Inca Empire Lacked Common Technologies

At its peak in the early 16th century, the Inca Empire governed upward of 10 million people across about 2 million square kilometers despite lacking a conventional writing system, money, draft animals, iron, steel, and wheeled transport. Administrators used knotted quipu cords to record information, while the economy relied largely on reciprocal exchange and labor taxes. Llamas carried loads, but no animals pulled wagons or plows, so the Incas moved people, messages, and goods along the vast Qhapaq Nan road network. From Cusco, they controlled territory across six modern countries and built the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.

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