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An andén (plural andenes), Spanish for "platform", [1] is a stair-step like terrace dug into the slope of a hillside for agricultural purposes. The term is most often used to refer to the terraces built by pre-Columbian cultures in the Andes mountains of South America. Andenes had several functions, the most important of which was to increase ...
Terraces were built to permit agriculture in the rugged terrain of the Andes. The heartland of the Inca Empire was in the high plateaus and mountains of the Andes of Peru. This area is mostly above 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in elevation and is characterized by low or seasonal precipitation, low temperatures, and thin soils.
There are at least 14 different shapes of terrace at heights from 2,995 metres (9,826 ft) to 3,450 metres (11,320 ft) metres above sea level. Many are still in use today. The terraces closest to modern Písac are the Andenes Acchapata, which consist of up of 40 individual terraces which extend down to the valley floor and the river.
Side valleys and agricultural terraces expand the cultivatable area. [4] The valley was formed by the Urubamba river, also known as the Vilcanota River, Willkanuta River (Aymara, "house of the sun") or Willkamayu . The latter, in Quechua, the still spoken lingua franca of the Inca Empire, [5] means the sacred river. It is fed by numerous ...
In the South American Andes, farmers have used terraces, known as andenes, for over a thousand years to farm potatoes, maize, and other native crops. Terraced farming was developed by the Wari culture and other peoples of the south-central Andes before 1000 AD, centuries before they were used by the Inca, who adopted them. The terraces were ...
The ancient mountains of the Andes are home to spectacled bears, pumas and the magnificent Andean condor. ... the headwaters of the Amazon River. In the past, polylepis forests covered vast areas ...
The first recorded accounts of Inca water transportation structures came from Spanish conquistadores in the sixteenth century. One such explorer was Pedro Cieza de León.In his published chronicles detailing his travels through Peru, he noted seeing a large wall as he headed east from Cuzco, which scholars argue he was referring to the aqueduct at the Piquillacta archeological site.
Black Forest, Germany. With deep woods, quaint villages, and a hazy, mystical wonder, the Black Forest looks like a fairy tale come to life and inspired some of most beloved stories from the ...