Rising from obscurity in Peru's Cusco Valley during the 13th century, a royal Inca dynasty charmed, bribed, intimidated, or conquered its rivals to create the largest pre-Columbian empire in the ...

Though the 16th-century Spanish conquistador invasion ended the Inca Empire, the legacy of the ... the royal Incan retreat and religious shrine. Machu Picchu was only one of many cities ...

Despite its relatively short reign, the Inca Empire—stretching from southern Colombia down to Chile and Argentina—developed a highly elaborated yet diverse and syncretic religious system which ...

At the height of its existence the Inca Empire was the largest nation on Earth ... its rule resulting in a universal language - a form of Quechua, a religion worshipping the sun, and a 14,000 ...

Some religious rituals involved human sacrifice ... During the last days of the Inca Empire, a relaxation of restrictions on coca consumption began. Some researchers argue that this change ...

All gold belonged to the ruler of the empire, the Inca himself, who claimed to be descended from the sun god. Llamas were the Incas' most important domestic animal, providing food, clothing and ...

and a place were the Inca used in one of their most dramatic and powerful religious ceremonies: human sacrifice. To the Incan eye, the landscape of their empire was riddled with shrines.

At the height of its existence the Inca Empire was the largest nation on Earth ... its rule resulting in a universal language - a form of Quechua, a religion worshipping the sun, and a 14,000 ...