The prevalence of both fishing and hunting is attested by the many depictions of these industries found on ceramic art objects which have been encountered by the archeologists. Hunting was carried on to such an extent, and the country in general was so intensively cultivated, that the Peruvian highlands today have less to offer the nimrod than any other section of the world equally uninhabited and desolate.
Alcoholic beverages were used, of course, but the government saw to it that their manufacture did not affect other industries. Chica (chee-cha) was made from both potatoes and maize, but the favorite brand was brewed from the molle (mol-yay) berry. Then, as today, religious feasts provided the common people with an opportunity for debauchery, but under the Incas there was less of the consequent inebriety.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No 3, SERIAL No. 151
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
SACSAHUAMAN, THE INCAS’ GREATEST FORTRESS, CUZCO, PERU
THE INCAS
Inca Architecture
FIVE
Together with the excellence of their governmental system and the extent of their food supply, the architecture of the ancient inhabitants of the Peruvian plateau establishes their claim to fame. Although early historians attempted to give the Incas themselves the credit for the wonderful structures to be found in Peru, it is generally believed today that most of the megalithic remains, such as Tiahuanaco, Sacsahuaman and Ollantaytambo, are the work of a people living many centuries before the Incas, whose own traditions carry them back only about 400 years prior to the coming of the Spaniards. However that may be, the ability to make equally fine structures evidently existed down to Spanish times, although in later years such work became less and less common.