Page 147 - How It Works - Book Of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, Volume 05-15

History

Feathers
Anatomy of an Helmets were adorned
with brightly coloured
Inca warrior feathers. The number of
feathers distinguished
The fi erce soldiers military ranking.
that helped expand
the Inca Empire
Helmet
High-ranking warriors wore
helmets made of copper or
Jewellery bronze, but regular fi ghters
High-ranking warriors had wooden headgear.
wore plates of gold, silver or
bronze on their chests, and
gold or silver earplugs to
stretch their lobes.

Shield
Shields came in a variety of
shapes, made from wood
covered in leather or hide,
and were mainly used by
high-ranking soldiers. Messenger service
As their empire expanded, the Incas built a vast network of
roads and bridges to connect their settlements. However, as
Weapon they had no wheeled vehicles or horses, journeys were made
Tunic The Incas used a on foot using llamas or alpacas to carry any heavy supplies.
Made from thick, padded variety of weapons One important use for these roads was the delivery of verbal
cotton with plates of stone depending on their messages, as the Incas had no written language. Runners
or metal on the back and position in the battle, were located at stations along each route and would pass on
front, the tunic provided including spears, their message when they reached the next station, a bit like a
protection against wooden slingshots, bows, relay race. They would mostly deliver news of invasions,
and stone weapons. clubs and axes. uprisings, or the Sapa Inca’s death, but occasionally recorded
information that needed to be sent. This was done using a
quipu, a rope with a series of strings suspended from it. The
colour of each string indicated what was being counted, such
as how many soldiers were available for war, and the number
Fringes Colours of knots denoted the amount.
Fringes of wool were tied Tunics were designed
around the biceps, ankles with specifi c colours
and below the knees, which and insignia
was believed to strengthen corresponding to the
the limbs. region of the army.

Sandals
Footwear was crafted from
untanned llama hide or

braided fibre, helping them
walk for miles into battle.
The quipu was used to record everything from the length of a
ruler’s reign to how many crops a settlement produced

Manual labour Terracing helped to extend the
farmland and prevented soil
The families at the bottom of the Inca hierarchy from being washed away
were mainly farmers. As there was no currency,
land was allocated to each family by the state
and in return they would pay tax in the form of
food and textiles. These families could only keep
some of the food they produced for their own
use, as the rest was divided between offers for
the gods and the state. Every adult was also
required to spend part of each year working for
the state, helping to build houses and roads or
by joining the army. The Incas also used their
building skills to find clever ways to farm uneven

mountain slopes. One solution was to cut
terraces into the hillside and build walls to keep
the soil in place.

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