Metalwork of the Inca

The Inca were well-known for their use of gold, silver, copper, bronze, and other metals for tools, weapons, and decorative ornaments.

Learning Objective

Discuss the Incan use of copper, bronze, silver, gold, and other metals.

Key Points

Drawing much of their metalworking style from Chimú art, the Incas used metals for utilitarian purposes as well as ornaments and decorations.
Copper and bronze were used for basic farming tools or weapons, while gold and silver were reserved for ornaments and decorations in temples and palaces of Inca royalty.
Gold was especially revered for its sun-like reflective quality; the Inca people's reverence of gold has much to do with their worship of the sun and the sun god, Inti.
Even though the Inca Empire contained many precious metals, the Incas did not value their metal as much as fine cloth.

Terms

Inca
A member of the group of Quechuan peoples of highland Peru who established an empire from northern Ecuador to central Chile before the Spanish conquest.
Chimú
A culture centered on Chimor, with the capital city of Chan Chan (in the Moche Valley of present-day Trujillo, Peru), which arose about 900 CE and was conquered by the Inca around 1470 CE.
metallurgist
A person who works in metal.

Full Text

Background

The Inca were well known for their use of gold, silver, copper, bronze, and other metals. Drawing much of their inspiration and style in metalworking from Chimú art, the Incas used metals for utilitarian purposes as well as ornaments and decorations. Although the Inca Empire contained a lot of precious metals, however, the Incas did not value their metal as much as fine cloth.

Andean bronze bottle, ca. 1300-1532

While this bottle was most likely made by Chimú artisans, Inca metalworkers adopted similar characteristics.

The Incas adopted much of their metalworking characteristics from the metalwork of Chimú civilization before them. With their expertise, many metalworkers were taken back to the capital city of Cusco after the fall of Chimú to continue their metalworking for the emperor. As part of a tax obligation to the commoners, mining was required in all the provinces, and copper, tin, gold, and silver were all obtained from mines or washed from the river gravels.

Golden Plaque from Chimú Culture

The Incans adopted much of their metalworking characteristics from the metalwork of Chimu. Because of their expertise, many metalworkers were taken back to the capital city of Cuzco to continue their metalworking for the emperor.

Tools and Weapons

Copper and bronze were used for basic farming tools or weapons, such as sharp sticks for digging, club-heads, knives with curved blades, axes, chisels, needles, and pins. The Incas had no iron or steel, so their armor and weaponry consisted of helmets, spears, and battle-axes made of copper, bronze, and wood. Metal tools and weapons were forged by Inca metallurgists and then spread throughout the empire.

Ornaments and Decorations in Metalwork

The Inca people's reverence of gold, in particular, has much to do with their worship of the sun and the sun god Inti. Gold's sun-like reflective quality made the precious metal even more highly regarded. Gold and silver were used for ornaments and decorations and reserved for the highest classes of Inca society, including priests, lords, and the Sapa Inca, or emperor. Gold and silver were common themes throughout the palaces of Inca emperors as well, and the temples of the Incas were strewn with sacred and highly precious metal objects. Thrones were ornately decorated with metals, and royalty dined on golden-plated dishes inlaid with decorative designs. Headdresses, crowns, ceremonial knives, cups, and ceremonial clothing were often inlaid with gold or silver.

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