Chile under the Inka Empire – 2009
Llama de oro: Ofrenda de Adoratorio de Altura. Inka, norte de Chile. MCHAP
Figurilla masculina de plata: Ofrenda de Adoratorio de Altura. Inka, norte de Chile. MCHAP.
Gold and Silver
Gold and silver artifacts representing the sun and moon, believed to be the ancestors of the Inka and his wife, the Coya
The Inkas believed that their rulers were descended from the sun and the moon. They revered silver as the tears of the moon and gold as the sweat of the sun, reserving these sacred metals for the elite. Objects made from these noble metals (silver and gold) were often given as gifts to local rulers or in recognition of service rendered to the State. Such items were also left as offerings in mountaintop Capacochas, or deposited as grave goods when local or imperial leaders were buried. As each sovereign had to amass his own wealth, the search for new deposits of precious metals was one of the key motives for the expansion of Tawantinsuyu into the territory of modern-day Chile. One major site was the gold panning center at Marga Marga creek, near the Viña del Mar city, where Spanish chroniclers relate that the Inkas had there almost 2000 young men and women sifting for and smelting gold.