The Incas of Peru/Appendix C

by Clements Robert Markham

APPENDIX C

NOTE ON THE ARCHITECTURE AND ARTS OF THE INCAS

The architecture of the Incas has been so well described by my old friend Squier^[1] that a chapter on that subject is superfluous. I should not advise any one to go elsewhere, except to the old writers and to Señor Larrabure y Unanue, who is always accurate, for an account of any ruins which Squier has described, because his account will be found to be incomparably the best. I can speak with some authority, because I have personally visited and examined most of the ruins which engaged Squier's attention.

At the same time the reader must be warned not to rely upon Squier's references to history. He is almost always inaccurate, and sometimes quite wrong. For he dipped into early writers to illustrate his accounts of the ruins. He did not use his knowledge of the ruins to throw light on a thorough study of the early writers.

I propose, however, to give a list of the Inca ruins, with a few references and other notes, as a guide to inquirers. The megalithic ruins, and those of the Grand Chimu on the coast, have already been described.

Cuzco.	1.	The ruins of the Colcampata palace, probably of the time of the Inca Pachacuti and the same as his Patallacta. See my Cuzco and Lima,' p. 100. Squier, p. 449. Also described at p. 286 of this work.
	2.	Temple of the Sun. 'Cuzco and Lima,' p. 119; Squier, pp. 439 to 445, with plan.
	3.	Yacha-huasi, or school. Squier, p. 447.
	4.	Pampa Maroni wall. Squier, p. 446.
	5.	Inca walls of houses. Squier, p. 444. See my plan in the first volume of the 'Royal Commentaries,' showing the Inca work throughout Cuzco.
	6.	Great Halls at Cuzco, described by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega.
	7.	Fortress of Piquillacta, southern approach to Cuzco. Squier, p. 420.
Vilcamayu Valley.	8.	Ollantay-tampu, p. 150. Described in Chap. X, 'Cuzco and Lima,' pp. 179 to 184. Squier, pp. 493 to 510.
	9.	Palace of Chinchero. Squier, p. 483, and 'Cuzco and Lima.'
	10.	Yucay, one ornamental wall remaining.
	11.	Pissac and the Inti-huatana. Squier, pp. 523 to 530.
	12.	Cacha. A very curious temple with pillars, and an upper story, described by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega. Squier, p. 402.
Basin of Lake Titicaca.
	13.	Copacabana. Squier, p. 325.
	14.	Coati. Squier, pp. 359 to 365.
	15.	Sillustani chulpas. My 'Travels in Peru and India,' pp. 111, 112; Larrabure y Unanue, p. 424; Squier, p. 376.
	16.	Sondor-huasi. See my 'Travels in Peru and India,' p. 193; Squier, pp. 394, 395.
	17.	Hatun-colla. Squier, p. 385.
	18.	Limatambo palace. 'Cuzco and Lima,' p. 93; Squier, p. 86.
	19.	Curamba fortress. 'Cuzco and Lima,' p. 83.
	20.	Choque-quirao. Important ruins on the Apurimac, about thirty miles from Abancay; described by Castelnau. Recently visited by Dr. Bingham, an American traveller. About to be exhaustively examined by Dr. Max Uhle.
	21.	Vilcas-huaman. Described by Cieza de Leon and in the 'Relaciones Geograficas.' Not visited by Squier. But see Wiener, pp. 264 to 271.
	22.	Huanuco palace. Squier, p. 216. Larrabure y Unanue, p. 293. Enock, Chap. XXII.
	23.	Chavin. Enock, ' Andes and Amazon,' pp. 72, 73.
	24.	Fortress Palace of Hervay. 'Cuzco and Lima,' p. 29 ; Squier, p. 83; Larrabure y Unanue, p. 316.
	25.	Lunahuana. Larrabure y Unanue, pp. 299 to 322. Inca Huasi, use of columns.
	26.	Paramunca fortress. Cieza de Leon, p. 247; Proctor, p. 175; Squier, p. 101 ; Larrabure y Unanue, p. 279.
	27.	Pachacamac. Max Uhle, Squier, who describes an arch.

The Inca roads and bridges are well described by Zarate and Cieza de Leon, p. 153, a passage which is quoted at length by the Inca Garcilasso (I. lib. ix. cap. 13). See also Velasco, 'Historia de Quito,' I. p. 59.

The ceramic and metallurgic art of the Incas is best seen in the collections of the Señora Centeno and of Dr. Caparo Muñiz, both once at Cuzco. The Centeno collection is now at Berlin. After the conquest of the coast the Incas brought a number of the Chimu potters and metal workers to Cuzco, and careful study in the museums might perhaps lead to discrimination between the purely Inca work, and the work after an infusion of the Chimu element.

1. Peru. Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas, by E. George Squier (Macmillan, 1877).