The Inca Empire was a very large civilization. But people have a lot of questions about it. The Inca did not write down their history. Instead, much of what we know is from Spanish colonizers. The Spaniards did not understand Inca culture, however. Also, the Inca lived high in the Andes Mountains. They were far away from other people. For many years, researchers did not even know about some of the Inca’s largest villages.

Luckily, a new kind of scientist can tell us more about the Inca. These scientists work on top of mountains! National Geographic Explorer Maria Constanza Ceruti is one of the top experts in this field. She is from Argentina and is part Andean. Ceruti climbs mountains in South America. She searches for signs of the Inca. She worked with a team that climbed to the top of a volcano in Peru. There she and her team discovered mummified children. The discovery helped teach scientists new information about the Inca.

Mummies are important in Inca culture. It helps to know Inca history to understand why. The Inca people began to come together in communities in 1100s C.E. They made their capital in Cuzco. But the Inca would not become an empire until the early 15th century. That was when a fierce warrior named Viracocha Inca came to power. The Inca began taking land south of their capital.

The Inca sometimes took land by force. But other times they took land peacefully. Sometimes the Inca got support by following the traditions of people they colonized. They did ceremonies to honor the local gods.

The Inca also sent their armies to live in areas they took over. If people in the land they took over tried to fight back, the Inca forced them to move closer to the capital. They also sent groups of people who were loyal to the empire to live in the new areas. This broke up the people’s culture and forced them to be loyal to the king.

The Inca Empire had many accomplishments. One of them was building new highways connecting their land. They made suspension bridges from vines. They also made tunnels from rocks. The roads were mostly used by the army.

The Inca also created new ways to farm. They carved fields into the mountains. These fields looked a little like steps. They could farm lots of different crops with these fields, even though they were high in the mountains. They used canals to hold water and move it around. They even had canals that cleaned the water. The Inca grew so much food that they built storehouses to hold the extra. They kept track of the crops with quipus. Quipus were ropes tied together. Each rope was a different color. The Inca put knots in the ropes to record information. They used these knotted ropes to keep track of food, people and more. They might have even been used to tell stories.

Inca kings built their own royal palaces with lots of buildings. One of the most famous is Machu Picchu. It was likely built by Emperor Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. It had many buildings. Some of them were temples, homes and offices. They also had areas for community activities.

Inca kings were important even after they died. Inca leaders were mummified like the ancient Egyptians. But they did not stay buried forever. Inca mummies were brought out during important festivals. They were dressed in nice clothing. They were given food and gifts.

Huayna Capac took over control of the Inca Empire in the 1490s. He got sick from a disease that probably came from the Spanish colonizers. When he died, two brothers, Atahualpa and Huasca, took control. The brothers fought. Atahualpa took control of the whole empire. But his victory did not last. Spanish colonizers took him prisoner. They later gained control of all of the Inca Empire. The Inca took care of mummified kings until 1559. That year, Spanish leaders took all of the mummies they could find.

National Geographic Explorer Ceruti did not find the mummies of the Inca kings. But the child mummies she did find are important. These children were likely mummified in special ceremonies called capacocha. This means a special place to bury someone. These places were on mountain peaks. The Inca wanted to get as close to the gods as possible for these ceremonies. The mummies were well cared for. They wore special clothing. The capacocha is a unique part of Inca culture. We understand more about it thanks to Ceruti.

Ceruti also talks about women in science. Women in her job are often ignored. Ceruti fights against this by writing books and speaking out publicly. She says it is in her blood to keep climbing mountains and making discoveries. Ceruti has helped us learn more about the Inca. People in the future will know about the Inca because of her work.