The Inca empire rose from the mountains of modern day Peru. They were the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The political, military, and administrative center was Cusco. Between marrying in and conquering other groups, their empire encompassed modern day Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Although many different languages were spoken, Quechua was the official language of the empire. Their main god was Inti, the sun god, and they believed that their emperor, the Sapa Inca, was a child of Inti. The Incas made many technological advances, including their very advanced road system which stretched throughout the whole empire. They were also experts at stone carving. They had no mortar to bind the stones together so they would cut them exactly to fit to each other which could take a year for a single stone. Their carvings were some of the most extravagant of the early civilizations. They would carve animals such as jaguars, birds, and llamas, but most of the time they would carve shapes like diamonds, trapezoids, and triangles. They decorated all these with bright colors. Although the Inca were such an advanced society, their empire collapsed when the Spanish came. They were already weakened by the spread of smallpox but when the Spanish attacked their warriors had no chance against the better- equipped Spaniards. Thus a very advanced and complex society came to an end.