Evidence of settlement in dates back to thousands of years but, except for some scattered ruins, is of these early peoples Around 1250 BCgroups such as the Chuvin, Chimit, , and Tiahuanaco migrated into the region from the north . The Chimii built the city of Chan Chan in about the year 1000, ruins of which remain today . The Inca, sometimes called "the people of the 10 sun," were originally a war-like tribe living in a semi- arid region of the southern Sierra. From 1100 to 1300, the Inca moved north into the fertile Cusco Valley and eventually overran the neighboring lands and displaced its people. By 15 1500, the Inca Empire stretched from the east of the Pacific Occan to the sources of the Paraguay and Amazon rivers and from the region of modern Quito in Southern Ecuador to the Maule River in Chile . This vast empire was a 20 theocracy, organized along socialistic lines and ruled by an Inca, or emperor , who was worshipped as divinity. Because the Inca realm contained extensive deposits of gold and silver, it became a target of other settlers in neighboring 25 regions in the early 16th century . In 1532the Spanish soldier and adventurer Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru with a force of about 180 men. Conditions were favorable to conquest, for the empire was debilitated by a 30 recently concluded civil war between the heirs to the Inca throne, Atahualpa and Huascar, each of whom was sceking to control the empire. This internal dissension and the terror , inspired by Spanish guns and horses unknown to the 35 indigenous peoples until then, made it relatively easy for only a handful of Spaniards to conquer this vast empire The Spaniards Atahualpa, the victor in the civil war, and his army at a prearranged conference at Cajamarca in 1532. When Atahualpa arrived, the Spaniarde ambushed and seized him, and killed thousands of his followers Although Atahualpa paid the most fabulous known to historyroom full of gold 45 and another full of silver--for his freedom, the Spaniards murdered him in The Spanish destroyed many of the irrigation projects and the roads that had knit the empire together, speeding the disintegration of the 50 empire . By November 1533, Cuzco had fallen with little resistance. In addition, the indigenous population declined rapidly as a result of new diseases brought by the Spaniards , diseases to which the had no immunity Members of 55 the Inca dynasty took refuge in the mountains and were able to resist the Spaniards for about four decades. However, by 1572, the Spaniards had executed the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaro, along with his advisers and his family 50 In November 1995 , anthropologist announced the discovery of the 500-year-old remains of two Inca women and one Inca man frozen in the snow on a mountain peak in Pent. Scientista concluded that the three were part of a ritual on Amparo, a sacred peak in the Andes mountain range . Artifacts from the find unveiled new information about the Inca and indicated the use of poles and tents rather than traditional habitations built from stone

Evidence of settlement in dates back to thousands of years but, except for some scattered ruins, is of these early peoples Around 1250 BCgroups such as the Chuvin, Chimit, , and Tiahuanaco migrated into the region from the north . The Chimii built the city of Chan Chan in about the year 1000, ruins of which remain today . The Inca, sometimes called "the people of the 10 sun," were originally a war-like tribe living in a semi- arid region of the southern Sierra. From 1100 to 1300, the Inca moved north into the fertile Cusco Valley and eventually overran the neighboring lands and displaced its people. By 15 1500, the Inca Empire stretched from the east of the Pacific Occan to the sources of the Paraguay and Amazon rivers and from the region of modern Quito in Southern Ecuador to the Maule River in Chile . This vast empire was a 20 theocracy, organized along socialistic lines and ruled by an Inca, or emperor , who was worshipped as divinity. Because the Inca realm contained extensive deposits of gold and silver, it became a target of other settlers in neighboring 25 regions in the early 16th century . In 1532the Spanish soldier and adventurer Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru with a force of about 180 men. Conditions were favorable to conquest, for the empire was debilitated by a 30 recently concluded civil war between the heirs to the Inca throne, Atahualpa and Huascar, each of whom was sceking to control the empire. This internal dissension and the terror , inspired by Spanish guns and horses unknown to the 35 indigenous peoples until then, made it relatively easy for only a handful of Spaniards to conquer this vast empire The Spaniards Atahualpa, the victor in the civil war, and his army at a prearranged conference at Cajamarca in 1532. When Atahualpa arrived, the Spaniarde ambushed and seized him, and killed thousands of his followers Although Atahualpa paid the most fabulous known to historyroom full of gold 45 and another full of silver--for his freedom, the Spaniards murdered him in The Spanish destroyed many of the irrigation projects and the roads that had knit the empire together, speeding the disintegration of the 50 empire . By November 1533, Cuzco had fallen with little resistance. In addition, the indigenous population declined rapidly as a result of new diseases brought by the Spaniards , diseases to which the had no immunity Members of 55 the Inca dynasty took refuge in the mountains and were able to resist the Spaniards for about four decades. However, by 1572, the Spaniards had executed the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaro, along with his advisers and his family 50 In November 1995 , anthropologist announced the discovery of the 500-year-old remains of two Inca women and one Inca man frozen in the snow on a mountain peak in Pent. Scientista concluded that the three were part of a ritual on Amparo, a sacred peak in the Andes mountain range . Artifacts from the find unveiled new information about the Inca and indicated the use of poles and tents rather than traditional habitations built from stone