Ebook: The Chanka: Archaeological research in Andahuaylas (Apurimac), Peru

T he Chanka are long thought to be one of the most important ethnic groups of the prehistoric Andes. A momentous battle is said to have
taken place between the Chanka and the Inca on
the edge of Cuzco, a battle that marked the start
of Inca imperial expansion and determined the
course of late Andean cultural history. The Inca
are believed to have emerged as the victors of that
battle, and the Chanka were sorely defeated. As a
result of this conflict, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui
was crowned king and began an aggressive campaign of expansion that continued for three generations, resulting in the development of the
largest empire in the Americas. Although there
has been much scholarship on the rapid rise and
spread of Inca hegemony, the role that the
Chanka played in the history of the Andes has
gone largely unexamined.