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Ancient Inca

Ancient Inca

Ancient Inca

Alan L. Kolata , University of Chicago
June 2013
Available
Paperback
9780521689380

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£27.00
GBP
Paperback
GBP
Hardback

    This book offers a detailed account of Inca history, society and culture through the lens of archaeology, written documents and ethnographic accounts of native Andeans. Throughout the Andes, public works ordained by the emperors of the Incas dominate and transform the natural landscape. Cities, temples and fortresses of stone, marvelously engineered roads cut through sheer mountain slopes, massive agricultural terraces and hydraulic works are emblematic of Inca power. In this book, Alan L. Kolata examines how these awesome material products came into being. What were the cultural institutions that gave impetus to the Incas' imperial ambition? What form of power did the Incas exercise over their conquered provinces, far from the imperial capital of Cuzco? How did they mobilize the staggering labor force that sustained their war machine and built their empire? What kind of perceptions and religious beliefs informed Inca worldview?

    • The first overview of the Inca Empire that explores its history through general social theory, explaining how the empire was organized in its social, economic and religious dimensions
    • Shows how social class, economic systems and religious beliefs and practices were intimately interrelated, not separate cultural phenomena
    • Suitable for use on courses on the ancient Inca, Andean archaeology and prehistory, Latin American history and Latin American studies, as well as comparative courses on states and empires

    Product details

    June 2013
    Paperback
    9780521689380
    314 pages
    228 × 152 × 18 mm
    0.52kg
    69 b/w illus. 10 maps 2 tables
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Into the realm of the Four Quarters
    • 2. Imperial narratives: sources and origins
    • 3. The social order: kinship and class in the realm of the Four Quarters
    • 4. The economic order: land, labor, and the social relations of production
    • 5. The moral order: religion and spirituality among the Inca
    • 6. The political order: kingship, statecraft, and administration in the realm of the Four Quarters
    • 7. The destruction of the Inca.
      Author
    • Alan L. Kolata , University of Chicago

      Alan L. Kolata is Neukom Family Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. Since 1978 he has led ongoing interdisciplinary research projects studying human-environment interactions in the Lake Titicaca basin of Bolivia, on the north coast of Peru and most recently in Cambodia. He has received multiple large-scale research grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Inter-American Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, among others. His books include a major two-volume research monograph entitled Tiwanaku and Its Hinterland: Archaeology and Paleoecology of an Andean Civilization and Valley of the Spirits: A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara. At the University of Chicago, he has served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies and Academic Director of the University of Chicago Center in Paris. His professional awards include the Manuel Vicente Ballivián Foundation Gold Medal for distinguished service to Bolivian science, presented in conjunction with the National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia and the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Government of Bolivia; the Puma de Oro, the maximum distinction conferred by the Bolivian National Institute of Archaeology; and the Simon Bolivar Foundation Distinguished Service Award.