Andean societies before 1532

Abstract

Andean region was invaded by Francisco Pizarro's troops in 1532. A major step in the scientific understanding of Andean geography came in the late twenties when the German scholar, Carl Troll, did fieldwork in Bolivia. Andean agriculture has begun to attract the attention of agronomists. Dispersed settlement patterns were a feature of Andean territoriality which Europeans noticed early. The Early Horizon, also known as the Formative in the Andes, centred on Chavin, a temple at 3,135 metres altitude in the eastern highlands; best known for its religious art. Oral tradition in the Andes agrees with archaeology that the Late Intermediate period, the centuries just before the Inka expansion, had been awqa runa. The rapid expansion of Tawantinsuyu over 4,000 kilometres from what today is Ecuador in the north to Chile and Argentina in the south implied changes in the basic and ancient dimensions of Andean organization.