I thought that all of the sites and cultures we discussed were interesting in their own distinct way. However, my favorite was probably the Inca of the Andean mountain region. Andean South America was unique in the fact that a variety of different groups of people inhabited the area, from the first settlements of the Preceramic Age to the Moche of the Early Intermediate Age to the Tiwanaku of the Middle Horizon Age to finally the Inca of the Late Horizon Age. The Inca were the most impressive people to me because the mighty empire was able to successfully join the south-central and the northern “poles” of the Andean region. I also think that it is truly remarkable that the Inca were able to dominate and utilize the different environmental zones of the area. They maintained herds of alpacas and yamas and cultivated crops of potato, maize, and beans in zones that differed from their natural environmental zones. While it was not an easy process, the Inca were successful at this environmental adaptation, one of the key factors that helped the empire and its people to thrive. The Inca also had some interesting concepts, such as split inheritance. I believe that by not being able to inherit the former king’s possessions, the new king had a chance to prove himself as a mighty ruler and make a name for himself by conquering new land to expand the empire’s territory even further. I also thought that the idea of mit’a was interesting. Basically, the people and their states were bound in a dependent relationship. Each state relied on this public service to keep itself maintained. In return, the state gave the workers food, housing, and other resources. The quipu is another fascinating part of the Inca life, and it is amazing how this record-keeping system made up for the written language that the Inca did not have. As with many ancient civilizations, internal political strife was one of the factors that caused the collapse of the Inca. However, it’s intriguing to think about what would have happened to this group of people if the Spanish had never came in contact with them. How much longer would have the Inca empire survived? How would these people have evolved and what would this society have evolved into?