Family Life Family life is a lot different today than it was during the time of the Incas. The Ayllu was what the Inca called their villages. Everybody who was born into the Ayllu mostly lived their entire lives within the borders of that town. Each person had their own farm land and homes, but the people did not own their own land. The Curacas took care of groups of 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 households. The Sapa Inca claimed one third of everything a person produced. Then another one third went to support the Inca temples. The commoners kept the last of what they had produced.
If you were a boy at the age of fifteen you got a loincloth and were sent to get trained and skilled in the art of craftsmanship or record keeping, then you were sent to work for the Sapa Inca or ruler of the Incas. Nobles' sons got special treatment like special tutors. The sons of nobles had a much more elaborate ritual and a month long test. They were tested for courage, strength, and discipline. If they passed then they got swords to show truthfulness. There is a difference between now and the time of the Incas. Men and women stayed living at home until married, where now we leave and go to college. Women married at age sixteen, and men married in their early 20’s. They married within the borders of Ayllu and lived in one room houses. At the “wedding” ceremony the couple did not exchange rings but they exchanged a special pair of sandals. The family life in the Inca times is interesting and also different from family life now. |