Editing Inca Empire (section)

=== Weapons, armor and warfare ===
{{Main|Inca army}}
[[File:Sacsayhuaman - 51188929520.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sacsayhuamán]], the largest Inca ''[[pukara]]'' (fortresses)]]
[[File:Cabezas de Bronce.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Copper]] heads for maces]]

The Inca army was the most powerful at that time, because any ordinary villager or farmer could be recruited as a soldier as part of the ''[[mit'a]]'' system of mandatory public service. Every able bodied male Inca of fighting age had to take part in war in some capacity at least once and to prepare for warfare again when needed. By the time the empire reached its largest size, every section of the empire contributed in setting up an army for war.

The Incas had no iron or steel and their weapons were not much more effective than those of their opponents so they often defeated opponents by sheer force of numbers, or else by persuading them to surrender beforehand by offering generous terms.<ref name="AHE"/> Inca weaponry included "hardwood spears launched using [[Spear-thrower|throwers]], arrows, javelins, slings, the [[bolas]], clubs, and maces with star-shaped heads made of copper or bronze".<ref name=AHE>{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Inca_Warfare/ |title=Inca Warfare |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=19 May 2016 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref><ref name="MacQuarrie2008">{{cite book |author=Kim MacQuarrie |title=The Last Days of the Incas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Emql_kU0QLIC&pg=PA144 |date=17 June 2008 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-6050-3 |page=144}}</ref> Rolling rocks downhill onto the enemy was a common strategy, taking advantage of the hilly terrain.<ref name="Parker2008">{{cite book |author=Geoffrey Parker |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare: The Triumph of the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yqNj5BlEMtcC&pg=PA136 |date=29 September 2008 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-73806-4 |page=136}}</ref> Fighting was sometimes accompanied by drums and trumpets made of wood, shell or bone.<ref name="Stevenson1968">{{cite book |author=Robert Stevenson |title=Music in Aztec & Inca Territory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2Gk32Zn2tgC&pg=PA77 |date=1 January 1968 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-03169-2 |page=77}}</ref><ref name="CoboHamilton1990">{{cite book |author1=Father Bernabe Cobo |author2=Roland Hamilton |title=Inca Religion and Customs |url=https://archive.org/details/incareligioncust0000cobo |url-access=registration |date=1 May 1990 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=978-0-292-73861-4 |page=218}}</ref> Armor included:<ref name="AHE"/><ref name="Burland1968">{{cite book |author=Cottie Arthur Burland |title=Peru Under the Incas |url=https://archive.org/details/peruunderincas00burl |url-access=registration |date=1968 |publisher=Putnam |page=101 |quote=The sling was the most deadly projectile weapon. Spear, long-handled axe and bronze-headed mace were the effective weapons. Protection was afforded by a wooden helmet covered with bronze, long quilted tunic and flexible quilted shield.}}</ref>
* Helmets made of wood, cane, or animal skin, often lined with copper or bronze; some were adorned with feathers
* Round or square shields made from wood or hide
* Cloth tunics padded with cotton and small wooden planks to protect the spine
* Ceremonial metal breastplates of copper, silver, and gold have been found in burial sites, some of which may have also been used in battle.<ref name="SiversDesnoyers2012">{{cite book |author1=Peter Von Sivers |author2=Charles Desnoyers |author3=George B. Stow |title=Patterns of World History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttZL_B_qcPEC&q=copper+breastplates |date=2012 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-533334-3 |page=505}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maestro |first1=Carmen Pérez |title=Armas de metal en el Perú prehispánico |journal=Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, Señe I, Prehistoria y Arqueología |date=1999 |pages=319–346 |url=http://revistas.uned.es/index.php/ETFI/article/download/4689/4528 |language=es |access-date=1 July 2019 |archive-date=1 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701142707/http://revistas.uned.es/index.php/ETFI/article/download/4689/4528 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Roads allowed quick movement (on foot) for the Inca army. Shelters called ''[[Tambo (Incan structure)|tambo]]'' and storage silos called [[qullqa]]s were built one day's travelling distance from each other, so an army on campaign could be fed and rested. This can be seen in names of ruins such as [[Ollantaytambo]] or "the storehouse of Ollantay". These were set up so the Inca and his entourage would always have supplies (and possibly shelter) ready as they traveled.