Product Description
"I know of no other book in English that provides such a good region-by-region description of the Inca empire."—Bill Sillar, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.In less than a century the Incas rose from obscure origins to build one of the largest empires of the ancient world. At its zenith Tawantinsuyu—“The Fourfold Domain”—extended northward from the Inca capital Cusco along the spine of the Andes to embrace most of modern Peru and Ecuador, and southward into Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The sheer scale of the empire, coupled with the challenges of the varied and rugged landscape, makes the Inca achievement truly remarkable.

This new survey provides the most up-to-date and authoritative account available of the Incas: their politics, economics, religion, architecture, art, and technology. The authors look in detail at the capital Cusco and at the four parts of the empire, exploring not just famous sites such as Machu Picchu but all the major regional settlements. The book concludes with the end of the empire: the arrival of the Spaniards, the assassination of the Inca ruler Atawallpa, and the final years of the rebellious, neo-Inca state in the tropical forests of Vilcabamba.

The illustrations range from finely fitted stonework to superbly engineered mountain terraces, from stunning textiles to brilliant metalwork in gold, silver, and bronze. 15 color and 135 black-and-white illustrations ... Read more

Product Description
Full-color photos. Unravel the remarkable mysteries of the ancient peoples

who built great palaces and pyramids, and developed an accurate calendar and a

knowledge of astronomy without the benefit of telescopes or written language.




... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Aztec, Inca, and Maya (DK Eyewitness Books)
Quick delivery.Good service.My grandson is enjoying this book immemsely. This series of books is excellent.I highly recommend these to anyone, even adults.They are brimming with information.

Another solid entry in the Eyewitness Books series
This is another excellent entry in the Eyewitness Books series, for young readers.The illustrations, as always, are wonderful.The slick pages speak to a quality production. The text is written well and conveys information accessible to the series' audience.

The volume begins with an historical perspective on the three civilizations--Aztec, Maya, and Inca.After that, as with other volumes in the series that focus on civilizations, we read of the everyday life and context of the people being examined. What topics are considered?Farming, hunting/fishing, cities, family and home life, food and drink, religion, medicine, literacy and numbers, clothes, the arts, and so on.All discussions provide enough detail to give young readers a pretty good sense of each society.

This particular work ends with the Spanish conquest of the New World and, with it, the end of these three impressive societies.

So, to summarize. . . .A strong entry in the series of Eyewitness Books.Young readers interested in these early civilizations will enjoy this work.

Eyewitness Books are a Great Help in the Classroom!
I am an ESOL teacher who has to teach about a variety of topics daily.I am currently teaching about Native Americans and this book helped quite a bit with teaching about Maya, Aztecs and the Inca.The topic is so absorbing, I'm having trouble fitting the North Americans in!The pictures and articfacts are very interesting and I thought well presented.I think we have mostly small items related to these civilizations so it is hard to see how Eyewitness could have differentiated them more.I could be wrong but think this book was really helpful to my students.They have little concept of these cultures as all come from Asia.It's fun and not as boring as they thought.

geared more towards really young or really simple
this book said it was okay for middle school kids and i found it to be a little too childish even for that. some good information, but would have liked more of it.

Aztec, Inca, and Maya(DK Eyewitness Books)
I am an adult who found the booka quick and easy way to be introduced to a subject I did not know much about. I am using it to discuss Mexican artists during student and adult tours at my local art museum. ... Read more

Product Description
Some of the most interesting and mysterious people of the ancient world were the Incas. They were located in South America, primarily in Peru. The author was once the curator of Peruvian Archaeology at a major museum, so had access to many artifacts that are displayed in this book. We are shown what life was like for an ancient Incan warrior, priest, astronomer, housewife or leader. Also covered are the mysterious ruins of Tiahuanaco, the huge network of ancient Inca Roads, and their method of record-keeping, without using any written language, is revealed. ... Read more

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Discover the spectacular world of the Incas and their ancestors.Uncover the secrets of the mummy bundles, the mystery of the giant lines in the Nazxa Desert and intricate rope bridges high in the Andes Mountains.Projects actively involve the reader in the past. ... Read more

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"Well written and cogently argued, this book will appeal to . . . scholars of complex societies worldwide."--Helaine Silverman, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe Islands of the Sun and the Moon in Bolivia's Lake Titicaca were two of the most sacred locations in the Inca empire. A pan-Andean belief held that they marked the origin place of the Sun and the Moon, and pilgrims from across the Inca realm made ritual journeys to the sacred shrines there. In this book, Brian Bauer and Charles Stanish explore the extent to which this use of the islands as a pilgrimage center during Inca times was founded on and developed from earlier religious traditions of the Lake Titicaca region. Drawing on a systematic archaeological survey and test excavations in the islands, as well as data from historical texts and ethnography, the authors document a succession of complex polities in the islands from 2000 BC to the time of European contact in the 1530s AD. They uncover significant evidence of pre-Inca ritual use of the islands, which raises the compelling possibility that the religious significance of the islands is of great antiquity. The authors also use these data to address broader anthropological questions on the role of pilgrimage centers in the development of pre-modern states. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A neglected aspect of Andean Culture
This illuminating, well-researched book provides a look at a very important but neglected aspect of pre-Columbian Andean history.The re-tracing of ritual and pilgrimage in ancient times brings the reader into contact, with solid scientific basis, with native Andean spirituality, and gives essential insights into the rich and holistic Pre-Columbian Andean American Cosmo-vision.It also brings the Island of the Moon and its ancient sacred role out of undeserved obscurity.

islands of the Sun and Moon
This work is an excellent combination of archaeology and ethnohistory. The islands of the Sun and Moon in Lake Titicaca were two of the most important ritual pilgrimage sites in the Inca empire.Until now, our understanding of Inca religion has been hindered by the lack of a comprehensive study of these mysterious sacred islands. Bauer and Stanish present information from an extensive survey of the islands of the Sun and the Moon in a clear and persuasive manner. They then combine their survey results with what is known about these islands from historical sources to describe the activities of pilgrims and priests at these shrines. Anyone interested in Inca religion and politics will find this book invaluable. ... Read more

Product Description

In The “Lost” Gold Chain of Machu Picchu, Gary Swagart provides a logical explanation for the establishment of Machu Picchu, its abandonment after being occupied for several centuries, the manner in which the rocks could have been fitted into the walls of Machu Picchu and Cuzco as they were, and the way the large rocks were moved and placed by the Incas and Pre-Incas.He provides a very logical reason why no gold was found at Machu Picchu when it was excavated.He provides a very logical reason for the existence of the Nazca Lines.Mr. Swagart provides a very logical description of the rise of the Inca Civilization, why it banners displayed a rainbow, and why it functioned so well.He provides a very logical explanation of the canals on the plain about Lake Titicaca and the demise of the agricultural system that had existed there.He provides a logical reason for the existence of sweet potatoes and other Peruvian plants on remote Pacific islands, the great stone statues on Easter Island, and the physical resemblance of many residents of South Pacific islands to Incas.He explains the creation and subsequent loss of the fabulous three-ton gold chain.

Customer Reviews (1)

not recomended
This has to be the worst book I have ever read on Peru. The author channels an inka mummy while in the gold museum in lima. This might have been interesting but for the totally bogus bunk that he claims the mummy tells him. For example the story about how the mummy was named by his parents. It was the practice of his tribe for the father to name the baby after the first thing that he sees upon leaving the birth hut, for the mummy green parrot, but his poor brother got the name DOGGY DOODOO, makes one think of the joke about Two Dogs F**king.It goes down hill from there. Futhermore the photos are of the poorest quality. ... Read more

Product Description
The Rest of the Title:...; Within the Canons (sic), Cliff Buildings and Gardens of the Gods; Through the Dark Continent; In OUr Own American Egypt; On The Isles of the Sea; An In All Parts of the Globe. Embracing The Most Thrilling Adventures and Wonderful Discoveries of our Greatest Travelers, Pioneers and Explorers. Among Whom Are The World-renowned Livingstone, Stanley, Baker, Cameron, Pinto, Speke, Paul Du Chaillu, Burton, Grant, Wallace, Gordon, Kane, Hayes, Greely, Franklin, Schwatka, Hall, Melville, Ross, Parry, Cook, Wilkes, Humboldt, and Others. Beautifully and Elaborately Illustrated With Over 300 Fine Engravings. By James P. Boyd, A.M., Author of "Building and Ruling the Republic" and "Military and Civil Life of General U.S. Grant," etc. ... Read more

Product Description
The Inca Empire of western South America extended 1,800 miles along the Andes, from the northern border of Ecuador to central Chile.Without the wheel or a written language, the Inca controlled the largest empire in the Western Hemisphere until conquered by the Spanish in 1532. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

Lost city of the Incas
This is a fascinating story about the rediscovery of Machu Pichu.If you are like me in skipping or skimming the Introdutions of most books. . ., Don't skip this one; it's as interesting as the main story!

Lost Incas
I bought this because of an upcoming trip to Machu Picchu. The first part about the last days of the Inca kings was very interesting. A lot of the discovery or rather rediscovery part was very interesting. Some of it was tedious georgraphical details that made very slow reading. Most of his comments about the indigenous population was less than enlightened but was probably no worse than most of his generation. It is probably necessary now to read something more modern about the area. I will definitely reread the the first part about the kings right before going there.

Still makes for good reading
In 1908, on a diplomatic mission he attained in the interest of increasing his understanding of South America and thus qualify as a professor of South American studies at Yale, Hiram Bingham casually accepted an invitation to visit the site of Incan ruins in Peru.His readings of the original Spanish conquistadores and explorers suggested there were more never found by the Europeans and he returned with an adventurous expedition.In 1911, on his own with a couple of local Indian farmers who were quietly using the land, he found the ruins of Machu Picchu high in the Andes under jungle overgrowth. Thus he ushered in the new era in Incan scholarship, 20th century adventurous exploration, archeology and, what he did not imagine at the time, tourism.

Bingham wrote THE LOST CITY OF THE INCAS with verve nearly 30 years after his achievement.To its credit, it is not riddled with hindsight but offers an immediacy of perspective.He begins with a very lucid, unbiased reading of the end of the Incan empire by the Europeans who leveled it.Bingham then recounts his own adventures in the discovery and subsequent archeological efforts, after which he provides a gloss on Incan culture as understood in those first digs.Bingham's narrative never bogs, even among the dryer material.The book stirs with wonder.Bingham may have been an ambitious man but his ambitions in this context are all about furthering knowledge for all.

The only reason to nick a star in the rating:datedness.Thanks to Bingham's inspiration, Incan studies perpetuate and some of his conclusions are no longer current.Though in one section he refers to native Indians as "savages," the book is largely and refreshingly free of elitism.He struck a deal with Peru to remove artifacts for study at Yale, with the stipulation that Peru could have them back when it wanted them.That's a drama that's unfolding now.

great adventure reading
Although some (actually many)of Bingham's ideas/theories have since been disproved, this is none-the-less a great true story about how he discovered Machu Pichu. He was actually a professor (and political representative) that went to Peru to increase his knowledge about South American history for teaching purposes. He decided to go back with a team of experts to try and find the lost city of the incas.And he did find it! It is great "adventure" reading...hiking through jungles, steep and dangerous terrain, exploring a long forgotten (and uncharted) area of Peru.

He also shares a lot of history about the incas in the book. We "owe" a lot to them.For instance, they domesticated/cultivated some of the common agriculural foods we still eat today. And they domesticated the guinea pig. Your kids can thank the incas for their furry little pet!

If you are considering visiting Peru and Machu Pichu, I'd highly recommend this book. It is a great starting point to learning more about this country and culture.

The Lost City of the Incas
Hiram Bingham goes on an exploration with a couple specialist friends to find the four capitals of the ancient Incan civilization.On the way, he goes through countless jungles, helpful indian cities, and steep mountain trails.The first part of the book is dedicated to informing the reader of interesting information about the Incas. The second and third parts described the trip through "Inca-land".I would request this book to anyone who wants to explore the Amazon Jungle someday. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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Divided into four sections, this encyclopedia covers the Aztec and Mayan world, the Inca Empire, the Native Americans and Arctic peoples. A variety of practical projects is included to help bring the past alive. ... Read more

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This new series looks at civilizations in the ancient and medieval worlds, and explains the technological advances that were made in those times ... Read more

Product Description
Presents an overview of the Incan culture, examining such topics as government, religion, recreation, domestic life, occupations, entertainment, food, shelter, and clothing. ... Read more