Inca warriors and costumes
In this article I present illustrations from Huaman Poma's "Nueva cronica buen gobierno" which show Inca warriors.
The first illustration shows detail of a pancunco ceremony during August-September, where warriors would hurl pellets of flammable material around Cuzco during a night time "fire-cleansing" rite. This picture shows some nice patterns on their tunics (unco).
The second illustration shows an attack on a pucara (fortress). The warriors in the pucara may be Inca, because of the strips of cloth on either side of their helmets to protect their ears. This picture shows the use of spears and slings.
The next illustration shows the Inca attacking an enemy in Chile (maybe Araucanians?). The Inca use slings, spears and halberd. Their opponents are armed only with a spear.
The last illustration shows Huascar as a prisoner of his brother Atauhuallpa's two great captains, Quizquiz and Challcochima. Challcochima is blowing on a conch. Note the chequered pattern on Challcochima's unco. Both are armed with the halberd.
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John Garvey
Began: 09/07/2000
Last Revised: