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Over 457 illustrations

• Everyday life in the great civilisations of the ancient Andean mountains and south America



• How the Chavin, Moche, Wari, Nazca, Tiwanaku, Chimu, Inca and other peoples lived - with vivid accounts of their work, culture and lifestyle



• In-depth features on the important cities, fortresses and ceremonial centres, including Chan Chan, Machu Picchu, Chavin de Huantar, Pachacamac and Huari, with site plans and maps



• Economics and the world of work, religious beliefs and life at home, crime and punishment, and death and sacrifice are explored and illustrated



• Fully describes and illustrates the astonishing craftwork, including sculpture in plaster, stone and clay; pots and ceramics; textiles and featherwork; woodwork, and metalwork in gold, silver and alloys



• An expert and authoritative reference to this fascinating but largely unwritten and misunderstood history, with more than 500 stunning colour photographs, paintings, maps and illustrations



• "This book takes you to the very heart of the Inca civilization in easy steps. From the dizzying heights of the Andean cordilleras to the golden kingdoms of coastal Peru and onwards to the Incas the story unfolds with breathtaking clarity." Tony Morrison, photographer and author of "Pathway to the Gods"

This fascinating and accessible visual history tells the story of the ancient native peoples of Peru and the Andes. The Inca people began as a tribe in the Cuzco area around the 12th century, then evolved into a small city-state and finally, in the mid-15th-century, they began a far-reaching expansion under their first great leader Pachacuti. By the end of his reign in 1471 most of what is modern Peru and Ecuador were already under Inca control, and in the time of his son and grandson, their empire grew further to include Bolivia, a large portion of northern Chile, and had even extended into corners of Colombia and Argentina. Their magnificent heritage is seen today in the ruins of vast cities and mighty pyramids, and the remains of complex textiles and fabuously delicate fragments of shining goldwork.

Split into two sections, the first part of the book focuses on how these communities functioned, and the day-to-day life for ordinary people at work and home, including the lives of farmers, craftworkers and administrators, the role of women, and importance of religious beliefs. It shows how society developed from life in the first pre-ceramic villages to the sophisticated social systems in the empires of the Moche, Wari, Chimu and Inca.

The second part of the book tells the story of the arts and architecture, exploring their evolution in a land of many kingdoms, city-states and confederacies. Excavations, preserved architecture, and discovered art and artefacts supply the evidence in the absence of contemporary written accounts.

These chapters beautifully illustrate the stunning crafts, art pieces and architecture of the ancient Andean region, from those mysterious lines grooved in the desert to the temples erected at Kotosh, la Galgada and Aspero. They examine and discuss the styles and materials used, the sophisticated urban planning developed to design and locate ceremonial, administrative and palatial buildings; the stone, plaster and clay sculptures that adorned them; and the amazing beauty of their ceramics, fabrics and metalwork.

Timelines, feature boxes and a definitive glossary provide instant reference. This accessible and authoritative volume is illustrated with more than 500 photographs, specially commissioned artworks and maps to help pinpoint significant sites. Written by a leading specialist historian, the book affords a fascinating insight into the history and cultures of these ancient civilizations, which still speak poignantly to us today.

About the Authors

David Jones - Author

Dr David M. Jones is the co-author of The Mythology of the Americas and the consultant editor of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Aztec and Maya and The Aztec and Maya World (all published by Lorenz Books). He studied Anthropology and History at the University of California, Berkeley. He obtained a PhD in the Archaeology of the Americas at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. Dr Jones is co-author of the Blue Guide Mexico and has written many articles on Mesoamerican and South American art for The Grove Dictionary of Art.