Editing Coca (section)

==Coca use by the Incas==

===Ethnohistorical sources===
While many historians are in agreement that coca was a contributing factor to the daily life of the [[Inca]], there are many different theories as to how this civilization came to adopt it as one of its [[Staple food|staple crops]] and as a valued commodity. The Incas were able to accomplish significant things while stimulated by the effects of coca. The Incas did not have a graphical written language, but used the ''[[quipu]]'', a fiber recording device. Spanish documents make it clear that coca was one of the most important elements of Inca culture. Coca was used in Inca feasts and religious rituals, among many other things.<ref name="auto1">Mortimer, W. Golden. Peru History of Coca: "The Divine Plant" of the Incas. New York: J. H. Vail & Company, 1901.</ref> It was a driving factor in the labor efforts that Inca kings asked of their citizens, and also used to barter for other goods. Coca was vital to the Inca civilization and its culture. The Incas valued coca so much that they colonized tropical rain forests to the north and east of their capital in [[Cuzco]] so that they could increase and control their supply. The Incas colonized more humid regions because coca cannot grow above 2600 meters in elevation (coca is not frost-resistant).<ref name="auto">Valdez, Lidio M., Juan Taboada, and J. Ernesto Valdez. 2015. "Ancient Use of Coca Leaves in the Peruvian Central Highlands." Journal of Anthropological Research 71 (2): 231–58. doi:10.3998/jar.0521004.0071.204 .</ref>

===Coca use in labor and military service===
One of the most common uses of coca during the reign of the Inca was in the context of ''[[mit'a]]'' labor, a labor tax required of all able-bodied men in the Inca empire, and also in military service. [[Pedro Cieza de León]] wrote that the indigenous people of the Andes always seemed to have coca in their mouths. ''Mit'a'' laborers, soldiers, and others chewed coca to alleviate hunger and thirst while they were working and fighting. The results of this are evident in monumental construction and the successful expansion of the Inca empire through conquest. By chewing coca, laborers and soldiers were able to work harder and for longer periods. Some historians believe that coca and ''chicha'' (fermented corn beer) made it possible for the Incas to move large stones in order to create architectural masterpieces, especially ones of [[monolith]]ic construction such as [[Sacsayhuamán]].<ref name="auto"/>

===Coca use in religious rituals===
Due to the [[Spanish conquest]] of the Inca Empire, the Spaniards had direct access to the Inca. They had insight to their everyday lives, and it is through their lens that we learn about [[religion in the Inca Empire]]. While the indigenous author [[Pedro Cieza de León]] wrote about the effects coca had on the Inca, multiple Spanish men wrote about the importance of coca in their spirituality. For example [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]], Father [[Bernabé Cobo]], and Juan de Ulloa Mogollón noted how the Incas would leave coca leaves at important locations throughout the empire. They considered coca to be the highest form of plant offering that the Incas made.<ref name="auto"/>

The Incas would put coca leaves in the mouths of mummies, which were a sacred part of Inca culture. Mummies of Inca emperors were regarded for their wisdom and often consulted for important matters long after the body had deteriorated. Not only did many Inca mummies have coca leaves in their mouths, but they also carried coca leaves in bags.<ref name="auto"/> These are believed to be Inca sacrifices, and like the Aztecs, the Inca participated in sacrifices as well. It is clear that the Incas had a strong belief in the divinity of the coca leaf as there is now evidence that both the living and the dead were subjected to coca use. They even sent their sacrifices off to their death with a sacrificial bag of coca leaves. The coca leaf affected all stages of life for the Inca. Coca was also used in divination as ritual priests would burn a mixture of coca and llama fat and predict the future based on the appearance of the flame.<ref>{{Cite book|last=von Hagen|first=Adriana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEqwCQAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of the Incas|date=4 June 2015|isbn=9780759123632|page=88|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref>

===Coca use after the Spanish invasion and colonization===
After the Spanish invasion and colonization of the Inca Empire, the use of coca was restricted and appropriated by the Spaniards. By many historical accounts, the Spaniards tried to eradicate the coca leaf from Inca life. The Spaniards enslaved Inca people and tried to prevent them from having "the luxury" of the coca leaf. Although the Spaniards noticed the state-controlled storage facilities that the Inca had built to distribute to its workers,<ref name="auto"/> they were still ignorant to plant spirit, divinity of coca, and the Incan admittance of the former. "This is my blood, this is my body" remembrance now was overshadowed by gates of behavior meeting efforts of worker control and service within work to spread concepts within outreach to support divinity and rights of the divine to exist in the divine's works. Not only that, enslaved Inca people were not capable of enduring the arduous labour the Spaniards made them do without using coca. Even though Spaniards were trying to push Catholicism onto the Inca, which did not allow them to eat before the [[Eucharist]] (the Spaniards thought coca to be food), they allowed them to continue to use coca to endure the labor associated with slavery.<ref name="auto1"/> After seeing the effects and powers of the coca plant, many Spaniards saw another opportunity and started growing and selling coca themselves.