Incan agriculture

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/incan-agriculture

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary engineering structures?Extensive, multi-tiered terrace systems ('andenes') with sophisticated stone retaining walls and drainage
2. What is the hydrological infrastructure?Complex network of canals, aqueducts, and reservoirs for water capture and distribution
3. What are terrace farms (andenes) and why did the Incas build them?Andenes are stepped plots with stone walls that keep soil from washing away on steep slopes. They let the Incas grow food high in the mountains.
4. How did the Incas get water for their crops in the mountains?They built irrigation channels, aqueducts, and reservoirs that carried water from glaciers, rivers, and rain to the terraces.

Andenes: Engineered agricultural terraces on steep slopes, crucial for Inca land use and erosion control.
Qolqa: Inca state-managed storehouses used for preserving and distributing agricultural surplus.
Vertical Zonation: The practice of cultivating different crops at varying altitudes based on their specific environmental needs.