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History of a Lesser Known Inca Ruin, Huchuy Qosqo Peru

Huchuy Qosqo Peru

The Inca archaeological site Huchuy Qosqo (sometimes spelled Yuchuy Cuzco) is located north of Cuzco, Peru. Quechua for “Little Cuzco” is its name. It is located at a height of 3,650 meters (11,980 feet), overlooking the Sacred Valley and 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) west of Lamay. It is at an elevation of 2,920 meters (9,580 ft).      

The place was previously known as Caquia Xaquixaguana (variant spelling Kakya Shakishawana) or Kakya Qawani. It was given its current name in the twentieth century.

Huchuy Qosqo Peru

Settlement at Huchuy Qosqo Peru’s Archaeological Ruin

The town of Huchuy Qosqo Peru is home to an archaeological ruin. It is dated from about 1000 and 1400 CE. According to the Spanish historian Pedro de Cieza de León, the semi-mythical Viracocha (c. 1410-1438). He was the eighth Inca king. Huchuy Qosqo became a royal estate in the early 1400s.

The Inca Empire did not tax its inhabitants’ income or productivity as was customary at the time. Instead of controlling land and labor. As a result, Inca kings bought huge royal estates in order to increase their power and fortune, as well as that of their heirs. Royal estates also served as attractive rural mansions and, on occasion, fortresses to stave off power rivals. As a result, a royal estate or administrative center patterned after the Inca city is known as Huchuy Qosqo Peru, or “Little Cusco.”

Viracocha and his descendants needed a vast workforce to construct, operate, and maintain their estate. Under its system, citizens of the Inca Empire were to donate labor to the empire rather than being taxed on their income or productivity.

Although specialists and craftsmen may have been imported, the impressed mit’a labor was most likely found among local ethnic groups.

Huchuy Qosqo Peru

Policy on Incas

Mitma, another Inca policy, was most likely utilized to gather labor for the royal domain. Mitmaqkuna were families or ethnic groups. They were transferred to different regions within the empire or settled in enclaves among the area’s original people.

The goal was to disperse various ethnic groups. This was by dividing possible troublemakers and minimising the likelihood of coordinated resistance to the Incas. Mixing with local ethnic groups was forbidden for the mitmaqkuna.

Huchuy Qosqo Peru

The Estate’s Third Source of Labor

The Yanakunas, the Incas’ permanent employees, were the third source of work for the estate. The Yanakunas, like the mitma, rose to high positions in the Empire and were ruled directly by the Incas.

The aqllakuna sequestered women who lived together and made textiles. It was a key source of Inca riches, and chicha, the fermented drink served at feasts, were still the fourth source of labor for the royal estates.

The allakuna were frequently married to men who had excelled in the Empire’s service.

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