In terms of the mythological foundations
of the Inca Empire, the two key figures
are Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, who legend has it,
came from Lake Titicaca. Manco Capac is a legendary Inca who appeared
out of the waters of Lake Titicaca. According to legend,
he carried a golden staff. The place where that staff
planted itself into the earth would be the ideal location
for founding his empire. Legend has it that he set out
with his sister, Mama Ocllo, and some of his people toward the land
that would later become Cuzco. Having arrived at Cuzco
after a few months or years, we don't know
since we have no exact chronology, his golden staff
planted itself in the ground, so he founded the town of Cuzco
in that place. It has to be said that the Incas
had real political genius because,
at the high point of the Inca Empire, their territory stretched
from the south of Colombia to the center of Chile. An enormous area,
even by today's standards. They were able to maintain that territory
without the use of written language as we know it, without horses for transport
and without any form of cart. Given that they had not yet
discovered the wheel. Everything was organized
through a network of foot soldiers, and you can imagine the distances. [French spoken audio] Conquests were not always won
by means of combat and warfare. In fact, fighting was avoided
where possible. There was a good reason for that. For the Incas, what mattered
was not only acquiring territory but also expanding their workforce. That workforce
consisted of the resident population who submitted of their own accord
and integrated into the empire's ranks. The Incas had a very intelligent
diplomatic strategy. They constantly offered their neighbors
opportunities to join the empire, either by accepting proposals of marriage
between local princes or chiefs and noble women from the Inca Empire or by offering them gifts
of desirable goods such as cloth, cereals,
potatoes and, of course, cocoa. [French spoken audio] They also offered them
a high level of security because once a people became
a part of the Inca hegemony, they were protected by the Incas. The stone architecture was already present
during the Wally period, which preceded that of the Incas
in the form of large stone buildings. The Incas developed their own techniques,
creating bossage walls, where the stones are selected to fit
into one another so perfectly that there was no space for a razor blade
to slide between them. The only element which contrasted
with the beauty of the walls was the straw roof because they hadn't developed techniques
for building arches to complete the roof. The stones were extracted from quarries. They were dragged
or rolled on wooden beams to transport them
to the construction site. Then placed onto earthen platforms,
laid out on a slight slope, and they were either dragged
or rolled into place. It needed an enormous amount of manpower,
but it was perfectly doable. The terraces were occasionally used
for agricultural purposes, but more often for the cultivation
of the ceremonial corn to make chicha, the ceremonial beer, which was distributed on festive occasions
as a symbol of Inca power. In these rainy areas
where the mountainsides are very steep, unless you flatten the land into terraces,
all the good soil is washed away to the bottom of the valley
by the rainwater. It was this system of colonization
of the agricultural landscape that enabled the Incas to use the land. As for Machu Picchu, for many years,
was thought to be a mountain stronghold designed to protect access
to the Urubamba Valley from rebel tribes
who lived down in the Amazon basin. [French spoken audio] The idea was to prevent enemies
gaining access to the town of Cuzco. Today, we know this was not the case because the Incas were already
in control of these populations. The other apparent incoherence
in the case of Machu Picchu is that they thought it was a citadel. If it'd been a citadel,
there would be garrisons protecting it, and we haven't found any. When you look at the size of Machu Picchu
and calculate the number of people who could have lived there,
they can have been over 300, 500 maximum. That's a long way off the estimate
that was made a few years ago of 3,000 to 4,000 people. Today, many of the conceptions
we had have changed. We've understood
that sites at high altitudes were sacred. That they had a role
in the rituals of mountain worship and, in specific, earth cults, and that Machu Picchu's function was similar
to that of a modern-day palace, like a summer palace. Who lived there? Obviously, the Inca lived here
when he came from time to time for special occasions
and to preside at ceremonies. There were priests who would've taken care
of the organization of the ceremonies. Then there were servants, the yanas, who were in the service of the Incas
and worked for them. [French spoken audio] There were only a few people, and this helps explain
the type of architecture, which, though was local and rustic,
was still designed to conform with the aesthetic and architectural norms
of the ruling elite, so we know that the ruling elite
was present. The Incas wouldn't settle just anywhere. They would only live in places where they could be in contact
with their divinities and in communication with their ancestors. They believed their ancestors
lived at the top of the mountains. When we look at the example
of the Vilcabamba Cordillera, the site of Machu Picchu
is surrounded by massive peaks, snow-topped mountains and glaciers,
where the ancestors were thought to reside and which were also the projected image
of certain constellations. They were protected
by these constellations and also by the mountains. All the buildings at Machu Picchu were oriented towards
specific peaks and mountains. It represents the central square of Cuzco. The starting point of the four roads. The Arcopata is also where the Incas
came together on special occasions to worship the Inca
or to listen to him speak. Although there were many other monuments,
one other was of particular importance. It was known as Inti Wata. It's a miniature replica
of the larger mountain opposite called Huayna Picchu. It's an exact copy of the peak
standing on a platform. It is believed that
during certain ceremonies the structure was used as a sundial. Another sacred place, the Sun Temple,
is the only circular building in the town. This tower might have been used
to study the stars. Underneath is a natural cave,
which was probably a royal tomb. It contains an altar
in the form of a staircase and several beautifully carved
sacred niches. The Incas were certainly the world's
greatest experts in Lithic architecture. In ritual terms, the emperor himself
was the representative of the sun, Inti. He presented himself as such, and at the same time, all golden objects
thought to come directly from the sun, also came from the Inca himself. He was linked to his sister-wife
who emanated from the moon. In every province,
there was an Inca governor who ruled over all four regions,
the four suyus. In each suyu or in each major city,
there was also an official representative. This official delegate
of the Inca would, in turn, command a series of local lords whose lands were subdivided
into administrative districts. It was a sort of grid system
in which everyone had their place. Paying tribute was obligatory. They made no exceptions. Every year an inspector would visit
each province to collect the tribute. A bit like our tax inspectors,
they had long knotted cords, which were known as quipus. Each knotted cord
was organized into a decimal system. A bit like the Chinese abacus. The system worked
on much the same principle. They had designed a combination of knots,
twisted fibers and colors from which they could decipher
a wide range of numerical information. It was based on a system of units,
tenths, hundreds, thousands, etcetera. It was used to record information
about a population distribution within a territory
or a part of a territory. Other information,
such as the amount of produce that could be stored
in the state storehouses known as colcas, as well as a number
of other numerical records, were also kept using these knotted cords. Most of the tribute
was paid in manual labor. It could be in goods,
bags of cocoa, for example, but mostly in labor. A number of tributaries were sent to Cuzco to participate
in major construction projects, join the army, build roads, and generally contribute
to the upkeep of the state. In terms of administration,
the Inca organization was perfect. We know that the Incas
had a certain number of private residences their palaces or royal estates. There's the site of Pisac
in the Sacred Valley, which was a palace
and a ceremonial center divided into several areas, including a citadel
in the northern section. The sacred part with the Sun Temple. This is where we find the Intihuatana,
the mounted stone, with its midline oriented towards the sun. All around, there are meeting places
known as kayankas. These were large buildings
where crowds gathered when the Inca came or when the governor organized
official festivities. One characteristic feature of Pisac
is its many terraces, most of which are ceremonial terraces. The terraces are often connected
to the production of corn. The corn was reserved
for the production of chichas used for the libations,
drunk at important celebrations. The chichas libations were offered
by the Inca as a testament to his power. All of these terraces,
and yet they were not used to grow foodstuffs such as potatoes and neither did they contribute
to feeding the population. The cultivated land was, in principle,
divided into three types. One part was for the Inca
or for his representatives, for example, the political elite. One part was designated for the cults,
and one part was left to the community. Their territory consisted
of a whole series of microclimates from an altitude of 5,000 meters
down to warm tropical climates. It's interesting that they had defined
three large geographical regions with different production methods, different territories
and different eco-zones. Ever since ancient times,
long before the Incas, the resident populations
had been making use of these eco-zones. With the colonial system
and the dispatching of colonialists into the different regions,
they were able to gain access to a wide range of produce, most of it which would be donated
by local leaders as tribute. What did they cultivate in the Altiplano? Lots of potatoes. There were about 440 different types
of potatoes. Potatoes are useful
because they can provide nourishment for larger numbers of people. [French spoken audio] Obviously, there was corn
that grows in the warmer valleys, like Qukay and Pisac
in the sheltered valleys. Corn was very important
because it was the basic ingredient for the famous corn beer,
which was used for the libations to the sun and to the Inca. There was also cocoa. I don't classify it as a foodstuff. because the cocoa,
which grew in the warmer regions, was in high demand
as a divinatory and medicinal plant. It was used to treat
a range of aches and fatigue. Two kilometers from Cuzco,
the ruins of a massive military camp, the largest in the area,
housing up to 5000 warriors. Sacsayhuamán means
satisfied Falcon in Quechua. The ninth Inca, Pachacutec, who envisioned Cuzco
in the shape of a puma, built Sacsayhuamán as the animals head with the 22 zig-zag walls
representing its teeth. What techniques they used to transport
and build such enormous structures is still a mystery to us. Bear in mind
that they hadn't yet discovered the wheel. Three towers once rose above the walls,
but today only the foundations remain. One of the last battles
of the Spanish conquest took place here. and it is remembered particularly
for the heroic story of the Inca Kahawid. When the Spanish were attacking the tower
where he had retreated with his men, he threw himself
to his death from the tower rather than give himself up. There were many languages
within the Inca Empire. The most important
were the different varieties of Quechua. [French spoken audio] One of the strengths of the Inca regime
was that they created a general language, the lingua generale,
which was used to communicate between distant communities. It was the lingua generale
that was conserved because the missionaries learned it
and passed on by them. It became the common language for a large portion
of the South American continent. Moray, a circular terrain, which we think was probably used
as an agronomical observatory. There were different crops
associated with different eco-zones because the terrain
covered several ecological zones. The terraces of Moray
cut into this deep amphitheater are an incredible site. This archaeological site
is made up of concentric terraces rising over different levels,
all cut into a huge clay basin. Each level appears
to have a unique microclimate, with the layers descending
over a depth of 150 meters. The different levels are accessible
via an ingenious system of steps integrated into the walls themselves and irrigation canals carry water
from one level to the next through gullies dug through the stones. The differences in temperature
and humidity between each layer enabled them to test plant growth
according to climate and altitude. When it came to communication, the Incas took on
a massive communication network that existed prior to their arrival. They developed it even further. They maintained and extended the roads
that had been built by the Walis. These roads have been compared
to Roman roads. The Spanish who've used them even noted that
they were of considerably better quality. They had an information system
which was very advanced for its time. A system known as Chasquis,
the messenger system. These roads were used by people
who were running on foot. You can imagine what that meant. They ran relatively short distances,
and they relayed one another. In just one day, from relay to relay, they could obtain information
from people living on the coast. The Incas, unlike other cultures
that we find in Europe, had not yet discovered the wheel,
nor did they make use of animal labor. The only pack animal
native to the Andes is the llama. All the transportation,
of both material goods and people, was done using caravans of llamas. The Spanish described caravans
of 3,000 and even 3,500 to 4000 animals. That means you could watch one-and-a-half
to a two-hour procession of llamas. These llamas belonged
to different communities who'd offer their animals to the Inca
for use in the transport of all products. You have to bear in mind
that Europeans arriving by boat in Panama would travel for up to a year
before they reached Peru. We are talking about a period in history
where time traveled more slowly, and so in some ways
people could do what they wanted. At Maras, we find
an impressive number of salt ponds. These are community terraces that today are run
by a local cooperative. The salt comes
from a small saltwater source. The site has been in use
since pre-Inca times, apparently, as far back as the so-called
early intermediate period. They realized that when they poured
the salt water over the terraces and left it to evaporate all day
under the hot sun, a layer of salt was left on the ground. The Incas took advantage
of this system to obtain salt. Salt was essential
both for ritual and daily life. For example, during certain festivals,
people abstained from salt, and in others,
salt was used to ward off evil spirits. They also used salt for washing. Salt had a fundamental role, and since it was a basic foodstuff,
the community farmed it. Cuzco is located
in a very prosperous region. It is close to the famous Sacred Valley,
the Valley of Yucay, which is an extremely beautiful area. Progressively, Cuzco was established
as the capital of the Inca Empire. It was here that the four major routes
started and then gradually branched out. They delimited the four main territories, which together made up Tawantinsuyu,
meaning the four-part empire with the northern, southern,
eastern and western zones. Who lived at Cuzco? Essentially, Cuzco was inhabited
by the chiefs, the ruling elite's members. Each conquered population
would have representatives living in or near the city of Cuzco. It was a sort of centralization of power. Cuzco means the navel of the world, which gives us a good idea
of how they conceived of the city as the very heart of the empire. One other element
reinforced this sense of center. In the center of Cuzco was the Sun Temple,
known as the Qorikancha. Qori means gold in Quechua. The sun is the ancestor of the Incas,
or at least, so they claimed. In the Sun Temple,
they stored the Inca mummies, the ancestors of the Incas. There were also other astrological symbols
as well as a series of objects generally found in gardens, which were golden replicas
of animals and plants. Today, only the basic outlines remain
of what was once the most luxurious temple of the Inca Empire. In its day, the walls of Qorikancha
were covered with 700 gold leaves, each weighing almost two kilos. We can still admire
this stellar plaque made of solid gold showing Mother Earth and the Incas. Only four rooms
of the ancient temple still exist. The walls built on a slight angle are made
with perfectly fitted stone blocks. The trapezoid doors and niches are typical
of the Pachacutec Inca architecture. We believe that the two larger rooms were the temples of the moon
and the Venus and Pleiades. Their walls
would've been covered in silver. The two smaller rooms
were probably dedicated to worshipping rainbows and lightning. Before entering the temple,
people would fast. They came barefoot carrying a weight
on their back as a sign of humility. The most important ceremonies
of the Inca sovereigns took place in the Sun Temple,
weddings, coronations, and funerals. This was where the mummies
were conserved. Sala golden thrones. Everything here was covered
with the precious yellow metal, symbol of the sun. Even the famous internal gardens contained golden sheaths
of corn and fruits. We know that the site at Ollantaytambo
was an Incan palace and a ceremonial center, because above the Inca Temple,
there's a Sun Temple. It was obviously never quite finished. These stones are unique to this site, and they have elements
which look almost like porphyry. In fact, it's not porphyry,
it's a perfectly polished rock, which must have been difficult
to transport all the way here. There's a whole system
of terraces and strongholds around the city for protection,
but all the central area is ceremonial and the lower parts too, because the irrigation network
we find here suggests that these are ritual terraces
used to grow corn for libations rather than for agricultural purposes. In the lower part,
we find the cajanka, one of the large buildings
with many wide open doorways, that were used
by the Inca and his armies to hold important meetings
or for festive gatherings. In the Andes, textiles
were like a language to themselves. Unlike in the Mesoamerican cultures
of Central America, where we find dated steels,
in the Andes, there was no written script. The equivalent of writing was textile,
a whole different type of language. The way the threads were laid out, the warp threads
in relation to the weft in a textile could represent special configurations. That means when the weave
is laid out on the floor, the weaver conceives of the pattern
in three dimensions, as he would today. Records show that in Pachacutec, the Incas gave a textile
to one of the ambassadors from the Qullasuyu region. The textile was in the form of a map
showing a part of the territory. It's important because in some ways, these are the precursors to the road maps
which we use to get around today. Tambomachay,
as its name suggests, is a relay post. The road from Cuzco to Sacred Valley
is dotted with different sites. Some were temporary residences,
others were tambos, buildings which were used by the armies. They would've served
both as meeting places and as resting spots for the army. This was the case at Tambomachay. Not far from Tambomachay,
there was a ceremonial temple and a natural water source. The name is often translated
as the House of the Virgins. The site is the center
of a large irrigation network with a sacred fountain,
as well as a number of monuments reserved solely for women. In general, an Inca who went to the site
would not have been allowed entry because it was a sort of monastery
reserved solely for women. Inca gold, we often hear talk of it, but we see very little evidence of it because almost all of the Inca gold
was seized by the Spanish, and most of the objects and gold
were quite simply melted down, whether they were works of art,
tableware, or ornaments. The Spanish melted it down
because for them, it had no aesthetic value,
nor did it have symbolic power, so they had no reason
to respect the objects. They simply wanted to obtain
gold bullion and pieces of gold. What's interesting
is that the majority of the goldsmiths that worked for the Incas
were not actually Incas themselves. They came from the north of Peru,
from the famous kingdom of Chimu. The Incas took the goldsmiths from Chimu
and transported them to Cuzco so that their skills would be put
to the service of the Inca Empire rather than the Chimu kings. It's a fortified stronghold,
an army control point. The remaining traces
are sufficient to give us an idea of where the forts stood
and how they controlled the access to the Sacred Valley
on the other side in Pisac. Amongst the relics
found in the excavations of the Little Red Fortress, so-called
because of the pink color of its stones, were a number of fragments of red ceramic. Opinions about them vary,
one can but imagine. The mummies are treated, but they don't look like
the Egyptian mummies who were embalmed
and placed within a sarcophagus. Here, they were dried and then covered
with the most valuable pieces of cloth. The mummies were equipped
with their belongings. They had servants and women,
a full courtly following. They were venerated
and carried in possessions. An official from each clan
would bring out the Mummy, which was carried with full pomp and pride
in and around the square of Cuzco to be worshipped. We're essentially talking
about the descendants of the Inca and members of the elite
because common people were not allowed access
to this sacred area. They ate. They would sit
the mummies on a sort of throne and offer them corn beer
and other delicacies. To an extent, they were seen to be alive. Once the Inca mummies had their fill of all the energy that they could receive
in the form of offerings, then they would return to their residence where they were preserved
in this way indefinitely. Like other Andean societies,
they did practice human sacrifice. The Mochicas, for example,
sacrificed human beings, as did the Chimu. It was once thought that the Incas didn't, but that was probably
because of Garcilaso de la Vega, who tried to present them
as a very cultivated rational people. Even so, there were sacrifices. They're are even mentioned
in 16th-century sources. They were different
from the ancient Mexican peoples, the Mayas or the Aztecs,
because they tended to sacrifice mostly children or young people
and only on specific occasions, special events
like the birth of an heir and weddings. A variety of different occasions
which were of general interest. Each community was asked
to give up the most beautiful child. As a general rule,
the victims were the most beautiful. These children were treated
with great consideration and were sacrificed in the mountains. That is where they were discovered
in the 20th century, using new methods
of archaeological research. It was right in the summits,
in the glaciers, that we found the remains of children. This discovery corresponded
to the 16th-century records we had. In Chinchero,
the market square is surrounded by a massive Inca wall
decorated with ten trapezoid niches. With its ancient temple and palace,
the town of Chinchero protected the entrance
to the Sacred Valley. Here, we get a clear sense
of the sacred nature of the Inca constructions
and even of the terraces, some of which are still cultivated today. Chinchero is another palace. It too was a temporary residence
with a whole series of ceremonial terraces which spread out behind it
over different levels. On two of the levels,
we find these miniature models of the mountains
that you can see on the horizon, which are characteristic elements
of Inca rituals. They were like little reproductions. It appears that the Incas
considered the mountains to be sacred and they drank libations
while standing on these models because they could not access
the mountains themselves. The Spanish arrived at a time
when a civil war was being fought by two Inca brothers. The North
was under the control of Atahualpa and the South, including the town of Cuzco
was controlled by Huascar. They were half brothers,
but they aimed to kill each other. At the moment of the Spanish arrival, Atahualpa had won a great victory
and had had his brother killed. He also put to death all the families
of his brother's allies in Cuzco, a group of several hundred people. We know, for example,
that the mummies of Pachacutec and Tupaq Yupanqui
were burned at that time, despite their being the founders
of the Inca Empire. Only Atahualpa remained,
and he was the Inca of the North and vitally of the town of Cuzco,
which he had helped to found. He was controlling a huge territory containing a large number
of rebellious areas which the Inca struggled
to bring under control. It came to a point
where it was impossible. If you have an empire
that extends over 3,000 kilometers from north to south,
it's impossible to send an army to a location 2,000 kilometers away
because the only transport is by foot and it would take several months. Then if a second rebellion
breaks out in the south, you need another army,
but there are no longer enough men. Pizarro and his men
arrived just at that moment and marched up to Cajamarca. The situation worked
in favor of the conquest, as did the fact that many of the people
who had been subjected to Inca rule seized this opportunity for change. Much has been said in favor of the Incas, but they were nonetheless
an important and military people. For those who had been subordinated,
the arrival of the Spanish was an irresistible opportunity
to be finally rid of Atahualpa. When the Spanish arrived, they quickly understood
that an empire like this, with its pyramid-shaped
political structure and sole sovereign leader, cannot survive
once that leader figure has been removed. [French spoken audio] That's exactly what Pizarro did. He took several years
to carry out his explorations. Then in 1532,
he landed on the Peruvian coast in northern Peru. He swiftly set out on the route
of the Sierra, heading for Cajamarca,
where he met the Inca and his troops. When Atahualpa was captured,
he knew that the Spanish wanted gold, so he offered to buy his freedom by filling the room
in which he was kept with gold. He offered a ransom payment, which was a common system
in Europe at the time. Atahualpa made the offer, but Pizarro knew very well
that if he was to let Atahualpa go, the Inca would recover
all his former power, and then the Spanish
would be left in a very poor position. He knew that they would be hard pressed
to capture the Inca a second time. Pizarro sentenced him to trial,
accusing the Inca of having misused the Bible
by throwing it on the ground and assassinating
his half-brother, Huescar. He was charged with murder
and put to death. He was executed for his actions, which, though perfectly normal
within his own culture were, of course,
swiftly condemned by Spanish law. As of that moment,
the Spanish used Incas as puppet rulers. They were the legitimate successors of the emperor that they had removed
from power and executed, manipulated by the Spanish to facilitate
their conquest of the empire. [French spoken audio] It worked very well. Pizarro had a number of brothers. The only legitimate one was the man
who went to Pachacamac, Hernando. Then there was a bastard called Gonzalo,
who rose up against the Spanish throne. There was another
known as Pizarro del Bueno. According to the records,
he was killed at Plaza de Armas. Lastly, there was Martin de Alcantara, who was Francisco's half-brother
on his mother's side. Then came his cousins, connected by a complicated network
of relations. Diego de Almagro,
who also features in the conquest of Peru, is an unusual character. He was quite independent. At first, he was connected
to the Pizarro clan, but later he wanted
to distance himself from his allies. In order to understand Pizarro and Almagro
and the terrible reputations of the conquistadors whose behavior
is widely disapproved of today, we have to understand
that in Europe at that time looting and plundering were widespread. [French spoken audio] These men took more
because there was so much more to be had. They were no worse than many others. There was a sort of patronage
at the end of the middle ages whereby a leader
was expected to provide for his army. The more he pillaged,
the richer he became and the larger his army, so the demands of his generosity
grew and so on. We see that their approach
was very different from ours. A number of civil wars
broke out amongst them for various reasons:
ambition, loot and precedence. The crown put a stop to it all. At first, they sent in a viceroy
who was executed. Then other civil servants arrived
who managed to stop the bloodshed and punished the conquistadors. Things ended very badly
for them in the end, but in reality it was they,
though it seems strange to say this, who in this brutal military context
were the first to start mixing the races because many of them
had mixed-race children. It's impossible to change history, but if Pizarro had arrived
many years earlier under Huayna Capac,
things might've been very different because the empire
was more stable at the time. Or it might be that much like the Romans,
the Inca civilization would have collapsed and other smaller civilizations
would have emerged. This would have been typical
of the pattern that emerged throughout
the history of the Andes.
