Until the coming of the Spanish, the native Indios had no wheels, no animals to pull heavy loads, no tools made from hard metals. Yet before and during the rule of the Incas they accomplished some wondrous feats. Including terracing the sides of mountains at 12,000 feet and up- for farming.
A nice picture, Charlie. My wife was a archaeologist in Peru and I lived there with her when she was running those projects. This is a nice reminder of very fun but, sometimes hard, times.
Thanks Douglas, WC and Greg.
I never found out what they grew in all the terraces, but it was probably the same as for hundreds of years: potatoes, maize and quinoa- a nutritious type of grain.
Everything in the lives of the Indios was- and still is- difficult. Modern progress has mostly left them behind; walking and farming at such high elevations is very demanding physically. Among the physical characteristics they've developed over thousands of years of living in the high Andes is: They are short people, with very short-but-strong legs and large chest cavities (necessary because of the relative lack of oxygen where they live).
Charlie
