In Search of Summits - The Enigmatic History of Inca Mountaineering

(painting by Ned M. Seidler)

By the 1860s, European exploration of the Himalaya had resulted in dozens of successful summit attempts of peaks over 20,000 feet. These expeditions went into the history books as world records for the highest points ever reached by man, but the audience for such stories lay mostly in European and American society, and the colonies that were their extensions. While history is not only written by the victors, however, it is also enduring only for those who manage to write it down to begin with. Over three centuries before these mighty Himalayan ascents, another civilization was reaching for the highest points on their continent--but while mountaineering was alive and well, writing was an alien concept. The Inca Empire, spanning the length of the Andes, occupied not just the east, west, north, and south of this region--but the span of its vertical as well. The Incas had reached the summit of sixteen major Andean peaks by the 1500s, and may very well have reached the top of South America's highest summit on Aconcagua.

Part of the chain of Andean volcanoes

The discovery of an Inca mummy at just over 17,000 feet, on one of the ridges leading to the summit of Aconcagua, is what most strongly suggests their ascent. Additionally, stone structures and archaeological sites have been discovered at around 20,000 feet in dozens of cases, occurring mostly in the chain of Andean volcanoes that runs along the Chilean and Argentine borders above the high and barren deserts, and into Bolivia and Peru. As far north as Ecuador, these structures exist at up to 16,000 feet. Any Inca records of activity at these altitudes are either non-existent or locked in another mystery of the vanquished civilization--the Inca quipu.

The quipu is a system of complex knots created by the Incas, originally thought to be used for numerical purposes. The quipu seems to used a seven bit binary system, similar to modern computers using a ten bit system in order to display data. The quipu numbers varied depending on the size of the knot, the color, the spacing between knots, and then a continuation of these knots on several cords. More recent analysis of the quipu, however, suggests that it may have been used to carry more than just purely numerical information. Once more like the modern use of base ten binary systems to carry computer data, the base seven quipu could have been a system of recording stories and records. One estimate suggests that the quipu provided up to 1,500 individual symbols which could be used to construct a form of written records in numerical code--a number that is comparable to Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian cuneiform.

Inca quipu

The link between Inca mountaineering and the Inca quipu lies in the possibility of recorded ascents, burials, ceremonies, or other activities at altitude. This link remains, empirically, a fantasy, because despite what is known about the numerical workings of the Inca quipu, there is no existing way to infer any linguistic meaning from their code. In essence, the missing piece is an Inca "Rosetta Stone" that will open up access to Inca records in the same way that the original Rosetta Stone gave scholars a way to finally translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. The fantasy goes even further in assuming that such an artifact could even exist, as it remains debatable whether or not the quipu actually was used for linguistic purposes rather than as a strictly mathematical tool.

Known records of Incas at these heights are only second hand. The Inca shrines and tombs in the Andes were of a religious origin, and with the collapse of the empire were prime destinations for grave robbers, who recorded nothing of the locations or altitudes. The final use of structures at extreme elevation may have been for security purposes, as the Incas established watch towers in response to Spanish invasion. After the Incas abandoned their structures and began to vanish, these heights would not be reached for several more centuries, when European mountaineers would arrive in the Andes and discover these archaeological sites haphazardly while conducting Himalaya style expeditions. In 1983, anthropologist Johan Reinhard discovered several of these ruins, from Ecuador to Chile and in between. His research has revealed much of what is known, or theorized at best, of the Inca relationship with mountain summits.

The American Alpine Journal, 1983

In the 20th Century, further progress was made in uncovering what archaeological sites survived the pillaging of grave robbers and fortune seekers. Stone walls, mummies, gold, silver, and other Inca artifacts continued to be uncovered. In 1950, the body of a guanaco--a pack animal related to the llama--was discovered on the ridge connecting the highest and lowest points of Aconcagua's summit. While nothing further has developed, this anomaly also suggests ambitious Inca ascents. The FitzGerald expedition of 1897 found that the route up Aconcagua was rather devoid of technical difficulty, while the wind and weather remained a more intimidating obstacle. While little is known of Inca technology or methodology related to mountain climbing, the lack of technical challenge on such peaks indicates an ease of access for highland natives of the Inca Empire. In addition, the Inca proficiency for knots in both the quipu system and complex rope bridges may suggest a use of knots for climbing purposes.

The Inca road network

The Inca Empire at its height stretched from Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile and slightly beyond--the distance from Los Angeles to Washington, DC. The road network running from north to south skirted the mountains, and covered about 25,000 miles altogether, with many offshoot roads that crossed the Andes at heights of up to 16,000 feet. While the empire itself covered a variety of climate zones--from coastal plains to high desert to rain forest to alpine forests--the Incas were undoubtedly a culture that had developed and adapted in high altitudes. They were able to not only traverse across the Andes, but also maintained political and economic rule on both sides of the longest mountain range in the world.

The question still remains, however--why set out for the summits of these majestic peaks? The mystery's answer is nowhere to be found in historical records. For Europeans, alpinism was a matter of national pride as well as sport. Meanwhile, natives of the Himalaya tended to keep away from the summits, seeing them as the resting places of mountain deities and thus to be avoided out of respect and fear. For the Incas, it appears to have been a mixture of pride and religion that drove them to the summits, rather than away. To this day, there are many villages throughout the southern Andes inhabited by speakers of Quechua and other languages that existed within the Inca Empire. The local religious traditions here, while sometimes given a Christian flavor, seem to be fundamentally unchanged over the last 500 years--thus dating back to the time of the Inca Empire and its ascents.

These villages worshiped, and still do worship, the high peaks around them--they are mountain gods, either representing the highest deities or intermediaries of such deities. The primary reason for the villagers' worship was to influence the fertility of crops and livestock, the resources that they depended on to survive in the valleys below. The Incas came to these regions as conquerors, already crossing over the Andes in their campaigns of expansion, and established dominance in the political, religious, and economic spheres. In a sense, the economy--being agriculture and husbandry--as well as politics were both rooted in religion. Thus establishing their superior relationship with the local gods, the Incas may have climbed to these high summits, making first ascents in a show of power.

Aconcagua, with Camp II at 17,500 feet--close to the minimum altitude reached by Incas.

The Inca Empire still remains shrouded in mystery, and yet impressive for what possibilities it leaves to the modern imagination. The civilization's history may be locked away in an indecipherable binary code, giving us only the most educated guesses about the extent and capabilities of these early mountaineers. All possibilities aside, it is certain that Incas were reaching summits of over 20,000 feet up to 400 years before their European counterparts, and all that can be done is to retrace their footsteps and wonder at their determination.