An excellent Pre-Inca Full size Stone Champis. One of the hardest items to come by
intact from this region. The wood handle is made from the very hard Huassai/Chonta
tree. Colorful Camelid fiber textiles and tassels are still complete throughout the
extent of the shaft, most likely using Tara tree resin or Castilla elastica (mixed
with Ipomoea alba) for aiding attachment. The leather strapped stone head is tight
and without any major damage. Style of stone is indicative of Ecuadorian and/or Northern
Peruvian in origin. Wonderful natural patina on wood. Expected areas of wear is evident.
Measures 27". Partial re-attachment of textile in small areas but still in Excellent
Condition. Northern Peru/Ecuador 1200-1400 AD.
Wise ill. McBride 1980 p23-24
As with the Aztecs, the term 'Incas' did not originally have the meaning which we
now apply to it. By about A.D. 1000 a tribe called the Quechua had occupied the valley
of Cuzco in modern Peru and gradually expanded their hold on the surrounding territory,
absorbing or killing their neighbours. Around A.D. 1200 the chieftains of the Quechua
declared that they were descended from the Sun God, and would henceforth be hereditary
and divine rulers. They called themselves Incas, but their tribe was still called
the Quechua, and Quechua-speaking Indians survive in Peru to this day. "The Incas
reached the zenith of their power during the 15th century, and never lost a battle
after 1437 -- until the Spaniards arrived almost a century later. By 1500 the Quechua
people had absorbed about 500 other tribes and the Incas ruled an empire five times
the size of modern France, covering not only Peru but also Ecuador, southern Colombia,
part of western Bolivia, and northern Chile. The Quechua were still the main ethnic
group in this vast empire, but there were three other major ethnic groups: the Symaras
to the south, the primitive Urus from the Amazon Basin, and the Chimus along the
coast north of Lima. This last group was the final one to be conquered by the Incas,
in a prolonged was lasting from 1461 to 1464, which made such an impression on the
Quechuas that they were still talking about it when the Spaniards arrived. "[...]
To achieve this dominance over such a vast empire the Incas needed a large and well-organized
army. Most able-bodied males were trained in the use of arms from boyhood, with regular
drills two or three times a month, and could expect to be called up to perform their
military service whenever needed between the ages of 25 and 50, but there was no
standing army. Instead, when war was imminent, each province was ordered to send
a contingent of warriors under a local commander, and these tribal contingents either
marched to Cuzco or waited in readiness to join the main army when it passed near
their territory."
