THE ANCIENT ANDEAN MOUNTAIN SETTLERS.

The Andes or Andean Mountains (Cordillera de los Andes) are the longest continental mountain range in the world and the highest mountain range outside Asia. They form a continuous highland along the Western edge of South America. This range is about 7,000km / 4,300mi long, about 200 to 700km /120 to 430mi wide, and of an average height of about 4,000m / 13,000ft.
The bounds of the former Inca realm of the Tahuantinsuyo, centered in the Andean Mountains and the largest in the world in the early 16th century, stretched throughout the Andes from North to South. Its area incorporates now 7 South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Its political and administrative structure was the most sophisticated found among the ancient America, especially for its location and ways of survival. It was predominantly agricultural.
The Andes also are the place in which several high plains (tablelands) raise significantly above the surrounding area with steep slopes -some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogota, Arequipa, Medellin, Sucre, Merida and La Paz. The Peruvian-Bolivian Plateau in West-Central South America is the world's second highest plateau on Earth outside the Tibet. The bulk of it lies now in Bolivia, but its Northern parts lies in Peru.
The Andean model of accessing and distributing resources, particularly in the arid North West Coast of Peru and in the highland plateaus along the Andean Mountains was unique. It is important to mention that only about 2% of the land in the Andes is arable. The Inca agriculture was the culmination of thousands of years of farming and herding in the high mountains, the coastal deserts, and the rain-forest of the Amazon basin. This 3 radically different environments were all part of their land and required different technologies for agriculture. They did not have many features that helped many civilizations to grow in the Old World. They did not use the wheel. They did not have animals to ride on and draft animals that could pull wagons and plows. The did not use iron or steel. And above all they did not use money and did not have a writing system.
The need to access the proper land for specific crops or animals were far more important tasks in direct relation to survival techniques that meant a totally different perspective of settling and develop a type of lifestyle. Potatoes of different kind (400 varieties), corn (jumbo size without the sweet flavor exists in a great variety of flavors), and quinoa were among the unique crops and camelids (llamas and alpacas) and guinea pigs were the unique domesticated animals.
A line-ages miniature colonies were created to overcome the adversities of the terrain and weather. The adaptation and agricultural technologies of ancient settlers allowed them to organize production of a diverse range of crops from the arid coast, the high and cold mountains, and the humid jungle regions, which they redistribute to villages that did not have access to other regions. Despite of all these barriers, the Incas were still able to construct one of the greatest imperial states in human history based on a concept of reciprocity.
The Inca empire functioned largely without marketplaces. Instead, exchange of goods and services governed by the spirit of reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers was the base of their philosophy of life. '
Taxes' consisted of labour obligation of a person to the Empire in building government related projects for the sake of their own community. The reciprocal action from the government was granting access to new lands and goods and provide food and drink in all celebratory feasts, that were quite a lot. This period of employment represented a third of a normal year period. This concept is still applied in the remote areas in which the influence of modern lifestyle is still unable to reach.
The Ayllu, as the word itself means, refers to a network of families in a given area. It is and ancient Andean system of governing councils and it still is the traditional form especially among Quechuas and Aymaras. The supreme leader has the responsibility of overseen the vast network of the ayllus. Ayllus are distinguished by their self-sustainability, commonly held territory and relations of reciprocity. Members engage in shared collective labor (Quechua: Minga) and in reciprocal exchanges of assistance (Quechua: Ayni).