The Incan empire is considered by most scholars to have been the most developed in the Americas, dominating the Peruvian highlands until the last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Evidence of this advanced civilisation can still be seen today, with the most famous landmark – Machu Picchu – becoming a popular tourist destination. Located at more than 2,430 metres above sea level, archaeologists have marvelled for years over how society more than 500 years ago managed to thrive in such tough conditions.
However, Amazon Prime’s ‘Mysterious World of the Incas’ has revealed how the civilisation got by.
The narrator said in 2009: “Farming was, and is, the soul of the Andes.
“The key element of the Inca civilisation was fabrics and in the mountains, they were made mostly from wool.
“Coloured thread was woven by Indians on looms and spinners.
“Spinning wool was, and is, the most typical work for women in the Andes, as is weaving.
“The simple looms are used to this day and not only here on Lake Titicaca.”
The series went on to reveal how the workers made outfits that can still be seen today.
It added: “The production of cloth in Peru goes back to before the time of the Incas, but they only adopted this technology from other cultures and perfected it.
“The softest vicuna wool tunics could only be worn by the ruler, the common people wore so-called Awaska, a cloth made of llama wool.
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“Coca can subdue hunger and helps people fight altitude sickness.
“Perhaps thanks to it, they managed to work as hard as they did 4,000 metres above sea level.
“In the time of the Incas, just as today, most were tied to the soil day in and out, and in autumn, even the leader himself participated in the cultivation of the soil.”
Traditional medical uses of coca are foremost as a stimulant to overcome fatigue, hunger, and thirst and it is considered particularly effective against altitude sickness.
It is also still used as an anaesthetic and analgesic to alleviate the pain of headache, rheumatism, wounds and sores.
Before stronger anaesthetics were available, it also was used for broken bones, childbirth, and during trepanning operations on the skull.
Coca has also been a vital part of the religious cosmology of the Andean peoples of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, northern Argentina, and Chile through to the present period.
However, the leaf is also used in the manufacturing of the Class A drug cocaine and so the prohibition of the use of the coca leaf except for medical or scientific purposes was established by the United Nations in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
In the Andes, commercially manufactured coca teas, granola bars, cookies, hard candies, are all available in most stores and supermarkets, including upscale suburban supermarkets.