The Inca Empire's immense territory spanned more than 2,000 miles - from Ecuador to Chile - at the time of the Spanish invasion, yet Inca culture remains largely a mystery. The Incas did not leave pictorial codices and documents in their native language as the Maya and Aztec did and they narrated to Spanish chroniclers just a few of the multiple alternative histories maintained by descendants of various rulers.
In this classic work, Nigel Davies offers a clear view into Inca political history, economy, governance, religion, art, architecture, and daily life. The Incas has become a classic in its many years in print; readers and scholars interested in ancient American cultures will relish this paperback edition.
In this classic work, Nigel Davies offers a clear view into Inca political history, economy, governance, religion, art, architecture, and daily life. The Incas has become a classic in its many years in print; readers and scholars interested in ancient American cultures will relish this paperback edition.
While there are many books on the fall of the Inca Empire, there are few that provide a general overview of Inca history and social organization. Davies's volume fills this glaring gap in the literature. . . . The book, which is written in a clear and engaging style . . . will be of value to introductory Andean students and of special importance to those who have had some exposure to Inca prehistory and now want to grapple with complex issues of source materials.'
—Latin American Antiquity
A valuable introduction and review of scholarship.'
—Colonial Latin American Historical Review
Davies . . . has a particular gift for sympathetic re-creation of the framework of existence in the four societies under review and thus conveys something of what it must have been like to have lived in them.'
—Times Literary Supplement on Davies's The Ancient Kingdoms of Mexico
Archaeologist Nigel Davies, Ph.D., has written extensively on the Aztecs and Toltecs, on the origins of the peoples of the New World, including the books The Ancient Kingdoms of Mexico, The Ancient Kingdoms of Peru, The Toltecs, and The Aztecs, and on religious practices throughout America. He has lectured on archaeology at Harvard, Yale, and UCLA.
