Incas | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/incas/RSS feed for IncasenFri, 20 Mar 2026 16:20:44 +0000Humans May Have Transported Live Parrots Over the Andes Mountains Along Sophisticated Trade Routes Before the Rise of the Inca Empirehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-may-have-transported-live-parrots-over-the-andes-mountains-along-sophisticated-trade-routes-before-the-rise-of-the-inca-empire-180988377/Archaeologists were puzzled when they found parrot feathers in a pre-Inca burial in coastal Peru. A new study suggests that the birds were captured in the wild and kept alive over lengthy journeysFri, 20 Mar 2026 16:20:44 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-may-have-transported-live-parrots-over-the-andes-mountains-along-sophisticated-trade-routes-before-the-rise-of-the-inca-empire-180988377/Seabird Poop May Have Fueled This Pre-Inca Kingdom's Rise to Power in South Americahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/seabird-poop-may-have-fueled-this-pre-inca-kingdoms-rise-to-power-in-south-america-180988189/The Chincha Kingdom used nutrient-rich seabird guano as fertilizer for maize, according to a new studyFri, 13 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/seabird-poop-may-have-fueled-this-pre-inca-kingdoms-rise-to-power-in-south-america-180988189/Thousands of Mysterious Holes Dot the Landscape in Peru. Archaeologists Say They May Finally Know Whyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thousands-of-mysterious-holes-dot-the-landscape-in-peru-archaeologists-say-they-may-finally-know-why-180987681/New research suggests the Band of Holes functioned as a barter marketplace before becoming an accounting system for the IncaTue, 18 Nov 2025 18:20:35 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thousands-of-mysterious-holes-dot-the-landscape-in-peru-archaeologists-say-they-may-finally-know-why-180987681/This Inca Building—the Only Surviving Structure of Its Kind—Might Have Been Designed to Amplify Sound and Musichttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-inca-building-the-only-surviving-structure-of-its-kind-might-have-been-built-to-amplify-sound-and-music-180987597/Researchers will use 3D modeling to assess what the "carpa uasi" in Huaytará, Peru, originally looked like and how sound traveled through itThu, 30 Oct 2025 15:48:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-inca-building-the-only-surviving-structure-of-its-kind-might-have-been-built-to-amplify-sound-and-music-180987597/A Lock of Braided Human Hair Could Change How We Think About Inca Society and Record-Keepinghttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-lock-of-braided-human-hair-could-change-how-we-think-about-inca-society-and-record-keeping-180987187/The khipu knot-tying system was thought to have only been used by elites, but one artifact suggests commoners, too, knew how to use itFri, 15 Aug 2025 15:48:23 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-lock-of-braided-human-hair-could-change-how-we-think-about-inca-society-and-record-keeping-180987187/This Colorful Mural of Stars and Fish Is the First of Its Kind Found on the Coast of Northern Peruhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-colorful-mural-of-stars-and-fish-is-the-first-of-its-kind-found-on-the-coast-of-northern-peru-180987144/The 3,000- to 4,000-year-old artwork decorated the wall of a temple atrium during Peru's Formative PeriodMon, 11 Aug 2025 18:45:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-colorful-mural-of-stars-and-fish-is-the-first-of-its-kind-found-on-the-coast-of-northern-peru-180987144/Gas Workers Digging Beneath the Streets of Lima Stumble Upon 1,000-Year-Old Mummy With Dark Brown Hairhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gas-workers-digging-beneath-the-streets-of-lima-stumble-upon-1000-year-old-mummy-with-dark-brown-hair-180986924/The burial belonged to a child who may have lived among fishermen from the Chancay culture, which thrived in Peru before the rise of the Inca EmpireWed, 02 Jul 2025 19:29:18 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gas-workers-digging-beneath-the-streets-of-lima-stumble-upon-1000-year-old-mummy-with-dark-brown-hair-180986924/Archaeologists Discover More Than 100 Structures Linked to a Mysterious Pre-Columbian Civilization in the Remote Peruvian Andeshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-more-than-100-structures-linked-to-a-mysterious-pre-hispanic-civilization-in-the-remote-peruvian-andes-180986740/Based in high-altitude urban centers, the Chachapoya resisted conquest by the Inca Empire for centuriesWed, 04 Jun 2025 18:37:19 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-more-than-100-structures-linked-to-a-mysterious-pre-hispanic-civilization-in-the-remote-peruvian-andes-180986740/Archaeologists in Peru Discover Graves of Men, Women and Children Killed in Battle, Then Buried With Honorhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-in-peru-discover-graves-men-women-children-killed-battle-then-buried-with-honor-180986470/The 24 members of the mysterious Chuquibamba culture were interred with valuable grave goodsMon, 21 Apr 2025 19:31:14 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-in-peru-discover-graves-men-women-children-killed-battle-then-buried-with-honor-180986470/Man Vandalizes Famed 12-Angled Stone, an Inca Engineering Marvel in Peruhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/man-vandalizes-famed-12-angled-stone-an-inca-engineering-marvel-in-peru-180986092/The stone, which sustained damage in six spots, had been carved to fit perfectly in a palace wall hundreds of years agoFri, 21 Feb 2025 19:15:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/man-vandalizes-famed-12-angled-stone-an-inca-engineering-marvel-in-peru-180986092/