Five characteristics defined the physical environment of the Inca Empire; high elevation, low temperature, low precipitation, steep mountains and poor vegetation. All of these characteristics influenced how the Incas lived in every way: what they ate, how they managed food and living conditions, and ways of surviving. The Incas developed methods and systems like the Chaquis system, which helped with communication, and system of warehouses and granaries to evenly distribute food throughout the empire.
The Inca Empire was located at very high altitude on the Andes Mountains. As a result of this high altitude, the level of oxygen and the temperature was very low. Vegetation was scarce and the trees very short because of the cold and the low level of oxygen. At the level of Tierra Templada, which included many small trees and shrubs, the temperature was cold. There was also very little rain in the Inca Empire; less than 2 inches of rain a year; the land was as almost as dry as any desert. The mountains were very steep and hard to climb up and down. The only crop they could plant on these conditions was the potato. The potato was a very important staple food for the Incas. Along with the potatoes, the Incas ate cuy, which was guinea pig meat. Since the mountains were very steep, there wasn’t much flat land to grow potatoes. So, the Incas created a method of terrace farming where they would make large steps to grow food on. The Incas also built roads out of stone to be able to walk down the mountains with ease. The Incas used to roads to cross down to the Pacific Ocean and catch fish to complete a healthy diet. “And when the Inca wished to eat fresh fish from the sea, and as it was seventy or eighty leagues from the cost to Cuzco...they were brought alive and twitching, which seems incredible over such a long distance over such rough and craggy roads.” (Coe, Sophie. America’s First Cuisines. 1994. pg 201). To transport seafood from the Pacific Ocean to the center of the Empire at Cuzco, the Incas developed a system of communication called Chaquis. The system of Chaquis included post houses, and messengers. “Combined with the excellence of the Inca roads and bridges, gave them a system of communication unrivaled in the New World” (p. 200.) Many runners provided the Inca in Cuzco with fresh fish. The Chasquis system worked accordingly: “men were put on the roads in order of neighboring towns and as far apart as three crossbow shots” (pg 201). One indian would run up to the next indian in the neighboring town to tell them a message to pass on to every next messenger until the message is received by a king or ruler. This helps everyone keep in touch and know what is going on around them. This is a bit related to the game of Telephone where each person must learn a message a keep passing on, so and so forth so that each one has learned the message. “One of the several Inca Yupanquis, presumably her father and father-in-law, is said to have founded the system of warehouses and established the redistribution network of the Inca state” (p. 195) The king ordered all lords and chiefs meet in his house on a certain day, and he told them that it was necessary to have warehouses in Cuzco to supply; maize, chile beans, tarwi, quinoa, and dried meat and other preserved foods they had. Each of them had to bring foods from their lands and bring it to the warehouses. Warehouses held food and allowed easy access to all the food for the Incas. The warehouses held very much maize, potatoes, beans, and dried meat. The Incas ensured that everyone in the Empire had access to food by creating granaries. Granaries held maize, potatoes, dry meat and fish. “And he [Inca Yupanqui] commanded that every four days they give and share out among everybody in Cuzco what each one needed of food and provisions...ordering that the food and provisions be taken out of the granaries and put on the plaza of the city in great heaps...and from there they be divided by measure and number and reason, giving each what he needed” (p. 196) Inca laws commanded not only storage and distribution, but what food should be grown, what should be eaten and how it should be treated. Laws also commanded the Incas to grow abundance of food throughout the kingdom and they must plant lots of maize, potatoes, and ocas. They had many different preserved roots, like tamos, and sun-dried and lightly boiled maize called chochoca. Incas did not have the right to eat whatever they wanted but what the Inca felt they should eat. The Incas lived really effectively and survived well. With the Chaquis system they were able to communicate together and have knowledge of things that were happening on the other side of the Inca Empire. Warehouses helped store and distribute food evenly to ensure that everyone had what they needed to eat and to have a good diet of potato, fish and maize. Granaries provided a space where all the food could be stored and where the king could keep track of all the food that they produced. For the Inca, it was important that everyone would get a fair share.