Inca+Astronomy

The Inca Empire was massive and in order to grow crops, they relied on the Stars. The city of Cuzco was layed out to mimic the Stars. This related to Egyptians and Asians because they also had a horizon based culture where they relied on the stars. Some of the most important events occurred when specific sets of the sun, stars, or moons would rise or set. The Incas also had something like a calendar, which relied on the stars, because after the 13 brightest stars arose, a new year would begin.

Some important structures of Inca agriculture that relied on astronomy were pillars that were built on top of hills helped determined what to plant at a certain altitude by usin the rising of the sun to determine this. Other pillars were built which helped determine more accurate timing. The Incas built observatories, one of them was called Coricancha. It was made of gold and inside, like many others, it captured the first and last sun rays. The Inca also perform rituals by sacrificing a person to plead the sun god to rise in the correct spot the next day, as they needed the sun in order to plant.

In conclusion, the Inca have shown us that building without tools can still go a long way. Though there is still so much unknown about the Inca way of life due to their lack of a written language, but historians have been able to learn a lot about the culture by studying some of the amazing structures that the Inca made. It was remarkable that the Inca learned to plant certain things by looking to the stars and sun.

By: Fabiely Roldan