Inca Empire Trivia

Stretching along the spine of the Andes without the wheel, iron tools, or a written script, the Inca built the largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas through remarkable engineering and administration. This quiz covers the roads, rulers, and rituals of a civilization that mastered mountain living.

No llama required, just 12 questions on the empire of the sun.

Engineering the Andes

The Inca built an empire across some of the most difficult terrain on Earth, connecting it with an extensive network of roads and rope suspension bridges. To farm steep mountainsides, they carved terraces into hillsides, turning slopes into productive fields for crops like maize and potatoes.

Governing Without Writing

Remarkably, the Inca administered a vast, multiethnic empire without a written script.

• Quipu, knotted cords of varying color and length, recorded numbers and information
• A network of storage facilities called qollqa stockpiled food and goods for lean times
• Runners relayed messages along the road system to keep the empire connected

Sun Worship and Sudden Collapse

The Inca ruler, known as the Sapa Inca, was considered a descendant of the sun god Inti and governed from the capital of Cusco. A civil war between rival brothers weakened the empire just before Francisco Pizarro's arrival, and within a few years, the once-mighty empire had fallen to Spanish conquest.