Everyday Life
Daily life for the people in the Inca empire was very hard. Everybody from small children to grandparents was expected to work very hard. Farmers were expected to work first for the state, then for the state religion, and last for themselves. This way they had little time to rest. The government did give them some of their crops back to feed themselves. They kept storehouses of food in every region in cases of a natural disaster or a crop failure. Instead of having to pay taxes to the government, common people would have to do mit'a or work for the government. Much of the time they would be sent to the mines; gold and silver were very abundant in the Andes so they had plenty of mining to do. The physical strain of mining was tremendous so they only worked for a few hours a day. Marriage was a central element in the Inca culture. Although there was no law saying they had to marry, only married couples received a plot of land so that was a big incentive to get married. The nobles were allowed to have more than one wife but the ordinary citizen could only have one wife. Houses varied depending what region they were in. On the coast, the houses were usually made of adobe but more inland they were made of stone. Although the Inca did not spend much time in their house, they were expected to keep it very clean. It was not only tradition but law. Two to three times a year officials would come check to make sure they were kept clean. The Inca diet consisted mostly of vegetables and very little meat. If they were to eat meat, it would usually be either duck meat or guinea pig. While having to do all this hard work, they still had time for fun. Almost 120 days out of the year, Incas would attend festivals sponsored by the state. They would learn about the latest military victory or the latest news from the Sapa Inca. After the festivals, people would return home happy to be serving such a great empire.