ABSTRACT
The crops and technology in use today are in part the heritage of pre-Hispanic cultures, but it would be a mistake to see Andean agriculture as a simple continuation of indigenous practices. The influence of the brief period of Inca control on the equatorial Andes was relatively slight, especially from the perspective of agricultural technology, perhaps being limited to the introduction of squash and camelids. Chiefdoms were "nested,"' with smaller suocnieraoms wnn lesser chiefs owing some allegiance to larger units with more paramount chiefs. Various statements in the sixteenth century geographic reports allow to picture the chiefdom landscape. The most imposing house in each llajta was the house of the ethnic lord. Ethnic lords in the areas north of Quito frequently constructed their houses on top of mounds, called tolas. As was the case with crops, indigenous people avidly accepted the introduced Spanish animals: chickens, pigs, sheep, and cattle.
