The Inca in Peru -- Experts in Innovation

December 5th-8th, 2012; Around Cuzco, Peru --

What do you do when you run out of land on which to raise the crops that you and your civilization need to eat? The Inca give us a glimpse of what they did to solve their dilemma in this respect: they constructed level land -- and developed the irritation* systems to make it productive. But exactly how they did some of the things they did -- it is still a subject of mystery and conjecture.

• * The word, "irritation" was intended to read, "irrigation"; however, this typo is fruitious in that the construction of these agricultural developments provided considerable irritation to explorers, like Grumpy, who clambered up and down these sites centuries later.

John Deere tractor plowing a field.

Span of oxen plowing in adjacent field

Here are a couple photos of some quite level and rich soil, albeit at the elevation of 12,000 feet above sea level. Grumpy was told that the Inca occupied (lived on and cultivated) this area. Grumpy was fascinated by this contrast of the John Deere tractor and the span of oxen working in adjacent fields.

The city of Cuzco, situated on the bottom of a prehistoric lake, was also home to a large population of Inca at the time the Spaniards arrived. So why did the Inca find it necessary to construct crop lands in such inhospitable places as Moray, or Pisac, or Ollantaytambo --- or Machu Picchu!? Probably for the same reason the present world is running out of areas where crops can be productive -- partly because of the encroachment of pavement and warehouses onto our most tillable land. The effort to which the Inca went to develop crop lands should be a lesson for us to be better stewards of this precious commodity of which we still have quite a bit.

One of the most unique Inca sites is called Moray; it was built around a crater-like formation that may have been a "sink hole", since some of this area is limestone. There were actually two natural, circular depressions at this site plus an additional one that appeared to Grumpy to have been formed by damming an adjacent ravine. This site included a comprehensive irrigation system, utilizing water from surface run-off plus a diversion from a spring in another nearby valley. Most of this irrigation system was intact and functional.

The site that had the most elaborate irrigation system, and the one that was actually functioning when we visited, was at Tipon. Here on the left is a view across the series of nearly-level fields; the fields slope gently down toward their lower retaining wall. On the right is the irrigation canal bringing water along this side wall to various spots where it is diverted into cross-field canals (located next to the wall separating it from the field above it), from which each individual field can be flood-irrigated. This is the most water-efficient method of irrigation; least water is lost to evaporation, as is the case with "sprinkler" irrigation.

The Inca site that most clearly demonstrated the apparent desperation of the Inca to be able to grow crops in order to survive, was at Machu Picchu. Here in this part of Peru is the most "vertical" topography Grumpy has ever seen! Yet a hardy group of Inca came to this location (following a ridge from higher ground closer to Cuzco) to establish this settlement; then, after "only" 15 years, they inexplicably left, taking all of their belongings with them. To have accomplished as much as they did in only that short time is amazing in itself. The fact that they "made" fields on hillsides as steep as the one you see in the photo on the right is absolutely stunning to Grumpy. As you may note, the lower fields virtually stop only because below it is a near-vertical cliff.

A Short Side Trip to Peru -- Oxygen Not Included

December 5-10th, 2012; Cuzco City, Peru --

This side trip during the last week of my two and half month visit in Brazil was a pleasant surprise organized by my lovely Brazilian Sister-in-Law: Our stay in a beautiful old mansion, retrofitted into an upscale hotel, the tickets and driver to take us to each of eleven former Inca sites -- and the endless walks (up to 10,000 steps a day according to my trusty pedometer!) -- all were arranged by her.

View of dining plaza; right of entry

View on entering enclosed courtyard

I would like to start out by showing you a couple photos of the hotel. It had three floors of guest rooms, a large indoor courtyard dining area where a complementary breakfast was served each morning [this "complementary breakfast" was head and shoulders better than the so-called "free" breakfasts advertised by U.S. motel chains!], and each guest room included a Jacuzzi in addition to a shower and other "necessities". Four "suites" were located on the second floor behind a balcony which overlooked the dining area. Lunch and dinners could be ordered by guests from a "Chef's Menu".

Meat was also unrefrigerated -- flies would die!

Step right up and eat with gusto -- and the flies!

Our first exercise, upon arriving in Cuzco (also spelled "Cusco"), was a walk to the Central area to see such sights as the city market place (food service and fresh meat storage not meeting FDA standards!) as well as one of the Cathedral's that was built over the ruins of an Inca temple. The Catholic priests evidently believed that by building over their ruins that the Inca would recognize the defeat of their religion by Christianity; I believe the good padres were misguided in their approach, but I wasn't there.

Cuzco is at an elevation of 11,000 feet above sea level. Walking around the city took an effort, even though it was not as hilly as downtown Seattle. Needless to say, Grumpy's lungs, acclimated to sea level, found the Oxygen content of the air here to be very lacking; he "huffed and puffed" a lot during the entire visit to Peru, but especially the first couple of days.

Close up of scene on left!

These aren't just little rocks!

[This Inca site was developed in a large crater.]

The second (and first full) day, we visited four Inca sites located at an altitude of 12,000 feet! Fortunately, these sites had only a few stairways up (and down -- or down then up!). By going slow and taking lots of photos, Grumpy was able to survive. His leg muscles were in decent condition since had been exercising on the treadmill fairly faithfully in the days and months leading up to going to Brazil, and again while visiting his brother and sister-in-law in Brazil. But the leg muscles still needed Oxygen and Grumpy opined that Peru must have been rationing it since there seemed to be so little of it available to we tourists.

Subsequent days we visited about three or four different sites each day, all at altitudes between 11 and 12 thousand feet. As if the altitude wasn't enough, each successive site seemed to have more stair steps -- and steeper stairways! Besides the altitude and the numerous and steep stairs, the Inca must have had a peculiar body form to have been able to build and accommodate their stairways: Grumpy figured that they must have been only about 5'5" to 5' 7" tall -- but with legs that were at least four feet of their body height and very well muscled! Grumpy's reasoning stems from the fact that in most sites, the riser (height of a step) was 15-18"! Sometimes the tread (the part where your foot goes) was only 8-10"! Going up was sort of like going up a ladder; going down was like contemplating suicide! [And of course, there were, and are, no handrails!!]

There is much more to tell. In coming days, (as I relax from the trauma of perparing my 2012 FORM 1040!!) I will concentrate on a few of the more impressive (to me) sites and try to describe with photos the "ups and downs" that made them impressive -- to me. Stay tuned.