1 00:00:06,980 --> 00:00:10,797 In 1911, young American explorer Hiram Bingham 2 00:00:10,798 --> 00:00:12,726 arrived in Peru's Sacred Valley. 3 00:00:15,089 --> 00:00:17,670 Bingham was looking for a fabled lost city, 4 00:00:17,671 --> 00:00:19,488 the last redoubt of the Inca 5 00:00:19,489 --> 00:00:21,962 in their doomed battle against the Spanish. 6 00:00:23,344 --> 00:00:24,689 He met a local farmer, 7 00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:27,853 who said he knew of a place which might interest the American... 8 00:00:29,126 --> 00:00:31,272 ...a place overgrown and all but forgotten. 9 00:00:35,454 --> 00:00:37,599 What Bingham saw astonished him. 10 00:00:39,126 --> 00:00:41,453 Peeking through centuries of vegetation 11 00:00:41,454 --> 00:00:43,744 were dozens of granite buildings. 12 00:00:43,745 --> 00:00:46,980 Vast terraces were cut into the mountainside, 13 00:00:46,981 --> 00:00:50,145 criss-crossed by hundreds of steep, stone steps. 14 00:00:54,254 --> 00:00:57,235 The effect on the young explorer was dazzling... 15 00:00:57,236 --> 00:00:58,691 like a dream. 16 00:01:02,872 --> 00:01:05,017 When Bingham arrived here at Machu Picchu, 17 00:01:05,018 --> 00:01:07,962 he thought he had discovered the Lost City of the Inca, 18 00:01:07,963 --> 00:01:11,599 a place so secret, it had remained hidden as Europeans overran 19 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,108 the entire continent of South America. 20 00:01:14,109 --> 00:01:16,435 For Bingham, this site was the Holy Grail, 21 00:01:16,436 --> 00:01:19,272 the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Inca, 22 00:01:19,273 --> 00:01:22,291 the largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas. 23 00:01:25,019 --> 00:01:29,528 But Machu Picchu provides only a glimpse of an incredible empire. 24 00:01:31,782 --> 00:01:34,437 It's only one part of a remarkable tale. 25 00:01:36,255 --> 00:01:40,945 This is the story of a people who, 600 years ago, built an empire 26 00:01:40,946 --> 00:01:44,945 that stretched from barren coastal desert to lush tropical jungle, 27 00:01:44,946 --> 00:01:47,127 from the edge of the Pacific Ocean 28 00:01:47,128 --> 00:01:50,182 to the high plains of Chile and Argentina. 29 00:01:50,183 --> 00:01:54,109 It's a story of wealth, power, innovation and bloodshed, 30 00:01:54,110 --> 00:01:57,456 all happening in some of the toughest landscapes on the planet. 31 00:01:58,983 --> 00:02:02,509 Fundamentally, this is the story of an empire unlike any other, 32 00:02:02,510 --> 00:02:05,419 one with a completely different worldview to the Europeans 33 00:02:05,420 --> 00:02:07,019 who come to conquer it. 34 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:09,855 And it's that different way of seeing the world, 35 00:02:09,856 --> 00:02:12,728 of gaining and holding power over so many people, 36 00:02:12,729 --> 00:02:15,056 that make the Inca absolutely fascinating. 37 00:02:19,311 --> 00:02:21,165 The question I want to answer is, 38 00:02:21,166 --> 00:02:22,584 how did they do it? 39 00:02:37,675 --> 00:02:41,275 There are very good reasons why the Inca have long fascinated us. 40 00:02:42,657 --> 00:02:45,311 Their empire was the biggest in the Americas 41 00:02:45,312 --> 00:02:47,092 before the arrival of Europeans. 42 00:02:47,093 --> 00:02:48,983 At its height in the 15th century, 43 00:02:48,984 --> 00:02:51,639 over ten million people were under their rule. 44 00:02:54,439 --> 00:02:58,511 Their vast kingdom was connected by a sophisticated road network, 45 00:02:58,512 --> 00:03:01,566 stretching for thousands of kilometres. 46 00:03:01,567 --> 00:03:03,384 But most remarkable of all 47 00:03:03,385 --> 00:03:06,438 is the apparent speed of their rise to power. 48 00:03:06,439 --> 00:03:10,657 In the 14th century, the Inca were one of many independent peoples 49 00:03:10,658 --> 00:03:12,657 who lived high in the Andes. 50 00:03:12,658 --> 00:03:15,166 Yet they emerged from their Cuzco stronghold and, 51 00:03:15,167 --> 00:03:18,184 seemingly in the space of just 150 years, 52 00:03:18,185 --> 00:03:23,203 built a vast multiethnic empire which spanned a continent, 53 00:03:23,204 --> 00:03:26,439 from the Pacific to the Amazon, incorporating huge swathes 54 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,675 of the modern=day countries of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, 55 00:03:29,676 --> 00:03:30,949 Chile and Argentina. 56 00:03:37,677 --> 00:03:40,949 For many years, our understanding of the Inca has been dominated 57 00:03:40,950 --> 00:03:43,930 by the chronicles written by the Spanish conquistadors. 58 00:03:43,931 --> 00:03:47,494 But these chronicles are written often with a very specific agenda in mind... 59 00:03:47,495 --> 00:03:49,241 to justify the Spanish Conquest. 60 00:03:50,768 --> 00:03:52,367 The Spanish came across an empire 61 00:03:52,368 --> 00:03:54,840 which they had no frame of reference for... 62 00:03:54,841 --> 00:03:58,804 effectively a Neolithic Empire run without the pen or the sword. 63 00:03:58,805 --> 00:04:00,513 No writing, no wheel, 64 00:04:00,514 --> 00:04:03,313 no animal which could carry a human, 65 00:04:03,314 --> 00:04:05,931 no markets, no currency. 66 00:04:05,932 --> 00:04:09,568 So a whole, peculiar, complex society in European eyes. 67 00:04:10,550 --> 00:04:13,859 I think it's time to question whether we need to re-evaluate 68 00:04:13,860 --> 00:04:16,077 the Inca rise to power. 69 00:04:16,078 --> 00:04:19,713 Perhaps early historical records have been misleading. 70 00:04:19,714 --> 00:04:22,695 Is there a different, far more intriguing, story to be told 71 00:04:22,696 --> 00:04:24,914 about the emergence of the Inca Empire? 72 00:04:26,696 --> 00:04:30,150 The most important thing to bear in mind is that this wasn't an empire 73 00:04:30,151 --> 00:04:32,441 like the British Empire or the Roman Empire, 74 00:04:32,442 --> 00:04:34,550 where histories were carefully written down 75 00:04:34,551 --> 00:04:36,914 and power came in the form of a dozen legions 76 00:04:36,915 --> 00:04:38,223 or the barrel of a gun. 77 00:04:38,224 --> 00:04:40,150 This was a non-Western empire 78 00:04:40,151 --> 00:04:43,023 and that's often made it difficult for westerners to study. 79 00:04:43,024 --> 00:04:45,168 In order to understand the Inca, 80 00:04:45,169 --> 00:04:48,770 you need to get inside the Incan mind, and think like they thought. 81 00:04:51,970 --> 00:04:55,097 And that means getting far away from Machu Picchu. 82 00:05:03,025 --> 00:05:06,260 One of the major differences between the Inca world and our own 83 00:05:06,261 --> 00:05:08,551 is the concept of time. 84 00:05:08,552 --> 00:05:10,915 The Inca thought differently than we do 85 00:05:10,916 --> 00:05:13,387 about the past, present, and future. 86 00:05:13,388 --> 00:05:15,787 And this has significant implications for understanding 87 00:05:15,788 --> 00:05:17,569 all aspects of Inca history, 88 00:05:17,570 --> 00:05:22,006 and not least how long it really took them to build their empire. 89 00:05:22,007 --> 00:05:24,588 The way that we think is so ingrained that it's very hard 90 00:05:24,589 --> 00:05:26,988 to try and change our perspective on things, 91 00:05:26,989 --> 00:05:28,551 but it's something we have to do 92 00:05:28,552 --> 00:05:30,552 if we are to understand the Inca Empire. 93 00:05:30,553 --> 00:05:32,333 We have to get inside the Inca mind. 94 00:05:32,334 --> 00:05:33,788 For us, we have life. 95 00:05:33,789 --> 00:05:36,115 We are born and then we die. 96 00:05:36,116 --> 00:05:38,224 And this is essentially a linear path. 97 00:05:38,225 --> 00:05:40,988 Everything that happens before a moment of our lives 98 00:05:40,989 --> 00:05:44,261 we would call "history" and it happens behind us. 99 00:05:44,262 --> 00:05:46,952 Everything that's going to happen beyond this point in this line, 100 00:05:46,953 --> 00:05:48,553 we would call "the future". 101 00:05:49,862 --> 00:05:51,170 Crucially, therefore, 102 00:05:51,171 --> 00:05:53,425 everything that we understand about our ancestors 103 00:05:53,426 --> 00:05:54,952 and the world that has gone before 104 00:05:54,953 --> 00:05:57,389 creates and affects our lives along this line. 105 00:05:57,390 --> 00:06:00,371 And everything that we do in our own life will affect the future 106 00:06:00,372 --> 00:06:02,771 and this is a linear concept of time. 107 00:06:02,772 --> 00:06:05,716 That is completely different to how the Inca understood time. 108 00:06:05,717 --> 00:06:08,298 So for the Inca, start with the first line, 109 00:06:08,299 --> 00:06:10,298 which they might call Kay Pacha. 110 00:06:10,299 --> 00:06:12,262 Kay Pacha is essentially a lifeline. 111 00:06:12,263 --> 00:06:16,371 But there are two parallel lines, Hanan Pacha and Uku Pacha, 112 00:06:16,372 --> 00:06:18,516 which is the past and the future. 113 00:06:18,517 --> 00:06:20,444 And these lines run in parallel 114 00:06:20,445 --> 00:06:22,989 because they can happen at the same time. 115 00:06:22,990 --> 00:06:26,262 So at any particular moment of life on this line, 116 00:06:26,263 --> 00:06:29,971 they can transect between the past and the future. 117 00:06:29,972 --> 00:06:33,681 And this point here is a particular moment of experience 118 00:06:33,682 --> 00:06:37,209 in the present which is affected directly by the past or the future. 119 00:06:38,700 --> 00:06:40,699 We get a sense that there were multiple histories, 120 00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:42,190 there were multiple pasts 121 00:06:42,191 --> 00:06:43,608 and there were multiple references 122 00:06:43,609 --> 00:06:45,790 to different things that different ancestors had done 123 00:06:45,791 --> 00:06:48,008 depending on who was telling the story. 124 00:06:48,009 --> 00:06:50,954 So, because of this, it becomes very difficult to determine exactly 125 00:06:50,955 --> 00:06:55,099 what was the historical sequence of the development of the Inca Empire 126 00:06:55,100 --> 00:06:58,482 in a way that would make sense to us as a nice European chronicle. 127 00:06:59,828 --> 00:07:03,209 The Inca don't talk the same language of time as we do 128 00:07:03,210 --> 00:07:05,536 and so we need to think about the chronology 129 00:07:05,537 --> 00:07:07,609 of their history quite differently. 130 00:07:07,610 --> 00:07:11,427 By understanding this, we can begin to unravel the true story 131 00:07:11,428 --> 00:07:14,373 of the rise of the Inca Empire. 132 00:07:14,374 --> 00:07:16,264 If you contrast the historical information 133 00:07:16,265 --> 00:07:19,718 to the archaeological information, we get a very different picture. 134 00:07:19,719 --> 00:07:22,991 Studies of the emergence of the Incas as a power 135 00:07:22,992 --> 00:07:25,318 over neighbouring societies surrounding Cuzco 136 00:07:25,319 --> 00:07:27,646 show that they were probably a pretty potent society, 137 00:07:27,647 --> 00:07:31,682 perhaps even a state, as early as almost 100 years before 138 00:07:31,683 --> 00:07:34,229 their emergence as a ruling empire. 139 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,955 This means the origins of the Inca date back much further 140 00:07:40,956 --> 00:07:43,064 than we originally thought. 141 00:07:43,065 --> 00:07:46,228 I think it also means that when they started to build their empire, 142 00:07:46,229 --> 00:07:49,538 the Inca built upon the achievements of people who went before. 143 00:08:00,375 --> 00:08:02,083 A few hours' drive south of Cuzco, 144 00:08:02,084 --> 00:08:04,848 there are the remains of a long-forgotten settlement... 145 00:08:10,048 --> 00:08:11,901 ...remnants of buildings and streets 146 00:08:11,902 --> 00:08:14,521 which stretch over nearly two square kilometres. 147 00:08:16,375 --> 00:08:18,665 But these ruins aren't Inca. 148 00:08:18,666 --> 00:08:21,574 They were built by a people who rose and fell 149 00:08:21,575 --> 00:08:23,903 long before the Inca dominated this region. 150 00:08:27,139 --> 00:08:29,502 These people were called the Wari 151 00:08:29,503 --> 00:08:31,975 and this place was known as Pikillacta 152 00:08:31,976 --> 00:08:34,266 and I believe the Inca learnt a great deal 153 00:08:34,267 --> 00:08:35,939 from what the Wari built here. 154 00:08:38,194 --> 00:08:40,593 Throughout this part of South America, 155 00:08:40,594 --> 00:08:44,230 you can find the remains of cultures stretching back thousands of years. 156 00:08:44,231 --> 00:08:47,393 These past societies had their own world views, belief systems 157 00:08:47,394 --> 00:08:49,212 and ways of living their lives. 158 00:08:49,213 --> 00:08:51,721 And it's understanding the inter-relationships between them 159 00:08:51,722 --> 00:08:52,993 that is important. 160 00:08:52,994 --> 00:08:56,084 No society suddenly appears independently on its own. 161 00:08:56,085 --> 00:08:58,194 But some societies can be so successful 162 00:08:58,195 --> 00:09:00,775 that their influence spreads far and wide. 163 00:09:00,776 --> 00:09:02,631 That was the case with the Wari. 164 00:09:06,595 --> 00:09:09,758 The Wari were the first to unite multiple areas, 165 00:09:09,759 --> 00:09:13,577 from north to south, covering most of modern-day Peru. 166 00:09:15,431 --> 00:09:17,430 Pikillacta was one of the Wari Empire's 167 00:09:17,431 --> 00:09:20,376 most impressive settlements. 168 00:09:20,377 --> 00:09:23,685 It's been estimated that, cumulatively, it would have taken 169 00:09:23,686 --> 00:09:26,523 six million days of back-breaking labour to build it. 170 00:09:28,777 --> 00:09:30,413 This is a vast and beautiful site 171 00:09:30,414 --> 00:09:32,485 and a really important one for the Wari. 172 00:09:32,486 --> 00:09:34,158 But it's when you walk around 173 00:09:34,159 --> 00:09:36,158 that you get a sense of experience of the place, 174 00:09:36,159 --> 00:09:38,377 because they had these incredibly long corridors 175 00:09:38,378 --> 00:09:40,522 with these dominating high walls. 176 00:09:40,523 --> 00:09:42,740 It must have been quite a disorienting experience. 177 00:09:42,741 --> 00:09:45,795 Perhaps led through one of these doorways, 178 00:09:45,796 --> 00:09:49,613 you enter out into these open spaces or patios 179 00:09:49,614 --> 00:09:52,669 that would have covered in white paint and perhaps murals. 180 00:09:56,487 --> 00:09:58,486 Pikillacta dominated this region 181 00:09:58,487 --> 00:10:00,850 towards the end of the first millennium. 182 00:10:00,851 --> 00:10:04,305 And walking through these ruins today, it seems to me the Wari 183 00:10:04,306 --> 00:10:07,397 laid the foundations of how to build an empire in the Andes. 184 00:10:16,779 --> 00:10:21,360 Many of the ideas of so-called Inca statecraft which we think of 185 00:10:21,361 --> 00:10:25,069 actually had their roots in the Wari. 186 00:10:25,070 --> 00:10:27,142 Not least the road system. 187 00:10:27,143 --> 00:10:29,905 You can't create a road system in the time period 188 00:10:29,906 --> 00:10:32,269 that the Incas were around in. 189 00:10:32,270 --> 00:10:36,378 There was a great expansion of people and ideas at a time 190 00:10:36,379 --> 00:10:40,124 far deeper than the Inca Empire. 191 00:10:40,125 --> 00:10:43,433 Critical to the success of the Wari 192 00:10:43,434 --> 00:10:46,160 was their understanding of this brutal environment 193 00:10:46,161 --> 00:10:48,707 and the innovations they developed to overcome it. 194 00:10:50,052 --> 00:10:52,560 The Wari were masters of landscape transformation. 195 00:10:52,561 --> 00:10:55,397 Canals that brought the water down from the mountain peaks, 196 00:10:55,398 --> 00:10:56,779 where the rains fall, 197 00:10:56,780 --> 00:11:00,015 into the rich agricultural regions where they terraced the landscape 198 00:11:00,016 --> 00:11:04,379 in order to turn the mountainsides into productive agricultural lands. 199 00:11:04,380 --> 00:11:07,761 The ingenious solutions we see at work at Pikillacta are, 200 00:11:07,762 --> 00:11:10,525 I believe, crucial in helping us to understand 201 00:11:10,526 --> 00:11:12,561 not only the success of the Wari, 202 00:11:12,562 --> 00:11:14,707 but also the Inca who came after them. 203 00:11:17,144 --> 00:11:21,688 This aqueduct is part of a 48km-long network of canal systems 204 00:11:21,689 --> 00:11:25,361 taking water from the high mountains right into the heart of the site 205 00:11:25,362 --> 00:11:29,361 of Pikillacta and down to the agricultural terraces below. 206 00:11:29,362 --> 00:11:32,489 This region receives barely enough water 207 00:11:32,490 --> 00:11:35,362 to support large-scale agriculture or settlement. 208 00:11:35,363 --> 00:11:39,071 And in times of drought, this land can become an incredibly difficult 209 00:11:39,072 --> 00:11:40,599 place for humans to thrive. 210 00:11:44,236 --> 00:11:47,944 90% of the rainfall in the Andes falls on the jungle regions. 211 00:11:47,945 --> 00:11:50,271 Only 10% makes it to the western coasts. 212 00:11:50,272 --> 00:11:53,871 Only through increased efficiency in agricultural technologies 213 00:11:53,872 --> 00:11:57,471 and production can humans respond effectively to drought. 214 00:11:57,472 --> 00:11:59,580 That's what the Wari introduced. 215 00:11:59,581 --> 00:12:01,253 The lesson of the Wari is that 216 00:12:01,254 --> 00:12:04,453 before you can build an empire in this part of the world, 217 00:12:04,454 --> 00:12:07,799 you first need to master the landscape itself. 218 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,926 The Wari agrarian technology was a drought adaptive technology. 219 00:12:10,927 --> 00:12:12,963 It was much more efficient in the use of water 220 00:12:12,964 --> 00:12:16,345 than previous systems had been and that gave the Wari an adaptive edge 221 00:12:16,346 --> 00:12:19,545 in bringing their new system to these local groups 222 00:12:19,546 --> 00:12:21,437 that were living in that region at the time. 223 00:12:24,382 --> 00:12:25,508 Interestingly, 224 00:12:25,509 --> 00:12:29,690 the challenges faced by the Wari still affect people here today. 225 00:12:29,691 --> 00:12:33,581 1,000 years later, Peru's climate remains one of the most extreme 226 00:12:33,582 --> 00:12:35,364 and vulnerable in the world. 227 00:12:43,328 --> 00:12:45,473 Most of the rainfall that falls on the Andes 228 00:12:45,474 --> 00:12:47,145 comes from South Atlantic sources, 229 00:12:47,146 --> 00:12:49,764 coming in as part of the monsoonal system across the Amazon 230 00:12:49,765 --> 00:12:51,218 and brought up into the Andes. 231 00:12:51,219 --> 00:12:55,509 Whereas the western side of the Andes and the coast is a desert, 232 00:12:55,510 --> 00:12:59,729 effectively, because the winds that come across the Pacific are dry. 233 00:13:01,474 --> 00:13:04,929 Most of the population of Peru today live on that desert strip. 234 00:13:13,038 --> 00:13:16,383 I've come to the village of Maras, high in the Andes, 235 00:13:16,384 --> 00:13:19,146 where a dry spell has made life tough for local farmers 236 00:13:19,147 --> 00:13:21,001 like Felicitas Torres. 237 00:13:21,002 --> 00:13:24,093 THEY SPEAK SPANISH 238 00:13:58,894 --> 00:14:01,729 Authorities in Maras have responded to the dry spell 239 00:14:01,730 --> 00:14:05,402 by bussing in containers of fresh water from Cuzco. 240 00:14:05,403 --> 00:14:09,549 It has helped, but it's in no way a sustainable solution. 241 00:14:51,222 --> 00:14:55,949 What's happening in Maras today also happened here many centuries ago. 242 00:14:55,950 --> 00:14:57,658 But the Wari did not have the option 243 00:14:57,659 --> 00:15:00,314 to bus in tanks of water to sustain them. 244 00:15:01,768 --> 00:15:04,349 At the end of the first millennium, we know that conditions 245 00:15:04,350 --> 00:15:07,804 were both dry and really quite cold up in the mountains. 246 00:15:07,805 --> 00:15:10,022 And that's the time when the Wari disappeared 247 00:15:10,023 --> 00:15:11,769 from the archaeological record. 248 00:15:14,423 --> 00:15:17,259 The Wari understood their environment, 249 00:15:17,260 --> 00:15:20,569 but a prolonged drought may have proved too much, even for them. 250 00:15:21,842 --> 00:15:25,695 Climate change could have been one of the factors 251 00:15:25,696 --> 00:15:28,823 which put a lot of pressure on the Wari. 252 00:15:28,824 --> 00:15:32,968 Now, the societies knew how to deal with short-term climate change. 253 00:15:32,969 --> 00:15:35,005 They had in place a lot of strategies 254 00:15:35,006 --> 00:15:36,495 that enabled them to cope. 255 00:15:36,496 --> 00:15:39,987 But climate at those altitudes is one of the real pressure points. 256 00:15:43,697 --> 00:15:47,950 However ingenious the Wari solutions were to the challenges they faced, 257 00:15:47,951 --> 00:15:49,406 their power waned. 258 00:15:51,115 --> 00:15:54,169 But there can be little doubt that the Inca built on the knowledge 259 00:15:54,170 --> 00:15:56,932 of what the Wari left behind. 260 00:15:56,933 --> 00:15:59,696 We have people continuing to live in the Cuzco region, 261 00:15:59,697 --> 00:16:02,569 continuing the oral traditions and the historical traditions 262 00:16:02,570 --> 00:16:04,205 of the Wari within the Cuzco region 263 00:16:04,206 --> 00:16:06,133 that the Inca could have picked up upon. 264 00:16:06,134 --> 00:16:10,278 The Inca also had the benefit of the monuments that the Wari had built, 265 00:16:10,279 --> 00:16:11,988 and right in their back yard. 266 00:16:13,007 --> 00:16:15,951 The Wari created a large and powerful state. 267 00:16:15,952 --> 00:16:18,497 They were able to harness the harsh environments 268 00:16:18,498 --> 00:16:21,842 using ingenious large-scale construction projects like this, 269 00:16:21,843 --> 00:16:24,206 technologies often associated with the Inca. 270 00:16:24,207 --> 00:16:27,079 But the reason I like this one is that you can see the original 271 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,679 Wari construction behind, re-used and restored by the Inca 272 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:32,752 with this lovely stonework at the front. 273 00:16:32,753 --> 00:16:36,461 The Inca are using Wari technology, but the crucial difference is, 274 00:16:36,462 --> 00:16:38,207 they're also up-scaling it. 275 00:16:42,426 --> 00:16:45,297 To see exactly how they did this, I'm heading north, 276 00:16:45,298 --> 00:16:46,862 into the heart of the Cuzco Valley. 277 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,243 This mountainous land is not naturally suited 278 00:16:52,244 --> 00:16:54,499 to large-scale agricultural production. 279 00:16:55,990 --> 00:16:59,408 The challenges presented by the harsh climate are considerable. 280 00:17:00,571 --> 00:17:05,516 But here, the Incas' remarkable ability to problem solve revolutionised agriculture 281 00:17:05,517 --> 00:17:08,354 and played a key role in the expansion of their empire. 282 00:17:17,736 --> 00:17:19,080 This is Moray. 283 00:17:19,081 --> 00:17:22,207 It lies 3,500 metres above sea level 284 00:17:22,208 --> 00:17:25,118 and is one of the most remarkable human landscapes on earth. 285 00:17:26,281 --> 00:17:29,989 Moray consists of three huge limestone depressions, 286 00:17:29,990 --> 00:17:32,862 into which terraces have been carved. 287 00:17:32,863 --> 00:17:35,990 This is the place where Inca skills in engineering 288 00:17:35,991 --> 00:17:38,317 and agriculture combined perfectly. 289 00:17:38,318 --> 00:17:41,735 It's a place which synthesises beauty and technology 290 00:17:41,736 --> 00:17:45,445 and transformed the lives of the Inca and those they would soon rule. 291 00:17:49,118 --> 00:17:51,736 These terraces can be up to three metres in height 292 00:17:51,737 --> 00:17:54,281 and they have this thick retaining wall 293 00:17:54,282 --> 00:17:57,081 which is angled back to hold back the soil behind. 294 00:17:57,082 --> 00:17:59,408 And what's behind is actually really clever. 295 00:17:59,409 --> 00:18:02,536 At the bottom, you have a series of broken stones for drainage. 296 00:18:02,537 --> 00:18:05,627 Above that, a layer of coarse soil, which acts as a bedding, 297 00:18:05,628 --> 00:18:08,791 and then a metre of topsoil, which they continually turn over 298 00:18:08,792 --> 00:18:10,427 to aerate the soil. 299 00:18:10,428 --> 00:18:13,591 And these stone walls absorb the heat of the sun during the day 300 00:18:13,592 --> 00:18:17,374 and that radiates through at night, protecting the crops against frost. 301 00:18:20,610 --> 00:18:23,773 The ingenuity of the terraces lies not just in their ability 302 00:18:23,774 --> 00:18:27,991 to increase the amount of land the Inca could cultivate. 303 00:18:27,992 --> 00:18:30,355 They were a mechanism for manipulating the environment, 304 00:18:30,356 --> 00:18:33,119 altering the ambient temperature of the whole site... 305 00:18:35,374 --> 00:18:38,756 ...and making the production of crops at high altitude possible. 306 00:18:41,265 --> 00:18:43,628 Today, the temperature at the top of the terraces 307 00:18:43,629 --> 00:18:45,483 is 16 degrees centigrade. 308 00:18:46,538 --> 00:18:49,446 Down here at the bottom, you have this crucible effect 309 00:18:49,447 --> 00:18:52,028 where the temperature is much warmer, there's no airflow, 310 00:18:52,029 --> 00:18:55,228 and these stone terraces circle round, radiating the heat. 311 00:18:55,229 --> 00:18:57,447 Here, you can see it's over 22 degrees now. 312 00:19:00,284 --> 00:19:03,519 The difference in temperature from the top of this site to the bottom 313 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,283 means that each terrace at Moray represents a different 314 00:19:06,284 --> 00:19:09,230 ecological zone as you move up the side of the Andes. 315 00:19:11,484 --> 00:19:13,848 The implications of this are profound. 316 00:19:14,793 --> 00:19:17,229 It means this was a place where Inca engineers 317 00:19:17,230 --> 00:19:20,429 created their own micro-climates, allowing them to experiment 318 00:19:20,430 --> 00:19:23,338 in cultivating a variety of different crops 319 00:19:23,339 --> 00:19:26,394 which would not normally have been grown at these altitudes. 320 00:19:29,703 --> 00:19:32,466 Tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins, types of tobacco. 321 00:19:32,467 --> 00:19:34,684 That's not so beneficial, perhaps, 322 00:19:34,685 --> 00:19:38,211 but it underlines the point that, although we marvel at 323 00:19:38,212 --> 00:19:41,120 the Zen aesthetic of Machu Picchu and so forth, 324 00:19:41,121 --> 00:19:43,593 really what's much more important, in my view, 325 00:19:43,594 --> 00:19:45,667 is the legacy of their agriculture. 326 00:19:51,158 --> 00:19:54,866 The Incas were essentially reconfiguring the biotic landscape 327 00:19:54,867 --> 00:19:57,884 by changing the terrain, changing the heat 328 00:19:57,885 --> 00:20:00,866 and water retention capacities through their terracing systems, 329 00:20:00,867 --> 00:20:04,648 which developed a series of warm weather estates 330 00:20:04,649 --> 00:20:06,757 in a cold weather climate. 331 00:20:06,758 --> 00:20:09,012 These terraces show how the Inca understood 332 00:20:09,013 --> 00:20:11,303 the advantages of this vertical landscape. 333 00:20:11,304 --> 00:20:13,121 In effect, they farmed upwards. 334 00:20:13,122 --> 00:20:15,703 They managed to turn the harsh contours of the land 335 00:20:15,704 --> 00:20:17,194 to their advantage. 336 00:20:17,195 --> 00:20:19,594 And by growing different crops at different elevations, 337 00:20:19,595 --> 00:20:22,249 it gave them a huge diversity in the crops that they grew. 338 00:20:22,250 --> 00:20:24,140 This had two key advantages. 339 00:20:24,141 --> 00:20:26,794 One, they had a healthier and more diverse diet. 340 00:20:26,795 --> 00:20:30,213 And two, it helped mitigate against the impact in the past 341 00:20:30,214 --> 00:20:32,213 that had created hunger and unrest... 342 00:20:32,214 --> 00:20:35,232 droughts and floods, pests and frost. 343 00:20:37,632 --> 00:20:42,104 This is what I mean when I say the Inca scaled up Wari technology. 344 00:20:42,105 --> 00:20:46,068 Inca agriculture wasn't just about feeding a family, or even a city. 345 00:20:46,069 --> 00:20:48,686 It was about scientifically managing production, 346 00:20:48,687 --> 00:20:50,469 so they could feed an empire. 347 00:20:52,032 --> 00:20:53,922 By creating this food surplus, 348 00:20:53,923 --> 00:20:56,213 it provided time to devote to other things, 349 00:20:56,214 --> 00:20:58,613 like expansion beyond their borders. 350 00:20:58,614 --> 00:21:02,250 It was also a great calling card as they approached other cultures, 351 00:21:02,251 --> 00:21:05,741 because Moray shows that the Inca were problem-solvers 352 00:21:05,742 --> 00:21:10,432 and able to create these very efficient and effective managed landscapes. 353 00:21:10,433 --> 00:21:14,287 And in a region where climate was unpredictable and catastrophic, 354 00:21:14,288 --> 00:21:17,159 where people could often face starvation and hunger, 355 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,087 the ability to provide a reliable, regular and good quality amount 356 00:21:21,088 --> 00:21:23,851 of food was a source of supreme power for the Inca. 357 00:21:25,779 --> 00:21:27,851 But that's only part of the story. 358 00:21:27,852 --> 00:21:31,523 For the Inca state to flourish, they needed not only to grow enough food, 359 00:21:31,524 --> 00:21:34,723 but also to distribute it quickly and efficiently, 360 00:21:34,724 --> 00:21:36,469 which could be a serious problem 361 00:21:36,470 --> 00:21:39,088 when you live in such a challenging landscape as this. 362 00:21:43,307 --> 00:21:45,378 But a few miles north of Moray 363 00:21:45,379 --> 00:21:47,998 is a place which I think might hold the answer. 364 00:21:58,325 --> 00:22:01,815 This is an amazing spot. Below me is the town of Ollantaytambo. 365 00:22:01,816 --> 00:22:04,361 And above it, clinging to the side of the cliff, 366 00:22:04,362 --> 00:22:06,761 is a series of tall buildings. 367 00:22:06,762 --> 00:22:09,743 At first glance, they may not seem like the most impressive thing, 368 00:22:09,744 --> 00:22:12,361 but these structures are critical to the foundations 369 00:22:12,362 --> 00:22:13,671 of the entire Inca Empire. 370 00:22:17,017 --> 00:22:19,452 These are qollqas, storehouses, 371 00:22:19,453 --> 00:22:23,052 and they are iconic buildings found all over the Inca empire. 372 00:22:23,053 --> 00:22:25,489 Sometimes they are by the side of roads, 373 00:22:25,490 --> 00:22:27,670 sometimes near centres of population, 374 00:22:27,671 --> 00:22:29,308 like here, at Ollantaytambo. 375 00:22:31,453 --> 00:22:33,961 These weren't just barns for storing food. 376 00:22:33,962 --> 00:22:36,616 They were sophisticated silos that were critical 377 00:22:36,617 --> 00:22:39,889 to the well-being of the people and the maintenance of power. 378 00:22:39,890 --> 00:22:43,016 In here would be stored everything from maize to potatoes, 379 00:22:43,017 --> 00:22:45,744 textiles to weapons, and vast numbers of seeds 380 00:22:45,745 --> 00:22:48,544 that could be used for next year's planting. 381 00:22:48,545 --> 00:22:52,144 They were often located in strategic places, well ventilated 382 00:22:52,145 --> 00:22:53,599 and not prone to flooding. 383 00:23:00,472 --> 00:23:03,744 The combined storage space of this network would have run 384 00:23:03,745 --> 00:23:07,053 to hundreds of thousands of cubic metres. 385 00:23:07,054 --> 00:23:09,999 That means that people across the Empire could be supplied 386 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,418 with everything they needed, whenever circumstances demanded. 387 00:23:15,782 --> 00:23:18,508 One of the ways that we can understand the scale and order 388 00:23:18,509 --> 00:23:20,363 of the Inca warehousing system 389 00:23:20,364 --> 00:23:23,526 is by looking at the experience of the Spaniards who came in 390 00:23:23,527 --> 00:23:26,145 in 1548 into the upper Mantaro Valley 391 00:23:26,146 --> 00:23:27,672 in the central highlands of Peru. 392 00:23:27,673 --> 00:23:30,836 There were 2,000 of them and they stayed there for multiple weeks 393 00:23:30,837 --> 00:23:33,163 and they said, at the end of that period, 394 00:23:33,164 --> 00:23:36,254 they couldn't recognise that they'd made a dent in the warehouses 395 00:23:36,255 --> 00:23:38,654 and in the contents of the facilities. 396 00:23:38,655 --> 00:23:42,218 These storehouses tell me that the Inca understood the need 397 00:23:42,219 --> 00:23:45,674 to provide food security for the people they ruled. 398 00:23:47,455 --> 00:23:49,782 It's actually quite a modern idea. 399 00:23:49,783 --> 00:23:52,618 In the UK, during the fuel protests of 2000, 400 00:23:52,619 --> 00:23:55,782 supermarket bosses told the government they only had enough fuel 401 00:23:55,783 --> 00:23:58,655 to distribute food to the people for another three days. 402 00:23:58,656 --> 00:24:01,418 After that, they'd start to go hungry. 403 00:24:01,419 --> 00:24:04,146 This focuses the mind on food security, 404 00:24:04,147 --> 00:24:07,055 because it's not just about growing food, it's about its storage 405 00:24:07,056 --> 00:24:09,600 and distribution that is perhaps the most important. 406 00:24:09,601 --> 00:24:11,273 And the Inca understood this. 407 00:24:11,274 --> 00:24:14,546 That's why they created this vast system of storage facilities 408 00:24:14,547 --> 00:24:18,146 and a distribution network that got the food to the people. 409 00:24:18,147 --> 00:24:20,401 And this was important during times of drought 410 00:24:20,402 --> 00:24:22,075 and environmental disaster. 411 00:24:26,875 --> 00:24:29,965 The Inca storehouses, in times of scarcity and in times of drought, 412 00:24:29,966 --> 00:24:33,601 could be used to feed the populaces, to feed the masses, 413 00:24:33,602 --> 00:24:36,801 in order to save them from certain death and destruction. 414 00:24:36,802 --> 00:24:40,838 To the people who did the farming, they were a source of security. 415 00:24:40,839 --> 00:24:43,238 An insurance, if you will, against the bad years, 416 00:24:43,239 --> 00:24:46,620 knowing that the Inca state would be able to provide for them. 417 00:24:46,621 --> 00:24:49,602 But I suspect these storehouses served more than a practical, 418 00:24:49,603 --> 00:24:51,456 administrative function. 419 00:24:51,457 --> 00:24:55,456 The storehouses provided a highly visible symbol of the Inca state 420 00:24:55,457 --> 00:24:59,857 to its people, demonstrating both its reach and its benevolence. 421 00:25:01,457 --> 00:25:05,020 There was a basic level of understanding that the Inca 422 00:25:05,021 --> 00:25:07,711 would care for the poorest members of its society. 423 00:25:07,712 --> 00:25:10,366 It was a basic social contract, if you will. 424 00:25:10,367 --> 00:25:13,566 These storehouses were an important logistical element 425 00:25:13,567 --> 00:25:14,985 of a growing empire. 426 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:19,712 But they also hint at the developing nature of Inca power itself. 427 00:25:21,567 --> 00:25:23,966 You get the sense of a different type of empire 428 00:25:23,967 --> 00:25:25,675 when you come to a place like this. 429 00:25:25,676 --> 00:25:29,057 You see how much effort they went to, to provide for people's needs. 430 00:25:29,058 --> 00:25:31,021 It's almost an attractive type of empire 431 00:25:31,022 --> 00:25:33,021 that people would want to become part of. 432 00:25:33,022 --> 00:25:35,385 Why wouldn't you want to join an empire that provided for you 433 00:25:35,386 --> 00:25:37,713 in times of need, good times and bad? 434 00:25:39,531 --> 00:25:42,148 The creation of these storehouses tells us a lot 435 00:25:42,149 --> 00:25:45,312 about the great Inca ability to organise and plan 436 00:25:45,313 --> 00:25:47,712 the use of their resources 437 00:25:47,713 --> 00:25:50,185 They embody an empire which could offer solutions 438 00:25:50,186 --> 00:25:51,821 to the people of the Andes. 439 00:25:51,822 --> 00:25:54,876 But in order to truly understand the nature of Inca power, 440 00:25:54,877 --> 00:25:57,203 I think we also have to look at how they approach 441 00:25:57,204 --> 00:25:59,203 these people in the first place. 442 00:25:59,204 --> 00:26:01,604 How, in effect, they pitched their empire 443 00:26:01,605 --> 00:26:03,168 to the people they would rule. 444 00:26:05,896 --> 00:26:07,276 To find out how they did it, 445 00:26:07,277 --> 00:26:09,750 I'm taking the road west, towards the ocean. 446 00:26:18,514 --> 00:26:22,296 This is the Temple of Pachacamac, on the Pacific Coast of Peru. 447 00:26:24,769 --> 00:26:26,586 And you can see the distinctive method 448 00:26:26,587 --> 00:26:28,369 of Inca empire building at work here. 449 00:26:29,896 --> 00:26:31,932 For thousands of years before the Inca, 450 00:26:31,933 --> 00:26:34,914 this was one of the most important and powerful religious sites 451 00:26:34,915 --> 00:26:36,187 in South America. 452 00:26:42,878 --> 00:26:45,787 Pachacamac's followers came from as far away as Ecuador 453 00:26:45,788 --> 00:26:48,260 and Bolivia to consult the oracle housed here. 454 00:26:49,933 --> 00:26:53,606 This massive complex was nothing less than an American Mecca. 455 00:26:56,188 --> 00:26:59,132 Which perhaps makes Incan attitudes towards Pachacamac 456 00:26:59,133 --> 00:27:00,879 even more surprising. 457 00:27:05,243 --> 00:27:07,569 They didn't destroy this religious centre, 458 00:27:07,570 --> 00:27:10,333 stamp out its idolatry or even forbid people from worshipping 459 00:27:10,334 --> 00:27:12,042 the oracle here at Pachacamac. 460 00:27:12,043 --> 00:27:14,006 Exactly the opposite, in fact. 461 00:27:14,007 --> 00:27:16,297 They incorporated the oracle of Pachacamac 462 00:27:16,298 --> 00:27:18,515 within their own pantheon of deities, 463 00:27:18,516 --> 00:27:20,661 even building a shrine to it in Cuzco. 464 00:27:23,789 --> 00:27:27,097 This willingness to tolerate and absorb other religions 465 00:27:27,098 --> 00:27:29,606 tells us a great deal about Inca power. 466 00:27:29,607 --> 00:27:32,661 It tells me that, as they expanded into new territory, 467 00:27:32,662 --> 00:27:34,480 they wanted to avoid conflict. 468 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,715 The Incas were very effective at expanding out of their homeland 469 00:27:39,716 --> 00:27:41,934 because they practised economy of force. 470 00:27:41,935 --> 00:27:44,406 That is, they didn't conduct military operations 471 00:27:44,407 --> 00:27:45,934 except as a last resort. 472 00:27:45,935 --> 00:27:48,879 They tried diplomacy, they tried bribery, they tried all sorts 473 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,879 of accommodations to bring people into their empire. 474 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,207 Fighting was inefficient. 475 00:27:55,208 --> 00:27:57,243 It meant the loss of their own men 476 00:27:57,244 --> 00:27:59,934 and of the people whose labour they could use. 477 00:27:59,935 --> 00:28:03,244 But the threat of force needed to be visible and real. 478 00:28:04,553 --> 00:28:08,334 It is a carrot and stick approach, if you like, 479 00:28:08,335 --> 00:28:11,316 of the threat of military violence, but equally, 480 00:28:11,317 --> 00:28:15,389 the promise of gaining through the authority of the Inca 481 00:28:15,390 --> 00:28:17,426 and their access to resources. 482 00:28:19,281 --> 00:28:23,280 The Inca would often arrive in a new province with a massive army, 483 00:28:23,281 --> 00:28:25,862 putting on an overwhelming display of force. 484 00:28:25,863 --> 00:28:28,153 Emissaries would be sent to local rulers, 485 00:28:28,154 --> 00:28:30,953 bearing expensive gifts of jewellery and livestock. 486 00:28:30,954 --> 00:28:33,280 These same emissaries would explain the benefits 487 00:28:33,281 --> 00:28:35,281 of joining the Inca Empire. 488 00:28:35,282 --> 00:28:38,262 If the answer was no, the Incas spared no prisoners. 489 00:28:38,263 --> 00:28:40,954 Losing generals could expect to be flayed alive. 490 00:28:42,445 --> 00:28:44,044 But if the answer was yes, 491 00:28:44,045 --> 00:28:47,026 then the people would be showered with gifts of food and drink. 492 00:28:47,027 --> 00:28:50,335 Their lords would be instructed in Quechua, the Inca language, 493 00:28:50,336 --> 00:28:52,699 and their children would be taken to Cuzco 494 00:28:52,700 --> 00:28:54,446 to learn the ways of the Empire. 495 00:28:55,682 --> 00:28:56,881 Above all, 496 00:28:56,882 --> 00:28:59,442 they would be allowed to continue to practise their own religion. 497 00:29:01,173 --> 00:29:03,609 Pachacamac is an excellent example of how the Inca 498 00:29:03,610 --> 00:29:06,263 co-opted a powerful religious shrine and incorporated it 499 00:29:06,264 --> 00:29:08,191 into the Inca imperial period. 500 00:29:08,192 --> 00:29:12,263 They probably persuaded the priests of Pachacamac to participate, 501 00:29:12,264 --> 00:29:13,718 those that would be willing. 502 00:29:13,719 --> 00:29:16,154 But they also transformed, then, Pachacamac 503 00:29:16,155 --> 00:29:18,845 from its focus as a local shrine into an Inca one. 504 00:29:18,846 --> 00:29:21,500 And that kind of melding and that kind of blending, if you will, 505 00:29:21,501 --> 00:29:24,518 of Inca ideology with local ideology was a really good example 506 00:29:24,519 --> 00:29:27,282 of the way that Inca imperialism worked. 507 00:29:27,283 --> 00:29:29,791 The tolerance demonstrated here at Pachacamac 508 00:29:29,792 --> 00:29:31,609 happened all over the Inca realm. 509 00:29:31,610 --> 00:29:34,155 And I think it goes to the heart of explaining 510 00:29:34,156 --> 00:29:36,265 how the Inca built such a large empire. 511 00:29:38,811 --> 00:29:41,355 If you submit to the rule of the Inca Empire, 512 00:29:41,356 --> 00:29:43,646 then you will be allowed to keep most of your lands, 513 00:29:43,647 --> 00:29:45,828 you'll be able to keep your social order. 514 00:29:45,829 --> 00:29:48,846 All you will have to do is to pay certain taxes to the Incas 515 00:29:48,847 --> 00:29:51,610 and we will allow you to continue to live essentially 516 00:29:51,611 --> 00:29:53,101 as you had done previously. 517 00:29:53,102 --> 00:29:55,283 It appears that many peoples in the Andes decided 518 00:29:55,284 --> 00:29:57,792 that was probably the best bet. 519 00:29:57,793 --> 00:30:00,337 There's a great intelligence about Inca power. 520 00:30:00,338 --> 00:30:02,919 Why destroy a kingdom when that will mean a heavy cost 521 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,247 to you in terms of lives lost? 522 00:30:05,248 --> 00:30:09,356 Why persecute its rulers when they could help you run your empire? 523 00:30:09,357 --> 00:30:12,774 Ultimately, the Inca understood the more tightly you bound people 524 00:30:12,775 --> 00:30:15,539 to you, the more control over them you would have. 525 00:30:17,793 --> 00:30:20,956 In order to develop a larger-scale society, 526 00:30:20,957 --> 00:30:22,883 they needed to cooperate. 527 00:30:22,884 --> 00:30:25,320 And that's one of the great Inca achievements, 528 00:30:25,321 --> 00:30:26,884 is that level of cooperation. 529 00:30:26,885 --> 00:30:30,084 Now, it wasn't all love and peace, I think, but nonetheless, 530 00:30:30,085 --> 00:30:33,029 it wasn't aggression that developed into the defence of sites 531 00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:34,811 and all-out warfare. 532 00:30:34,812 --> 00:30:38,520 And I think that allowed them to expand, as they created more and 533 00:30:38,521 --> 00:30:41,285 more alliances and they could draw people together. 534 00:30:44,194 --> 00:30:48,921 In doing so, they are creating an integration 535 00:30:48,922 --> 00:30:51,213 that is different to what has gone before. 536 00:31:02,267 --> 00:31:06,521 By the late 1400s, the Inca Empire was approaching its zenith. 537 00:31:06,522 --> 00:31:10,558 The Inca were no longer one among many societies in the Andes, 538 00:31:10,559 --> 00:31:13,867 they were the dominant, highly organised culture whose influence 539 00:31:13,868 --> 00:31:16,776 stretched well beyond their Cuzco stronghold. 540 00:31:16,777 --> 00:31:22,231 But in economic terms, how did such a sprawling empire work? 541 00:31:22,232 --> 00:31:25,467 To find out, I'm heading to the remote island of Taquile, 542 00:31:25,468 --> 00:31:28,377 4,000 metres above sea level on Lake Titicaca. 543 00:31:39,832 --> 00:31:42,886 The people on Taquile live by an old code, 544 00:31:42,887 --> 00:31:45,395 which they say dates back to the Inca, 545 00:31:45,396 --> 00:31:48,377 "Ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla." 546 00:31:48,378 --> 00:31:51,105 "Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy." 547 00:31:52,814 --> 00:31:55,431 These lands were among the first the Inca conquered 548 00:31:55,432 --> 00:31:58,704 as they moved out of the Cuzco Valley. 549 00:31:58,705 --> 00:32:01,504 It's a region of vast llama and alpaca herds, 550 00:32:01,505 --> 00:32:04,523 which were a bountiful source of food, clothing and transport 551 00:32:04,524 --> 00:32:05,760 for the Inca. 552 00:32:08,815 --> 00:32:11,286 And the Incan way of life is still very much in evidence 553 00:32:11,287 --> 00:32:13,068 here on Taquile. 554 00:32:13,069 --> 00:32:16,378 An attitude of collective endeavour and mutual support. 555 00:32:19,869 --> 00:32:20,996 Ola. 556 00:32:20,997 --> 00:32:24,197 'Alejandro Flores Huatta is a community leader.' 557 00:32:52,343 --> 00:32:55,251 Alejandro's way of life may seem anachronistic, 558 00:32:55,252 --> 00:32:58,779 but at the time of the Inca, this was the norm. 559 00:32:58,780 --> 00:33:01,470 Communities were expected to give a proportion 560 00:33:01,471 --> 00:33:04,197 of their agricultural production, crafts and labour 561 00:33:04,198 --> 00:33:05,906 for the benefit of the state, 562 00:33:05,907 --> 00:33:08,924 weaving cloth for the court or working on a building project, 563 00:33:08,925 --> 00:33:11,144 just as they still do on Taquile today. 564 00:33:51,290 --> 00:33:53,471 One of the clearest examples of a difference between 565 00:33:53,472 --> 00:33:56,489 the Inca way of life and the modern one is in the economy. 566 00:33:56,490 --> 00:33:58,489 Because the Inca didn't use money, 567 00:33:58,490 --> 00:34:02,053 they didn't have an arbitrary system against which value was set. 568 00:34:02,054 --> 00:34:04,562 Instead, everything was done through exchange. 569 00:34:04,563 --> 00:34:08,126 So things like agricultural produce and craftsmanship, 570 00:34:08,127 --> 00:34:10,345 even hours of labour, could be exchanged. 571 00:34:12,273 --> 00:34:15,726 The Inca managed to persuade large numbers of people 572 00:34:15,727 --> 00:34:19,399 that they should contribute their labour to projects 573 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,872 such as construction, such as agricultural work, 574 00:34:21,873 --> 00:34:23,654 such as the road system. 575 00:34:23,655 --> 00:34:28,599 And they managed to do that through a reciprocal relationship, 576 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,254 one where you didn't doubt that the Inca were in control, 577 00:34:33,255 --> 00:34:37,545 but that you believed that you were getting also something out of it. 578 00:34:37,546 --> 00:34:40,854 It strikes me that, in stark contrast to many civilisations 579 00:34:40,855 --> 00:34:45,328 that had gone before them, the Inca wielded a very subtle form of power. 580 00:34:48,274 --> 00:34:51,764 They offered solutions to the harsh realities of life in the Andes 581 00:34:51,765 --> 00:34:55,109 and, in turn, asked the peoples they governed to have faith 582 00:34:55,110 --> 00:34:56,892 in the benefits of Inca rule. 583 00:35:01,510 --> 00:35:05,109 It some ways, it was quite a benevolent empire. 584 00:35:05,110 --> 00:35:09,074 Yet there was never any question about who was ultimately in charge. 585 00:35:15,002 --> 00:35:17,946 How the Inca managed to integrate so many different peoples 586 00:35:17,947 --> 00:35:21,292 into their empire whilst maintaining their dominant position 587 00:35:21,293 --> 00:35:23,546 was central to their success. 588 00:35:23,547 --> 00:35:27,146 Just a few miles from Pachacamac is a place which was built specifically 589 00:35:27,147 --> 00:35:30,783 to bring an entire people into the Inca fold 590 00:35:30,784 --> 00:35:32,965 and it brilliantly demonstrates how a society 591 00:35:32,966 --> 00:35:34,710 that didn't have any written culture 592 00:35:34,711 --> 00:35:37,402 still had ways to ensure that everyone knew their place. 593 00:35:39,766 --> 00:35:41,583 This is the site of Tambo Colorado. 594 00:35:41,584 --> 00:35:44,020 It's one of the first settlements the Inca build 595 00:35:44,021 --> 00:35:46,674 as they push westwards, down towards the Pacific Coast. 596 00:35:46,675 --> 00:35:49,292 The people who lived in this region were the Chincha. 597 00:35:49,293 --> 00:35:53,365 And the purpose of this place was to co-opt them into the empire. 598 00:35:53,366 --> 00:35:56,384 The Chincha were one of the Incas' most important allies, 599 00:35:56,385 --> 00:35:59,911 controlling large swathes of the coastal desert. 600 00:35:59,912 --> 00:36:03,002 And it's obvious that this was an important place for both 601 00:36:03,003 --> 00:36:04,493 the Chincha and the Inca, 602 00:36:04,494 --> 00:36:07,730 dominating a flat plain as the mountains give way to the coast. 603 00:36:09,258 --> 00:36:12,020 'Sofia Chacaltana Cortez is an archaeologist 604 00:36:12,021 --> 00:36:15,002 'who has studied this site extensively.' 605 00:36:15,003 --> 00:36:17,475 So this entrance, like, the whole wall comes along 606 00:36:17,476 --> 00:36:19,875 and then you've just got one small entrance into the site? 607 00:36:19,876 --> 00:36:22,130 Yeah, that's typical of Inca architecture, right? 608 00:36:22,131 --> 00:36:25,039 Like, it's an entrance that is a palace first 609 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,821 and it has just one entrance and also has the Inca shape, 610 00:36:28,822 --> 00:36:31,184 the trapezoid, so... 611 00:36:31,185 --> 00:36:34,457 Wow, and then you immediately come into this sort of main plaza. 612 00:36:34,458 --> 00:36:36,494 Yeah, you have the main plaza. 613 00:36:36,495 --> 00:36:39,294 This one is the rear plaza and then you have three other plazas. 614 00:36:39,295 --> 00:36:41,003 So what sort of activities would be going on 615 00:36:41,004 --> 00:36:42,567 in this sort of main plaza, do you think? 616 00:36:42,568 --> 00:36:44,094 If people walked through those gates, 617 00:36:44,095 --> 00:36:45,476 what sort of things would they see? 618 00:36:45,477 --> 00:36:48,749 Well, probably ritual activities and also a lot of drinking. 619 00:36:48,750 --> 00:36:51,912 The Inca did a lot of drinking and displaying of power. 620 00:36:51,913 --> 00:36:56,494 But probably also that was the place where the elite could come, 621 00:36:56,495 --> 00:36:58,495 could enter the site. 622 00:37:01,477 --> 00:37:04,713 Tambo Colorado has the feel of a stage, 623 00:37:04,714 --> 00:37:06,349 a place of performance, 624 00:37:06,350 --> 00:37:09,149 where important officials would meet, where religious rituals 625 00:37:09,150 --> 00:37:12,678 would take place, against the backdrop of feasting and drinking. 626 00:37:13,841 --> 00:37:17,513 Adding to this theatrical feel are these brightly painted walls, 627 00:37:17,514 --> 00:37:21,913 whose colours have survived over five centuries of desert sun. 628 00:37:21,914 --> 00:37:24,786 It's absolutely extraordinary that you get this level of preservation 629 00:37:24,787 --> 00:37:27,041 of these pigments and paints right up to the modern day. 630 00:37:27,042 --> 00:37:28,968 I really like the idea that you sort of walk in 631 00:37:28,969 --> 00:37:30,750 from this quite barren desert landscape 632 00:37:30,751 --> 00:37:32,241 and then when you walk into this plaza, 633 00:37:32,242 --> 00:37:34,350 suddenly you're, like, overwhelmed by the colour. 634 00:37:34,351 --> 00:37:35,768 Like, brilliant colours around you 635 00:37:35,769 --> 00:37:38,530 and then you can think about that dancing and music which is going on. 636 00:37:40,933 --> 00:37:42,714 Much of what we see at Tambo Colorado 637 00:37:42,715 --> 00:37:45,150 is typical of Inca architecture. 638 00:37:45,151 --> 00:37:48,459 Yet there are striking differences in the craftsmanship here, too, 639 00:37:48,460 --> 00:37:52,132 which Sofia believes come from the influence of the Chincha. 640 00:37:52,133 --> 00:37:54,641 Something to notice, too, is the lattice work 641 00:37:54,642 --> 00:38:00,205 and the ending of the Inca spaces are not always Inca, are Chincha. 642 00:38:00,206 --> 00:38:04,278 The architect probably was Inca but the work was local 643 00:38:04,279 --> 00:38:07,296 and also probably the people that were living here 644 00:38:07,297 --> 00:38:10,060 were the Inca elite and the Chincha elite. 645 00:38:10,061 --> 00:38:12,278 It's a really difficult thing to assess, 646 00:38:12,279 --> 00:38:14,024 but do you think there's any evidence that 647 00:38:14,025 --> 00:38:16,060 the Chincha and Inca are working cooperatively, 648 00:38:16,061 --> 00:38:18,606 rather than sort of like a dominating workforce, forcing them, 649 00:38:18,607 --> 00:38:20,315 do you see any evidence of collaboration? 650 00:38:20,316 --> 00:38:22,642 Well, we are seeing here is like, I think, 651 00:38:22,643 --> 00:38:24,569 the synthesis of the government. 652 00:38:24,570 --> 00:38:26,642 Like, after they have, like, worked together. 653 00:38:26,643 --> 00:38:28,170 I think this is like a... 654 00:38:28,171 --> 00:38:31,951 probably like a Chincha... an Inca-Chincha palace, right? 655 00:38:31,952 --> 00:38:34,497 It's not only Inca, it's not Chincha, 656 00:38:34,498 --> 00:38:37,044 it's saying, like, "We are cooperating." 657 00:38:40,716 --> 00:38:42,861 The merging of architectural styles 658 00:38:42,862 --> 00:38:46,534 signals the joining of two kingdoms, Inca and Chincha. 659 00:38:46,535 --> 00:38:50,243 Tambo Colorado was the place which marked an important alliance 660 00:38:50,244 --> 00:38:53,008 in material form, but not an alliance of equals... 661 00:38:55,917 --> 00:38:59,116 ...because there are subtle levers of control here. 662 00:38:59,117 --> 00:39:00,534 Away from the plazas, 663 00:39:00,535 --> 00:39:04,098 Tambo Colorado is a maze of complex and confusing corridors. 664 00:39:04,099 --> 00:39:06,281 Hidden rooms and secret spaces. 665 00:39:07,590 --> 00:39:11,225 The architecture dictates how you travel around the site. 666 00:39:11,226 --> 00:39:13,407 Even the beautiful, brightly coloured walls 667 00:39:13,408 --> 00:39:14,753 had a controlling purpose, 668 00:39:14,754 --> 00:39:17,808 marking out areas of access according to rank. 669 00:39:19,699 --> 00:39:22,971 The yellow colour is representing the higher status. 670 00:39:22,972 --> 00:39:25,662 The lower status will be the white, 671 00:39:25,663 --> 00:39:28,171 that will represent the intermediate elite 672 00:39:28,172 --> 00:39:30,390 and the red will represent the locals. 673 00:39:31,481 --> 00:39:34,062 The colour scheme was designed to mark places 674 00:39:34,063 --> 00:39:36,862 where only the Inca were allowed. 675 00:39:36,863 --> 00:39:39,408 A lot of Tambo Colorado would have been off limits 676 00:39:39,409 --> 00:39:40,863 to the Chincha population. 677 00:39:43,082 --> 00:39:44,899 So these corridors are fantastic. 678 00:39:44,900 --> 00:39:47,408 They have this sort of real sense of restricted space. Yes. 679 00:39:47,409 --> 00:39:49,845 And they go to imperial spaces. 680 00:39:49,846 --> 00:39:53,772 We will see these Inca spaces, like the font, the Inca font, 681 00:39:53,773 --> 00:39:56,936 and there is an Inca way of purifying your body. 682 00:39:56,937 --> 00:39:59,299 To what extent do you think these architectural forms, 683 00:39:59,300 --> 00:40:02,863 these spaces, are a mechanism for the Inca Empire to sort of control 684 00:40:02,864 --> 00:40:05,299 people's behaviour and influence their experience 685 00:40:05,300 --> 00:40:06,754 of coming into them? 686 00:40:06,755 --> 00:40:09,300 Well, I think this is to control people's behaviour 687 00:40:09,301 --> 00:40:11,918 and also to show how to behave as an Inca, right? 688 00:40:11,919 --> 00:40:14,209 Because we are far away from the... 689 00:40:14,210 --> 00:40:15,663 from the capital. 690 00:40:15,664 --> 00:40:19,263 So I think also is showing what is the Inca behaviour, right? 691 00:40:19,264 --> 00:40:21,773 To behave as an Inca, I think, was an important part 692 00:40:21,774 --> 00:40:23,046 of the Inca government. 693 00:40:26,501 --> 00:40:28,064 I think it's cooperation also, 694 00:40:28,065 --> 00:40:31,410 but with the foot on top, kind of like that. 695 00:40:36,901 --> 00:40:38,391 It's great chatting to Sofia 696 00:40:38,392 --> 00:40:41,773 about how Inca architecture controls people's behaviour here. 697 00:40:41,774 --> 00:40:42,901 And more than that, 698 00:40:42,902 --> 00:40:46,064 communicates it to all the people moving up and down this valley. 699 00:40:46,065 --> 00:40:48,246 Inca architecture is so much more 700 00:40:48,247 --> 00:40:50,864 than the construction of imposing buildings. 701 00:40:50,865 --> 00:40:53,410 Architecture, like religion or agriculture, 702 00:40:53,411 --> 00:40:55,484 is a source of Inca power. 703 00:41:00,793 --> 00:41:04,247 All the elements that made Inca power so dominating and seductive 704 00:41:04,248 --> 00:41:06,538 came together in one city... 705 00:41:06,539 --> 00:41:08,793 Cuzco, high in the Andes. 706 00:41:10,066 --> 00:41:13,775 Cuzco was the most important city in the entirety of the Americas. 707 00:41:14,902 --> 00:41:16,501 It was the Inca homeland 708 00:41:16,502 --> 00:41:19,375 and the political and spiritual heart of their empire. 709 00:41:20,503 --> 00:41:22,974 And in the heart of Cuzco sat one person... 710 00:41:22,975 --> 00:41:24,321 the Sapa Inca. 711 00:41:26,175 --> 00:41:27,702 The ruler of the Inca Empire 712 00:41:27,703 --> 00:41:30,575 was a person called the Sapa Inca or Unique Lord. 713 00:41:30,576 --> 00:41:35,411 He embodied all the dimensions of leadership within the Inca society. 714 00:41:35,412 --> 00:41:38,647 He was the political ruler, in part because he was the descendant 715 00:41:38,648 --> 00:41:40,866 of the previous Sapa Inca. 716 00:41:40,867 --> 00:41:42,866 He was also the military leader 717 00:41:42,867 --> 00:41:45,375 and he was the person who made decisions about everything 718 00:41:45,376 --> 00:41:47,193 that was of significance in society, 719 00:41:47,194 --> 00:41:49,957 whether economic, ritual, or whatever. 720 00:41:49,958 --> 00:41:52,249 It was all focused on a single individual. 721 00:41:55,340 --> 00:41:58,284 The Sapa Inca was the most powerful man in the empire 722 00:41:58,285 --> 00:42:00,831 and was treated with immense reverence. 723 00:42:02,031 --> 00:42:05,012 He communicated via intermediaries. 724 00:42:05,013 --> 00:42:08,539 No-one dared look him directly in the eye. 725 00:42:08,540 --> 00:42:10,868 Disobedience was punishable by death. 726 00:42:14,031 --> 00:42:18,649 I guess you could probably call him a benevolent dictator in some ways. 727 00:42:18,650 --> 00:42:21,994 The Sapa Inca was not a very accessible personage, 728 00:42:21,995 --> 00:42:24,903 but he was also expected to be a charismatic leader, 729 00:42:24,904 --> 00:42:29,414 a figure who could change the world when necessary. 730 00:42:30,323 --> 00:42:34,213 The greatest of all Inca emperors was Pachacuti, 731 00:42:34,214 --> 00:42:39,595 whose name literally means "he who overturns space and time". 732 00:42:39,596 --> 00:42:43,304 Pachacuti is a mythical hero to many modern day Peruvians. 733 00:42:43,305 --> 00:42:45,013 The story goes that he was a prince, 734 00:42:45,014 --> 00:42:48,177 living here in Cuzco in the early to mid-15th century, 735 00:42:48,178 --> 00:42:50,140 when the city was attacked by the Chanka, 736 00:42:50,141 --> 00:42:53,086 a people who came from 150km to the west. 737 00:42:53,087 --> 00:42:56,977 Pachakuti's father, the ruler, took his entire court and fled the city, 738 00:42:56,978 --> 00:43:01,377 but Pachacuti defiantly remained and led a divinely inspired resistance 739 00:43:01,378 --> 00:43:03,304 to the Chanka, crushing them. 740 00:43:03,305 --> 00:43:06,759 He then led a series of Inca expansions away from the homeland, 741 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,087 laying the foundations of the Inca Empire. 742 00:43:11,633 --> 00:43:15,814 But the root of Pachacuti's rule and the authority of all the Sapa Incas 743 00:43:15,815 --> 00:43:18,251 lay in their position as semi-divine figures. 744 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:22,323 To understand how the Sapa Inca operated, 745 00:43:22,324 --> 00:43:25,632 we have to think of him in several dimensions. 746 00:43:25,633 --> 00:43:28,251 He was, in some senses, very much a human being, 747 00:43:28,252 --> 00:43:31,560 but the Incas considered him to be the descendant of Inti, 748 00:43:31,561 --> 00:43:36,179 the Sun God, so in Inca ideology, he was a deity on Earth. 749 00:43:39,306 --> 00:43:42,978 While the Inca allowed their subjects to worship their own gods, 750 00:43:42,979 --> 00:43:46,434 they would always be subservient to their own Sun God, Inti. 751 00:43:47,416 --> 00:43:50,652 The Inca built temples of the sun wherever they conquered. 752 00:43:53,198 --> 00:43:55,560 This emphasised the emperor's connection 753 00:43:55,561 --> 00:43:57,380 to the most powerful god in the sky. 754 00:43:59,198 --> 00:44:02,797 It also connected Inca power with the cosmos itself. 755 00:44:02,798 --> 00:44:05,670 In this way, the Inca used religious reverence 756 00:44:05,671 --> 00:44:07,234 as a powerful political tool. 757 00:44:08,762 --> 00:44:11,706 Inca religion is probably best thought of as part 758 00:44:11,707 --> 00:44:13,924 of an over-arching imperial ideology. 759 00:44:13,925 --> 00:44:16,943 It had its political elements, it had its religious elements, 760 00:44:16,944 --> 00:44:21,270 it had its practice, it had its military and cosmological elements. 761 00:44:21,271 --> 00:44:23,016 So the idea of religion, per se, 762 00:44:23,017 --> 00:44:25,379 probably would not have made sense to the Incas. 763 00:44:25,380 --> 00:44:27,416 They would have thought of it as an integrated part 764 00:44:27,417 --> 00:44:31,707 of the sanctity of the ruler, of his legitimacy to civilise the Andes, 765 00:44:31,708 --> 00:44:34,253 of his role as a political and military figure. 766 00:44:36,726 --> 00:44:40,289 Here, at the temple of Qorikancha, the holiest spot in the empire, 767 00:44:40,290 --> 00:44:42,290 the Sapa Inca would hold court. 768 00:44:44,108 --> 00:44:47,454 This entire complex would once have been encased in gold. 769 00:44:48,363 --> 00:44:52,326 All that remains today is this beautiful curved stone wall. 770 00:44:52,327 --> 00:44:53,962 But despite its destruction 771 00:44:53,963 --> 00:44:57,053 and the construction of a Christian church on top of it, 772 00:44:57,054 --> 00:44:59,635 the Qorikancha still feels very much like 773 00:44:59,636 --> 00:45:01,454 the spiritual heart of Inca Cuzco. 774 00:45:03,454 --> 00:45:06,580 The Qorikancha was at the centre of the Inca world. 775 00:45:06,581 --> 00:45:09,853 It was thought that, from here, dozens of ceques, or ley lines, 776 00:45:09,854 --> 00:45:14,181 spread across the empire, upon which shrines and temples would be built. 777 00:45:14,182 --> 00:45:17,017 So this religious complex was connected physically 778 00:45:17,018 --> 00:45:20,291 and psychologically with every corner of the empire. 779 00:45:22,873 --> 00:45:26,908 The Inca used religion to project the idea of their empire 780 00:45:26,909 --> 00:45:30,799 over the lands they controlled and to the people they ruled. 781 00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:34,109 These ley lines radiated across the landscape, 782 00:45:34,110 --> 00:45:36,618 creating a spiritual map of the empire 783 00:45:36,619 --> 00:45:39,818 which would have been understood by people from the forests of Ecuador 784 00:45:39,819 --> 00:45:42,363 to the high plateaux and peaks of the Andes, 785 00:45:42,364 --> 00:45:44,510 and from Cuzco to the coast. 786 00:45:47,201 --> 00:45:50,582 You have to picture this as a countryside which is animated, 787 00:45:50,583 --> 00:45:55,891 it's alive with different special places, 788 00:45:55,892 --> 00:45:58,836 places which are associated with supernatural powers. 789 00:45:58,837 --> 00:46:01,637 And so an unusual rock, a pass, 790 00:46:01,638 --> 00:46:04,074 a curve in a road, a waterfall... 791 00:46:05,347 --> 00:46:10,473 ...any noteworthy landmark on the landscape could be considered 792 00:46:10,474 --> 00:46:13,092 what the Incas called a huaca, or a shrine. 793 00:46:14,365 --> 00:46:20,255 And on very specific days of the year, pilgrimages would be made. 794 00:46:20,256 --> 00:46:24,983 Different kin groups would line up along different lines 795 00:46:24,984 --> 00:46:29,674 and march out to each of the shrines, making offerings to them. 796 00:46:29,675 --> 00:46:30,983 For the Inca, 797 00:46:30,984 --> 00:46:35,019 this was an empire of the mind as much as a physical empire, 798 00:46:35,020 --> 00:46:38,547 held together by thousands of shrines and invisible ley lines 799 00:46:38,548 --> 00:46:40,984 as much as by garrisons or military power. 800 00:46:43,857 --> 00:46:47,601 But an empire still needs physical bonds. 801 00:46:47,602 --> 00:46:49,238 By the end of the 15th century, 802 00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:53,238 the Inca Empire was approaching its greatest extent, 803 00:46:53,239 --> 00:46:56,074 reaching from southern Ecuador eastwards to Bolivia 804 00:46:56,075 --> 00:46:57,821 and into northern Argentina. 805 00:47:01,603 --> 00:47:04,876 It was criss-crossed by 40,000km of roads. 806 00:47:06,585 --> 00:47:08,111 There were two main roads, 807 00:47:08,112 --> 00:47:10,002 one running from Cuzco to Quito, 808 00:47:10,003 --> 00:47:12,657 the other running parallel along the coast. 809 00:47:12,658 --> 00:47:15,239 Between these were dozens of connecting roads and spurs, 810 00:47:15,240 --> 00:47:17,349 heading south and east. 811 00:47:20,767 --> 00:47:25,712 This road system is one of the most famous elements of the Inca Empire. 812 00:47:25,713 --> 00:47:29,094 But much of this network almost certainly predates the Inca. 813 00:47:30,149 --> 00:47:33,349 Once again, they took what they found and up-scaled it. 814 00:47:34,804 --> 00:47:36,694 Some parts of that road system 815 00:47:36,695 --> 00:47:39,603 existed at least since the Wari Empire, 816 00:47:39,604 --> 00:47:41,676 but the Inca develop it. 817 00:47:41,677 --> 00:47:44,076 They reconstruct large parts of it. 818 00:47:44,077 --> 00:47:47,603 They construct bridges and causeways to integrate it 819 00:47:47,604 --> 00:47:49,785 and they redirect some roads. 820 00:47:49,786 --> 00:47:52,441 This is a huge investment for them. 821 00:47:55,859 --> 00:47:59,241 The Inca road system was a triumph of architecture and planning. 822 00:48:01,750 --> 00:48:04,585 The roads had to pass through a variety of landscapes, 823 00:48:04,586 --> 00:48:07,750 from arid desert, to snowy mountains, to vertical cliffs. 824 00:48:09,059 --> 00:48:11,423 They could be anything from one to ten metres wide. 825 00:48:13,096 --> 00:48:16,731 In the desert, they were protected from dusty winds by raised stones. 826 00:48:16,732 --> 00:48:19,896 In the mountains, they were designed to allow for run-off and drainage. 827 00:48:21,787 --> 00:48:25,131 And when the terrain made conventional roads impossible, 828 00:48:25,132 --> 00:48:28,151 the Inca once again came up with an ingenious solution. 829 00:48:31,060 --> 00:48:33,532 This is the stunning Keshwa Chaca bridge. 830 00:48:33,533 --> 00:48:35,714 It's made out of only this, straw. 831 00:48:35,715 --> 00:48:37,641 And it's been in use for hundreds of years, 832 00:48:37,642 --> 00:48:40,259 dating right back to the Inca period. 833 00:48:40,260 --> 00:48:43,787 This bridge still serves as a major crossing of the Apurimac River. 834 00:48:45,097 --> 00:48:48,515 It is carefully maintained by the four communities who live here. 835 00:48:49,424 --> 00:48:50,550 Ola. 836 00:48:50,551 --> 00:48:52,988 'Among the workers is Dante Quispe Locuber.' 837 00:49:30,043 --> 00:49:34,333 The roads allowed the Inca to travel swiftly and communicate efficiently 838 00:49:34,334 --> 00:49:36,297 throughout their vast empire. 839 00:49:36,298 --> 00:49:39,715 It's estimated a message could be carried from Cuzco to Quito, 840 00:49:39,716 --> 00:49:43,643 a distance of 1,500km, in just five days. 841 00:49:43,644 --> 00:49:47,752 But seeing Dante and his comrades at work, it strikes me that the roads 842 00:49:47,753 --> 00:49:50,261 were about much more than just communication, 843 00:49:50,262 --> 00:49:52,117 more than just getting from A to B. 844 00:49:53,026 --> 00:49:55,316 This network was a psychological tool, 845 00:49:55,317 --> 00:49:56,808 as well as a physical one. 846 00:49:57,753 --> 00:50:00,989 These roads and bridges were a constant reminder to communities 847 00:50:00,990 --> 00:50:04,117 all over the Andes that they were part of something bigger. 848 00:50:06,117 --> 00:50:10,916 It probably provided an ideological mechanism of integration, 849 00:50:10,917 --> 00:50:13,425 so that in constructing that road system, 850 00:50:13,426 --> 00:50:18,444 you could not but be aware that you were integrating Cuzco with the coast. 851 00:50:18,445 --> 00:50:20,662 You were a part of empire. 852 00:50:20,663 --> 00:50:24,407 We must remember that there is no idea of a map of the Inca Empire. 853 00:50:24,408 --> 00:50:28,044 It is largely through the connection of individual places, 854 00:50:28,045 --> 00:50:30,917 through roads and track ways and though ceremonial 855 00:50:30,918 --> 00:50:33,609 and ritual activities that the Inca Empire holds together. 856 00:50:37,827 --> 00:50:39,608 The network was so vast 857 00:50:39,609 --> 00:50:42,373 that new parts of it are still being uncovered today. 858 00:50:46,154 --> 00:50:47,972 This is a newly discovered road. 859 00:50:47,973 --> 00:50:50,990 It's absolutely extraordinary, it clings to the side of the cliff 860 00:50:50,991 --> 00:50:53,864 with a 300 metre drop-off down to the river below. 861 00:51:01,355 --> 00:51:03,681 These roads are about more than just travel. 862 00:51:03,682 --> 00:51:06,736 They are the physical ties that bind the empire together 863 00:51:06,737 --> 00:51:08,663 and underpin Inca power. 864 00:51:08,664 --> 00:51:11,791 Armies, food and livestock can move quickly along them. 865 00:51:11,792 --> 00:51:14,154 No matter where you are in the empire, 866 00:51:14,155 --> 00:51:16,518 you're never far from a road that leads to Cuzco. 867 00:51:16,519 --> 00:51:19,973 And that proximity means Inca power is ever-present, 868 00:51:19,974 --> 00:51:21,937 no matter which corner of the empire you're in. 869 00:51:26,810 --> 00:51:29,973 This road leads down to Machu Picchu. 870 00:51:29,974 --> 00:51:32,591 It isn't on any of the tourist itineraries 871 00:51:32,592 --> 00:51:35,174 and it may not be as celebrated as what lies below. 872 00:51:36,156 --> 00:51:40,664 But it is part of the same empire, built by the same people 873 00:51:40,665 --> 00:51:45,755 and is, in its own way, just as important as that iconic Inca ruin. 874 00:51:45,756 --> 00:51:49,210 From a western perspective, ancient empires are lauded 875 00:51:49,211 --> 00:51:53,901 for victorious battles, ingenious systems of governance and control, 876 00:51:53,902 --> 00:51:58,046 territorial expansion and domination through generations. 877 00:51:58,047 --> 00:52:00,484 The Inca achieved all this and more. 878 00:52:13,866 --> 00:52:15,938 If we define power as the ability 879 00:52:15,939 --> 00:52:18,774 to control people's actions and behaviour, 880 00:52:18,775 --> 00:52:22,156 then I think we have a tremendous amount to learn from the Inca, 881 00:52:22,157 --> 00:52:25,938 because force was just one small tool in their armoury. 882 00:52:25,939 --> 00:52:28,520 To give people the sense of freewill, 883 00:52:28,521 --> 00:52:30,702 to make the decisions that you want them to make - 884 00:52:30,703 --> 00:52:32,702 that is the source of true power. 885 00:52:32,703 --> 00:52:35,648 And the scale at which the Inca did it was extraordinary. 886 00:52:40,812 --> 00:52:43,102 But as the Inca reached their zenith, 887 00:52:43,103 --> 00:52:46,230 they would be visited by foreign soldiers from across the ocean. 888 00:52:47,394 --> 00:52:51,830 These Spanish conquistadors had a very different concept of power. 889 00:52:51,831 --> 00:52:55,830 And their determination to build an empire of their own in this land 890 00:52:55,831 --> 00:52:58,448 would lead to a catastrophic clash 891 00:52:58,449 --> 00:53:01,176 of two completely different cultures.