which could be a serious problem

0:23:45 > 0:23:48when you live in such a challenging landscape as this.

0:23:53 > 0:23:55But a few miles north of Moray

0:23:55 > 0:23:58is a place which I think might hold the answer.

0:24:09 > 0:24:13This is an amazing spot. Below me is the town of Ollantaytambo.

0:24:13 > 0:24:16And above it, clinging to the side of the cliff,

0:24:16 > 0:24:19is a series of tall buildings.

0:24:19 > 0:24:22At first glance, they may not seem like the most impressive thing,

0:24:22 > 0:24:25but these structures are critical to the foundations

0:24:25 > 0:24:26of the entire Inca Empire.

0:24:30 > 0:24:33These are qollqas, storehouses,

0:24:33 > 0:24:37and they are iconic buildings found all over the Inca empire.

0:24:37 > 0:24:39Sometimes they are by the side of roads,

0:24:39 > 0:24:42sometimes near centres of population,

0:24:42 > 0:24:43like here, at Ollantaytambo.

0:24:46 > 0:24:49These weren't just barns for storing food.

0:24:49 > 0:24:51They were sophisticated silos that were critical

0:24:51 > 0:24:55to the well-being of the people and the maintenance of power.

0:24:55 > 0:24:58In here would be stored everything from maize to potatoes,

0:24:58 > 0:25:01textiles to weapons, and vast numbers of seeds

0:25:01 > 0:25:05that could be used for next year's planting.

0:25:05 > 0:25:09They were often located in strategic places, well ventilated

0:25:09 > 0:25:10and not prone to flooding.

0:25:18 > 0:25:21The combined storage space of this network would have run

0:25:21 > 0:25:25to hundreds of thousands of cubic metres.

0:25:25 > 0:25:28That means that people across the Empire could be supplied

0:25:28 > 0:25:32with everything they needed, whenever circumstances demanded.

0:25:35 > 0:25:38One of the ways that we can understand the scale and order

0:25:38 > 0:25:40of the Inca warehousing system

0:25:40 > 0:25:43is by looking at the experience of the Spaniards who came in

0:25:43 > 0:25:46in 1548 into the upper Mantaro Valley

0:25:46 > 0:25:48in the central highlands of Peru.

0:25:48 > 0:25:51There were 2,000 of them and they stayed there for multiple weeks

0:25:51 > 0:25:54and they said, at the end of that period,

0:25:54 > 0:25:57they couldn't recognise that they'd made a dent in the warehouses

0:25:57 > 0:26:00and in the contents of the facilities.

0:26:00 > 0:26:04These storehouses tell me that the Inca understood the need

0:26:04 > 0:26:07to provide food security for the people they ruled.

0:26:09 > 0:26:12It's actually quite a modern idea.

0:26:12 > 0:26:15In the UK, during the fuel protests of 2000,

0:26:15 > 0:26:19supermarket bosses told the government they only had enough fuel

0:26:19 > 0:26:22to distribute food to the people for another three days.

0:26:22 > 0:26:25After that, they'd start to go hungry.

0:26:25 > 0:26:28This focuses the mind on food security,

0:26:28 > 0:26:31because it's not just about growing food, it's about its storage

0:26:31 > 0:26:34and distribution that is perhaps the most important.

0:26:34 > 0:26:36And the Inca understood this.

0:26:36 > 0:26:39That's why they created this vast system of storage facilities

0:26:39 > 0:26:43and a distribution network that got the food to the people.

0:26:43 > 0:26:46And this was important during times of drought

0:26:46 > 0:26:47and environmental disaster.

0:26:53 > 0:26:56The Inca storehouses, in times of scarcity and in times of drought,

0:26:56 > 0:27:00could be used to feed the populaces, to feed the masses,

0:27:00 > 0:27:04in order to save them from certain death and destruction.

0:27:04 > 0:27:08To the people who did the farming, they were a source of security.

0:27:08 > 0:27:11An insurance, if you will, against the bad years,

0:27:11 > 0:27:14knowing that the Inca state would be able to provide for them.

0:27:14 > 0:27:18But I suspect these storehouses served more than a practical,

0:27:18 > 0:27:20administrative function.

0:27:20 > 0:27:24The storehouses provided a highly visible symbol of the Inca state

0:27:24 > 0:27:29to its people, demonstrating both its reach and its benevolence.

0:27:31 > 0:27:35There was a basic level of understanding that the Inca

0:27:35 > 0:27:38would care for the poorest members of its society.

0:27:38 > 0:27:41It was a basic social contract, if you will.

0:27:41 > 0:27:44These storehouses were an important logistical element

0:27:44 > 0:27:46of a growing empire.

0:27:47 > 0:27:51But they also hint at the developing nature of Inca power itself.

0:27:53 > 0:27:56You get the sense of a different type of empire

0:27:56 > 0:27:57when you come to a place like this.

0:27:57 > 0:28:01You see how much effort they went to, to provide for people's needs.

0:28:01 > 0:28:03It's almost an attractive type of empire

0:28:03 > 0:28:05that people would want to become part of.

0:28:05 > 0:28:08Why wouldn't you want to join an empire that provided for you

0:28:08 > 0:28:11in times of need, good times and bad?

0:28:13 > 0:28:16The creation of these storehouses tells us a lot

0:28:16 > 0:28:19about the great Inca ability to organise and plan

0:28:19 > 0:28:22the use of their resources

0:28:22 > 0:28:24They embody an empire which could offer solutions

0:28:24 > 0:28:26to the people of the Andes.

0:28:26 > 0:28:30But in order to truly understand the nature of Inca power,

0:28:30 > 0:28:32I think we also have to look at how they approach

0:28:32 > 0:28:34these people in the first place.

0:28:34 > 0:28:37How, in effect, they pitched their empire

0:28:37 > 0:28:39to the people they would rule.

0:28:42 > 0:28:43To find out how they did it,

0:28:43 > 0:28:46I'm taking the road west, towards the ocean.

0:28:56 > 0:29:00This is the Temple of Pachacamac, on the Pacific Coast of Peru.

0:29:02 > 0:29:04And you can see the distinctive method

0:29:04 > 0:29:06of Inca empire building at work here.

0:29:08 > 0:29:10For thousands of years before the Inca,

0:29:10 > 0:29:14this was one of the most important and powerful religious sites

0:29:14 > 0:29:15in South America.

0:29:22 > 0:29:26Pachacamac's followers came from as far away as Ecuador

0:29:26 > 0:29:28and Bolivia to consult the oracle housed here.

0:29:30 > 0:29:34This massive complex was nothing less than an American Mecca.

0:29:37 > 0:29:40Which perhaps makes Incan attitudes towards Pachacamac

0:29:40 > 0:29:42even more surprising.

0:29:47 > 0:29:49They didn't destroy this religious centre,

0:29:49 > 0:29:53stamp out its idolatry or even forbid people from worshipping

0:29:53 > 0:29:54the oracle here at Pachacamac.

0:29:54 > 0:29:57Exactly the opposite, in fact.

0:29:57 > 0:29:59They incorporated the oracle of Pachacamac

0:29:59 > 0:30:02within their own pantheon of deities,

0:30:02 > 0:30:04even building a shrine to it in Cuzco.

0:30:07 > 0:30:11This willingness to tolerate and absorb other religions

0:30:11 > 0:30:14tells us a great deal about Inca power.

0:30:14 > 0:30:17It tells me that, as they expanded into new territory,

0:30:17 > 0:30:19they wanted to avoid conflict.

0:30:21 > 0:30:25The Incas were very effective at expanding out of their homeland

0:30:25 > 0:30:27because they practised economy of force.

0:30:27 > 0:30:30That is, they didn't conduct military operations

0:30:30 > 0:30:32except as a last resort.

0:30:32 > 0:30:35They tried diplomacy, they tried bribery, they tried all sorts

0:30:35 > 0:30:39of accommodations to bring people into their empire.

0:30:39 > 0:30:42Fighting was inefficient.

0:30:42 > 0:30:44It meant the loss of their own men

0:30:44 > 0:30:47and of the people whose labour they could use.

0:30:47 > 0:30:51But the threat of force needed to be visible and real.

0:30:52 > 0:30:56It is a carrot and stick approach, if you like,

0:30:56 > 0:31:00of the threat of military violence, but equally,

0:31:00 > 0:31:04the promise of gaining through the authority of the Inca

0:31:04 > 0:31:06and their access to resources.

0:31:08 > 0:31:13The Inca would often arrive in a new province with a massive army,

0:31:13 > 0:31:16putting on an overwhelming display of force.

0:31:16 > 0:31:18Emissaries would be sent to local rulers,

0:31:18 > 0:31:21bearing expensive gifts of jewellery and livestock.

0:31:21 > 0:31:24These same emissaries would explain the benefits

0:31:24 > 0:31:26of joining the Inca Empire.

0:31:26 > 0:31:29If the answer was no, the Incas spared no prisoners.

0:31:29 > 0:31:32Losing generals could expect to be flayed alive.

0:31:34 > 0:31:36But if the answer was yes,

0:31:36 > 0:31:39then the people would be showered with gifts of food and drink.

0:31:39 > 0:31:43Their lords would be instructed in Quechua, the Inca language,

0:31:43 > 0:31:45and their children would be taken to Cuzco

0:31:45 > 0:31:47to learn the ways of the Empire.

0:31:48 > 0:31:50Above all,

0:31:50 > 0:31:53they would be allowed to continue to practise their own religion.

0:31:54 > 0:31:57Pachacamac is an excellent example of how the Inca

0:31:57 > 0:32:00co-opted a powerful religious shrine and incorporated it

0:32:00 > 0:32:02into the Inca imperial period.

0:32:02 > 0:32:07They probably persuaded the priests of Pachacamac to participate,

0:32:07 > 0:32:08those that would be willing.

0:32:08 > 0:32:11But they also transformed, then, Pachacamac

0:32:11 > 0:32:14from its focus as a local shrine into an Inca one.

0:32:14 > 0:32:17And that kind of melding and that kind of blending, if you will,

0:32:17 > 0:32:20of Inca ideology with local ideology was a really good example

0:32:20 > 0:32:23of the way that Inca imperialism worked.

0:32:23 > 0:32:26The tolerance demonstrated here at Pachacamac

0:32:26 > 0:32:28happened all over the Inca realm.

0:32:28 > 0:32:31And I think it goes to the heart of explaining

0:32:31 > 0:32:33how the Inca built such a large empire.

0:32:36 > 0:32:39If you submit to the rule of the Inca Empire,

0:32:39 > 0:32:41then you will be allowed to keep most of your lands,

0:32:41 > 0:32:44you'll be able to keep your social order.

0:32:44 > 0:32:47All you will have to do is to pay certain taxes to the Incas

0:32:47 > 0:32:50and we will allow you to continue to live essentially

0:32:50 > 0:32:52as you had done previously.

0:32:52 > 0:32:54It appears that many peoples in the Andes decided

0:32:54 > 0:32:57that was probably the best bet.

0:32:57 > 0:33:00There's a great intelligence about Inca power.

0:33:00 > 0:33:02Why destroy a kingdom when that will mean a heavy cost

0:33:02 > 0:33:05to you in terms of lives lost?

0:33:05 > 0:33:09Why persecute its rulers when they could help you run your empire?

0:33:09 > 0:33:13Ultimately, the Inca understood the more tightly you bound people

0:33:13 > 0:33:16to you, the more control over them you would have.

0:33:19 > 0:33:22In order to develop a larger-scale society,

0:33:22 > 0:33:24they needed to cooperate.

0:33:24 > 0:33:27And that's one of the great Inca achievements,

0:33:27 > 0:33:29is that level of cooperation.

0:33:29 > 0:33:32Now, it wasn't all love and peace, I think, but nonetheless,

0:33:32 > 0:33:35it wasn't aggression that developed into the defence of sites

0:33:35 > 0:33:37and all-out warfare.

0:33:37 > 0:33:42And I think that allowed them to expand, as they created more and

0:33:42 > 0:33:45more alliances and they could draw people together.

0:33:48 > 0:33:53In doing so, they are creating an integration

0:33:53 > 0:33:55that is different to what has gone before.

0:34:08 > 0:34:12By the late 1400s, the Inca Empire was approaching its zenith.

0:34:12 > 0:34:17The Inca were no longer one among many societies in the Andes,

0:34:17 > 0:34:20they were the dominant, highly organised culture whose influence

0:34:20 > 0:34:24stretched well beyond their Cuzco stronghold.

0:34:24 > 0:34:30But in economic terms, how did such a sprawling empire work?

0:34:30 > 0:34:33To find out, I'm heading to the remote island of Taquile,

0:34:33 > 0:34:364,000 metres above sea level on Lake Titicaca.

0:34:49 > 0:34:52The people on Taquile live by an old code,

0:34:52 > 0:34:55which they say dates back to the Inca,

0:34:55 > 0:34:58"Ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla."

0:34:58 > 0:35:01"Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy."

0:35:03 > 0:35:06These lands were among the first the Inca conquered

0:35:06 > 0:35:10as they moved out of the Cuzco Valley.

0:35:10 > 0:35:13It's a region of vast llama and alpaca herds,

0:35:13 > 0:35:16which were a bountiful source of food, clothing and transport

0:35:16 > 0:35:17for the Inca.

0:35:21 > 0:35:24And the Incan way of life is still very much in evidence

0:35:24 > 0:35:26here on Taquile.

0:35:26 > 0:35:29An attitude of collective endeavour and mutual support.

0:35:33 > 0:35:34Ola.

0:35:34 > 0:35:38'Alejandro Flores Huatta is a community leader.'

0:36:09 > 0:36:12Alejandro's way of life may seem anachronistic,

0:36:12 > 0:36:16but at the time of the Inca, this was the norm.

0:36:16 > 0:36:19Communities were expected to give a proportion

0:36:19 > 0:36:22of their agricultural production, crafts and labour

0:36:22 > 0:36:24for the benefit of the state,

0:36:24 > 0:36:27weaving cloth for the court or working on a building project,

0:36:27 > 0:36:29just as they still do on Taquile today.

0:37:14 > 0:37:16One of the clearest examples of a difference between

0:37:16 > 0:37:19the Inca way of life and the modern one is in the economy.

0:37:19 > 0:37:21Because the Inca didn't use money,

0:37:21 > 0:37:25they didn't have an arbitrary system against which value was set.

0:37:25 > 0:37:28Instead, everything was done through exchange.

0:37:28 > 0:37:32So things like agricultural produce and craftsmanship,

0:37:32 > 0:37:35even hours of labour, could be exchanged.

0:37:37 > 0:37:40The Inca managed to persuade large numbers of people

0:37:40 > 0:37:44that they should contribute their labour to projects

0:37:44 > 0:37:47such as construction, such as agricultural work,

0:37:47 > 0:37:49such as the road system.

0:37:49 > 0:37:55And they managed to do that through a reciprocal relationship,

0:37:55 > 0:38:00one where you didn't doubt that the Inca were in control,

0:38:00 > 0:38:04but that you believed that you were getting also something out of it.

0:38:04 > 0:38:08It strikes me that, in stark contrast to many civilisations

0:38:08 > 0:38:13that had gone before them, the Inca wielded a very subtle form of power.

0:38:16 > 0:38:20They offered solutions to the harsh realities of life in the Andes

0:38:20 > 0:38:24and, in turn, asked the peoples they governed to have faith

0:38:24 > 0:38:26in the benefits of Inca rule.

0:38:31 > 0:38:35It some ways, it was quite a benevolent empire.

0:38:35 > 0:38:39Yet there was never any question about who was ultimately in charge.

0:38:46 > 0:38:49How the Inca managed to integrate so many different peoples

0:38:49 > 0:38:53into their empire whilst maintaining their dominant position

0:38:53 > 0:38:55was central to their success.

0:38:55 > 0:38:59Just a few miles from Pachacamac is a place which was built specifically

0:38:59 > 0:39:03to bring an entire people into the Inca fold

0:39:03 > 0:39:05and it brilliantly demonstrates how a society

0:39:05 > 0:39:07that didn't have any written culture

0:39:07 > 0:39:10still had ways to ensure that everyone knew their place.

0:39:13 > 0:39:15This is the site of Tambo Colorado.

0:39:15 > 0:39:18It's one of the first settlements the Inca build

0:39:18 > 0:39:20as they push westwards, down towards the Pacific Coast.

0:39:20 > 0:39:23The people who lived in this region were the Chincha.

0:39:23 > 0:39:28And the purpose of this place was to co-opt them into the empire.

0:39:28 > 0:39:31The Chincha were one of the Incas' most important allies,

0:39:31 > 0:39:35controlling large swathes of the coastal desert.

0:39:35 > 0:39:38And it's obvious that this was an important place for both

0:39:38 > 0:39:40the Chincha and the Inca,

0:39:40 > 0:39:44dominating a flat plain as the mountains give way to the coast.

0:39:45 > 0:39:48'Sofia Chacaltana Cortez is an archaeologist

0:39:48 > 0:39:52'who has studied this site extensively.'

0:39:52 > 0:39:54So this entrance, like, the whole wall comes along

0:39:54 > 0:39:57and then you've just got one small entrance into the site?

0:39:57 > 0:39:59Yeah, that's typical of Inca architecture, right?

0:39:59 > 0:40:03Like, it's an entrance that is a palace first

0:40:03 > 0:40:07and it has just one entrance and also has the Inca shape,

0:40:07 > 0:40:09the trapezoid, so...

0:40:09 > 0:40:13Wow, and then you immediately come into this sort of main plaza.

0:40:13 > 0:40:15Yeah, you have the main plaza.

0:40:15 > 0:40:18This one is the rear plaza and then you have three other plazas.

0:40:18 > 0:40:20So what sort of activities would be going on

0:40:20 > 0:40:22in this sort of main plaza, do you think?

0:40:22 > 0:40:24If people walked through those gates,

0:40:24 > 0:40:25what sort of things would they see?

0:40:25 > 0:40:29Well, probably ritual activities and also a lot of drinking.

0:40:29 > 0:40:32The Inca did a lot of drinking and displaying of power.

0:40:32 > 0:40:37But probably also that was the place where the elite could come,

0:40:37 > 0:40:39could enter the site.

0:40:43 > 0:40:46Tambo Colorado has the feel of a stage,

0:40:46 > 0:40:48a place of performance,

0:40:48 > 0:40:51where important officials would meet, where religious rituals

0:40:51 > 0:40:55would take place, against the backdrop of feasting and drinking.

0:40:56 > 0:41:00Adding to this theatrical feel are these brightly painted walls,

0:41:00 > 0:41:05whose colours have survived over five centuries of desert sun.

0:41:05 > 0:41:08It's absolutely extraordinary that you get this level of preservation

0:41:08 > 0:41:11of these pigments and paints right up to the modern day.

0:41:11 > 0:41:13I really like the idea that you sort of walk in

0:41:13 > 0:41:15from this quite barren desert landscape

0:41:15 > 0:41:17and then when you walk into this plaza,

0:41:17 > 0:41:19suddenly you're, like, overwhelmed by the colour.

0:41:19 > 0:41:20Like, brilliant colours around you

0:41:20 > 0:41:23and then you can think about that dancing and music which is going on.

0:41:26 > 0:41:28Much of what we see at Tambo Colorado

0:41:28 > 0:41:31is typical of Inca architecture.

0:41:31 > 0:41:34Yet there are striking differences in the craftsmanship here, too,

0:41:34 > 0:41:38which Sofia believes come from the influence of the Chincha.

0:41:38 > 0:41:41Something to notice, too, is the lattice work

0:41:41 > 0:41:47and the ending of the Inca spaces are not always Inca, are Chincha.

0:41:47 > 0:41:52The architect probably was Inca but the work was local

0:41:52 > 0:41:55and also probably the people that were living here

0:41:55 > 0:41:58were the Inca elite and the Chincha elite.

0:41:58 > 0:42:01It's a really difficult thing to assess,

0:42:01 > 0:42:03but do you think there's any evidence that

0:42:03 > 0:42:05the Chincha and Inca are working cooperatively,

0:42:05 > 0:42:08rather than sort of like a dominating workforce, forcing them,

0:42:08 > 0:42:09do you see any evidence of collaboration?

0:42:09 > 0:42:12Well, we are seeing here is like, I think,

0:42:12 > 0:42:14the synthesis of the government.

0:42:14 > 0:42:16Like, after they have, like, worked together.

0:42:16 > 0:42:18I think this is like a...

0:42:18 > 0:42:22probably like a Chincha... an Inca-Chincha palace, right?

0:42:22 > 0:42:25It's not only Inca, it's not Chincha,

0:42:25 > 0:42:28it's saying, like, "We are cooperating."

0:42:32 > 0:42:34The merging of architectural styles

0:42:34 > 0:42:38signals the joining of two kingdoms, Inca and Chincha.

0:42:38 > 0:42:42Tambo Colorado was the place which marked an important alliance

0:42:42 > 0:42:45in material form, but not an alliance of equals...

0:42:49 > 0:42:52..because there are subtle levers of control here.

0:42:52 > 0:42:54Away from the plazas,

0:42:54 > 0:42:58Tambo Colorado is a maze of complex and confusing corridors.

0:42:58 > 0:43:00Hidden rooms and secret spaces.

0:43:01 > 0:43:05The architecture dictates how you travel around the site.

0:43:05 > 0:43:08Even the beautiful, brightly coloured walls

0:43:08 > 0:43:09had a controlling purpose,

0:43:09 > 0:43:13marking out areas of access according to rank.

0:43:15 > 0:43:18The yellow colour is representing the higher status.

0:43:18 > 0:43:21The lower status will be the white,

0:43:21 > 0:43:24that will represent the intermediate elite

0:43:24 > 0:43:27and the red will represent the locals.

0:43:28 > 0:43:31The colour scheme was designed to mark places

0:43:31 > 0:43:34where only the Inca were allowed.

0:43:34 > 0:43:36A lot of Tambo Colorado would have been off limits

0:43:36 > 0:43:38to the Chincha population.

0:43:41 > 0:43:43So these corridors are fantastic.

0:43:43 > 0:43:45- They have this sort of real sense of restricted space.- Yes.

0:43:45 > 0:43:48And they go to imperial spaces.

0:43:48 > 0:43:52We will see these Inca spaces, like the font, the Inca font,

0:43:52 > 0:43:56and there is an Inca way of purifying your body.

0:43:56 > 0:43:58To what extent do you think these architectural forms,

0:43:58 > 0:44:02these spaces, are a mechanism for the Inca Empire to sort of control

0:44:02 > 0:44:05people's behaviour and influence their experience

0:44:05 > 0:44:07of coming into them?

0:44:07 > 0:44:09Well, I think this is to control people's behaviour

0:44:09 > 0:44:12and also to show how to behave as an Inca, right?

0:44:12 > 0:44:15Because we are far away from the...

0:44:15 > 0:44:16from the capital.

0:44:16 > 0:44:20So I think also is showing what is the Inca behaviour, right?

0:44:20 > 0:44:23To behave as an Inca, I think, was an important part

0:44:23 > 0:44:24of the Inca government.

0:44:28 > 0:44:30I think it's cooperation also,

0:44:30 > 0:44:34but with the foot on top, kind of like that.

0:44:40 > 0:44:41It's great chatting to Sofia

0:44:41 > 0:44:45about how Inca architecture controls people's behaviour here.

0:44:45 > 0:44:46And more than that,

0:44:46 > 0:44:50communicates it to all the people moving up and down this valley.

0:44:50 > 0:44:52Inca architecture is so much more

0:44:52 > 0:44:55than the construction of imposing buildings.

0:44:55 > 0:44:58Architecture, like religion or agriculture,

0:44:58 > 0:45:00is a source of Inca power.

0:45:06 > 0:45:10All the elements that made Inca power so dominating and seductive

0:45:10 > 0:45:12came together in one city...

0:45:12 > 0:45:15Cuzco, high in the Andes.

0:45:16 > 0:45:20Cuzco was the most important city in the entirety of the Americas.

0:45:22 > 0:45:23It was the Inca homeland

0:45:23 > 0:45:26and the political and spiritual heart of their empire.

0:45:28 > 0:45:30And in the heart of Cuzco sat one person...

0:45:30 > 0:45:32the Sapa Inca.

0:45:34 > 0:45:36The ruler of the Inca Empire

0:45:36 > 0:45:39was a person called the Sapa Inca or Unique Lord.

0:45:39 > 0:45:44He embodied all the dimensions of leadership within the Inca society.

0:45:44 > 0:45:48He was the political ruler, in part because he was the descendant

0:45:48 > 0:45:50of the previous Sapa Inca.

0:45:50 > 0:45:52He was also the military leader

0:45:52 > 0:45:55and he was the person who made decisions about everything

0:45:55 > 0:45:57that was of significance in society,

0:45:57 > 0:46:00whether economic, ritual, or whatever.

0:46:00 > 0:46:03It was all focused on a single individual.

0:46:06 > 0:46:09The Sapa Inca was the most powerful man in the empire

0:46:09 > 0:46:12and was treated with immense reverence.

0:46:13 > 0:46:17He communicated via intermediaries.

0:46:17 > 0:46:21No-one dared look him directly in the eye.

0:46:21 > 0:46:23Disobedience was punishable by death.

0:46:27 > 0:46:32I guess you could probably call him a benevolent dictator in some ways.

0:46:32 > 0:46:35The Sapa Inca was not a very accessible personage,

0:46:35 > 0:46:39but he was also expected to be a charismatic leader,

0:46:39 > 0:46:43a figure who could change the world when necessary.

0:46:44 > 0:46:49The greatest of all Inca emperors was Pachacuti,

0:46:49 > 0:46:55whose name literally means "he who overturns space and time".

0:46:55 > 0:46:59Pachacuti is a mythical hero to many modern day Peruvians.

0:46:59 > 0:47:01The story goes that he was a prince,

0:47:01 > 0:47:04living here in Cuzco in the early to mid-15th century,

0:47:04 > 0:47:06when the city was attacked by the Chanka,

0:47:06 > 0:47:10a people who came from 150km to the west.

0:47:10 > 0:47:14Pachakuti's father, the ruler, took his entire court and fled the city,

0:47:14 > 0:47:19but Pachacuti defiantly remained and led a divinely inspired resistance

0:47:19 > 0:47:21to the Chanka, crushing them.

0:47:21 > 0:47:25He then led a series of Inca expansions away from the homeland,

0:47:25 > 0:47:27laying the foundations of the Inca Empire.

0:47:30 > 0:47:35But the root of Pachacuti's rule and the authority of all the Sapa Incas

0:47:35 > 0:47:37lay in their position as semi-divine figures.

0:47:39 > 0:47:42To understand how the Sapa Inca operated,

0:47:42 > 0:47:45we have to think of him in several dimensions.

0:47:45 > 0:47:48He was, in some senses, very much a human being,

0:47:48 > 0:47:52but the Incas considered him to be the descendant of Inti,

0:47:52 > 0:47:57the Sun God, so in Inca ideology, he was a deity on Earth.

0:48:00 > 0:48:04While the Inca allowed their subjects to worship their own gods,

0:48:04 > 0:48:08they would always be subservient to their own Sun God, Inti.

0:48:09 > 0:48:13The Inca built temples of the sun wherever they conquered.

0:48:16 > 0:48:18This emphasised the emperor's connection

0:48:18 > 0:48:20to the most powerful god in the sky.

0:48:22 > 0:48:26It also connected Inca power with the cosmos itself.

0:48:26 > 0:48:29In this way, the Inca used religious reverence

0:48:29 > 0:48:31as a powerful political tool.

0:48:33 > 0:48:36Inca religion is probably best thought of as part

0:48:36 > 0:48:38of an over-arching imperial ideology.

0:48:38 > 0:48:42It had its political elements, it had its religious elements,

0:48:42 > 0:48:47it had its practice, it had its military and cosmological elements.

0:48:47 > 0:48:48So the idea of religion, per se,

0:48:48 > 0:48:51probably would not have made sense to the Incas.

0:48:51 > 0:48:53They would have thought of it as an integrated part

0:48:53 > 0:48:58of the sanctity of the ruler, of his legitimacy to civilise the Andes,

0:48:58 > 0:49:01of his role as a political and military figure.

0:49:04 > 0:49:07Here, at the temple of Qorikancha, the holiest spot in the empire,

0:49:07 > 0:49:10the Sapa Inca would hold court.

0:49:12 > 0:49:15This entire complex would once have been encased in gold.

0:49:16 > 0:49:21All that remains today is this beautiful curved stone wall.

0:49:21 > 0:49:22But despite its destruction

0:49:22 > 0:49:26and the construction of a Christian church on top of it,

0:49:26 > 0:49:29the Qorikancha still feels very much like

0:49:29 > 0:49:31the spiritual heart of Inca Cuzco.

0:49:33 > 0:49:36The Qorikancha was at the centre of the Inca world.

0:49:36 > 0:49:40It was thought that, from here, dozens of ceques, or ley lines,

0:49:40 > 0:49:45spread across the empire, upon which shrines and temples would be built.

0:49:45 > 0:49:48So this religious complex was connected physically

0:49:48 > 0:49:51and psychologically with every corner of the empire.

0:49:54 > 0:49:59The Inca used religion to project the idea of their empire

0:49:59 > 0:50:03over the lands they controlled and to the people they ruled.

0:50:03 > 0:50:07These ley lines radiated across the landscape,

0:50:07 > 0:50:09creating a spiritual map of the empire

0:50:09 > 0:50:13which would have been understood by people from the forests of Ecuador

0:50:13 > 0:50:16to the high plateaux and peaks of the Andes,

0:50:16 > 0:50:18and from Cuzco to the coast.

0:50:21 > 0:50:25You have to picture this as a countryside which is animated,

0:50:25 > 0:50:31it's alive with different special places,

0:50:31 > 0:50:34places which are associated with supernatural powers.

0:50:34 > 0:50:37And so an unusual rock, a pass,

0:50:37 > 0:50:40a curve in a road, a waterfall...

0:50:41 > 0:50:47..any noteworthy landmark on the landscape could be considered

0:50:47 > 0:50:50what the Incas called a huaca, or a shrine.

0:50:51 > 0:50:57And on very specific days of the year, pilgrimages would be made.

0:50:57 > 0:51:03Different kin groups would line up along different lines

0:51:03 > 0:51:08and march out to each of the shrines, making offerings to them.

0:51:08 > 0:51:09For the Inca,

0:51:09 > 0:51:14this was an empire of the mind as much as a physical empire,

0:51:14 > 0:51:18held together by thousands of shrines and invisible ley lines

0:51:18 > 0:51:20as much as by garrisons or military power.

0:51:23 > 0:51:27But an empire still needs physical bonds.

0:51:27 > 0:51:29By the end of the 15th century,

0:51:29 > 0:51:34the Inca Empire was approaching its greatest extent,

0:51:34 > 0:51:37reaching from southern Ecuador eastwards to Bolivia

0:51:37 > 0:51:39and into northern Argentina.

0:51:43 > 0:51:46It was criss-crossed by 40,000km of roads.

0:51:48 > 0:51:50There were two main roads,

0:51:50 > 0:51:52one running from Cuzco to Quito,

0:51:52 > 0:51:55the other running parallel along the coast.

0:51:55 > 0:51:58Between these were dozens of connecting roads and spurs,

0:51:58 > 0:52:00heading south and east.

0:52:04 > 0:52:09This road system is one of the most famous elements of the Inca Empire.

0:52:09 > 0:52:13But much of this network almost certainly predates the Inca.

0:52:14 > 0:52:18Once again, they took what they found and up-scaled it.

0:52:19 > 0:52:21Some parts of that road system

0:52:21 > 0:52:25existed at least since the Wari Empire,

0:52:25 > 0:52:27but the Inca develop it.

0:52:27 > 0:52:30They reconstruct large parts of it.

0:52:30 > 0:52:33They construct bridges and causeways to integrate it

0:52:33 > 0:52:36and they redirect some roads.

0:52:36 > 0:52:39This is a huge investment for them.

0:52:43 > 0:52:46The Inca road system was a triumph of architecture and planning.

0:52:49 > 0:52:52The roads had to pass through a variety of landscapes,

0:52:52 > 0:52:56from arid desert, to snowy mountains, to vertical cliffs.

0:52:57 > 0:53:00They could be anything from one to ten metres wide.

0:53:02 > 0:53:06In the desert, they were protected from dusty winds by raised stones.

0:53:06 > 0:53:09In the mountains, they were designed to allow for run-off and drainage.

0:53:11 > 0:53:15And when the terrain made conventional roads impossible,

0:53:15 > 0:53:18the Inca once again came up with an ingenious solution.

0:53:21 > 0:53:24This is the stunning Keshwa Chaca bridge.

0:53:24 > 0:53:26It's made out of only this, straw.

0:53:26 > 0:53:29And it's been in use for hundreds of years,

0:53:29 > 0:53:31dating right back to the Inca period.

0:53:31 > 0:53:35This bridge still serves as a major crossing of the Apurimac River.

0:53:37 > 0:53:40It is carefully maintained by the four communities who live here.

0:53:41 > 0:53:43Ola.

0:53:43 > 0:53:45'Among the workers is Dante Quispe Locuber.'

0:54:26 > 0:54:31The roads allowed the Inca to travel swiftly and communicate efficiently

0:54:31 > 0:54:33throughout their vast empire.

0:54:33 > 0:54:37It's estimated a message could be carried from Cuzco to Quito,

0:54:37 > 0:54:41a distance of 1,500km, in just five days.

0:54:41 > 0:54:46But seeing Dante and his comrades at work, it strikes me that the roads

0:54:46 > 0:54:48were about much more than just communication,

0:54:48 > 0:54:50more than just getting from A to B.

0:54:51 > 0:54:54This network was a psychological tool,

0:54:54 > 0:54:56as well as a physical one.

0:54:57 > 0:55:00These roads and bridges were a constant reminder to communities

0:55:00 > 0:55:04all over the Andes that they were part of something bigger.

0:55:06 > 0:55:11It probably provided an ideological mechanism of integration,

0:55:11 > 0:55:14so that in constructing that road system,

0:55:14 > 0:55:19you could not but be aware that you were integrating Cuzco with the coast.

0:55:19 > 0:55:22You were a part of empire.

0:55:22 > 0:55:26We must remember that there is no idea of a map of the Inca Empire.

0:55:26 > 0:55:30It is largely through the connection of individual places,

0:55:30 > 0:55:33through roads and track ways and though ceremonial

0:55:33 > 0:55:36and ritual activities that the Inca Empire holds together.

0:55:41 > 0:55:43The network was so vast

0:55:43 > 0:55:46that new parts of it are still being uncovered today.

0:55:50 > 0:55:52This is a newly discovered road.

0:55:52 > 0:55:55It's absolutely extraordinary, it clings to the side of the cliff

0:55:55 > 0:55:58with a 300 metre drop-off down to the river below.

0:56:07 > 0:56:09These roads are about more than just travel.

0:56:09 > 0:56:13They are the physical ties that bind the empire together

0:56:13 > 0:56:15and underpin Inca power.

0:56:15 > 0:56:18Armies, food and livestock can move quickly along them.

0:56:18 > 0:56:21No matter where you are in the empire,

0:56:21 > 0:56:23you're never far from a road that leads to Cuzco.

0:56:23 > 0:56:27And that proximity means Inca power is ever-present,

0:56:27 > 0:56:29no matter which corner of the empire you're in.

0:56:35 > 0:56:38This road leads down to Machu Picchu.

0:56:38 > 0:56:41It isn't on any of the tourist itineraries

0:56:41 > 0:56:44and it may not be as celebrated as what lies below.

0:56:45 > 0:56:50But it is part of the same empire, built by the same people

0:56:50 > 0:56:55and is, in its own way, just as important as that iconic Inca ruin.

0:56:55 > 0:56:59From a western perspective, ancient empires are lauded

0:56:59 > 0:57:04for victorious battles, ingenious systems of governance and control,

0:57:04 > 0:57:09territorial expansion and domination through generations.

0:57:09 > 0:57:12The Inca achieved all this and more.

0:57:26 > 0:57:29If we define power as the ability

0:57:29 > 0:57:32to control people's actions and behaviour,

0:57:32 > 0:57:35then I think we have a tremendous amount to learn from the Inca,

0:57:35 > 0:57:40because force was just one small tool in their armoury.

0:57:40 > 0:57:42To give people the sense of freewill,

0:57:42 > 0:57:45to make the decisions that you want them to make -

0:57:45 > 0:57:47that is the source of true power.

0:57:47 > 0:57:50And the scale at which the Inca did it was extraordinary.

0:57:56 > 0:57:59But as the Inca reached their zenith,

0:57:59 > 0:58:02they would be visited by foreign soldiers from across the ocean.

0:58:03 > 0:58:08These Spanish conquistadors had a very different concept of power.

0:58:08 > 0:58:13And their determination to build an empire of their own in this land

0:58:13 > 0:58:15would lead to a catastrophic clash

0:58:15 > 0:58:18of two completely different cultures.