ABSTRACT
Prior to the arrival of the Incan people in the fourteenth century, native people had been living along the Pacic Ocean coastal regions of South America. These people grew squash, corn, and beans. Between 500 and 1000 ad, there was a period of warm temperatures that allowed the lowland and valley inhabitants to inhabit the higher attitudes (Williams 2002; Dillehay and Kolata 2004; Chepstow-Lusty et al. 2009). In the territory of modern Bolivia, a pre-Inca culture began and ourished from around 400 to 900 ad. There is evidence of a prolonged period of drought that lasted from 900 to 1400 ad. This was the likely cause of the decline of food production in the central Andes (Ortloff and Kolata 1993; Williams 2002), which was concurrent with the collapse of the Tiwanaku (1100 ad) and nearby Wari (1000 ad) cultures in that period, and the migration and the founding of new populations in other areas. With the end of the drought, the Incan people extended their reign to the high plateau. The Inca success was most probably related to their ability to use precision farming to maximize agricultural productivity in highly variable climates.
