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The Inca transported this freshly melted water to crop fields by building irrigation canals to move the water and cisterns to store the water. [17] Another method that the Inca used to gain more farm land was to drain wetlands in order to get to the rich fertile top soil underneath the shallow water. [9]
Socially, the society depended on a rather strict division between nobles and free commoners, both of which were themselves divided into elaborate hierarchies of social status, responsibilities, and power. Economically the society was dependent on agriculture, and also to a large extent on warfare. Other economically important factors were ...
These terraces are still used. [8] Incans irrigated their fields with a system of reservoirs and cisterns to collect water, which was then distributed by canals and ditches. [9] However, by the mid-19th century, only 3% of Peru's land was still farmable. It lagged behind many other South American countries in agriculture.
In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore called terracing. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain.
A map of the pre-historic cultures of the American Southwest ca 1200 CE. Several Hohokam settlements are shown. The agricultural practices of the Native Americans inhabiting the American Southwest, which includes the states of Arizona and New Mexico plus portions of surrounding states and neighboring Mexico, are influenced by the low levels of precipitation in the region.
The agriculture terraces are a feature of the complicated drainage system; the steppes helped avoid erosion and were built on a slope to aim excess water into channels that ran alongside the stairways. These channels carried the runoff into the main drain, avoiding the main water supply.
A water channel to drain and irrigate andenes. Andenes were complicated to build, requiring provisions for drainage and irrigation. The first step in constructing an andén was to lay an underground or bedrock foundation about 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep to lend strength and stability to the retaining wall, which might rise about 2 metres (6.6 ft) above the slope of the ground.
They instead used the mita for the support of the empire. The Inca diet consisted primarily of fish and vegetables, supplemented less frequently with the meat of cuyes (guinea pigs) and camelids. In addition, they hunted various animals for meat, skins and feathers. Maize was malted and used to make chicha, a fermented alcoholic beverage.