Bulletin 4
– 11 August 1997
Telecom Amazon Adventure Update
 Update
from Andrew
Hi. It's just a short note from me this
week because I'm off in Manu Reserve
exploring virgin rainforest, and perhaps even meeting
some Amazon Indians.
The Indians who live in Manu still have their old
traditions, and their lives haven't changed much for
thousands of years, so it'll give me a taste of what life
was like for the first explorers in South America.
I'm going to be out of telephone contact,
so this week's audioconference will be handled by Joe Kane. Joe was
in the first team to travel the entire length of the
Amazon, so I'm sure he'll have lots of exciting tales to
tell. (There's more information about Joe later in the
bulletin.)
My past week in Cuzco has been very
exciting. It took me a while to get used to the altitude
(and I still get breathless when I try to climb hills),
but I'm surviving okay. I went horse-riding through the
Andes and explored some old Inca ruins. My journey
took me through lots of little villages where the people
wore colourful traditional clothes and talked in a
language called Quechua. The Inca ruins were really
impressive - some of the individual stones used in their
buildings were twice as tall as I am (and I'm pretty
tall). The Incas didn't use mortar to stick stones
together like we would - instead they cut the rocks to
fit together perfectly, almost like a giant jigsaw.
What I am most looking forward to is my
trip to Machu
Picchu tomorrow (before I go to Manu Reserve). It is
an ancient Inca city and is supposed to be one of the
most impressive sights in South America. I tried to get a
train ticket on the special Andean train that climbs the
mountains – I waited a total of six hours, and each
time I got near the front of the queue, the ticket booth
closed! I was so frustrated I booked a helicopter ticket
instead. It's a little more expensive, but it will be
very fun and take less time - 25 minutes compared with
the four hour train ride.
I'm looking forward to talking to you in
my next audioconferences on 20 August.
Talk to you soon,
Andrew
All about ancient civilisations
Civilisation began in the Andes Mountains
about 6,000 years ago. “Civilisation” was when
people learned how to overcome the whims of nature and
take control of their own lives. This meant the
development of agriculture – planting crops and
raising animals on farms - instead of relying on
gathering wild plants or hunting animals in the forest.
It also meant building towns and cities, which provided a
more comfortable life and safer communities for children.
Although the Incas are the most
famous of the Andean civilisations, they were simply the
last (and biggest) of the pre-European civilisations in
the Americas. Their history was very brief, lasting only
a couple of hundred years. Much of the Incas’
success was dependent on the achievements of other
smaller civilisations which came before them. Visitors to
Peru can still see the ancient cities and artifacts left
behind by these older cultures – the Chavin left
impressive stone carvings; the Mochica left pottery and
ceramics; the Nazca cut huge patterns in the high
plateaux where they lived; and the Tiahuanaco and Chimu
built great cities and monuments. It seems the
inhabitants of the Andes have always been nervous about
strangers and mixing with other neighbouring
civilisations – which is why many different
civilisations grew up in the same area, but remained
isolated from each other. However, they all shared a
dependence on agriculture.
Once essential skills like producing food
and building houses had been learnt, most cultures
discovered they had more free time to pursue other
activities. They began to experiment with art –
writing music and stories, making pottery, textiles,
pictures, carvings and other goods. Because these
artifacts depict scenes from everyday life, or
significant events in the lives of the people who created
them, they are a good way for us to learn about ancient
cultures. The most impressive Amaz⌠nian artifacts are
made from gold washed from the sands of Andean rivers and
streams, then melted down and hammered into shape to make
masks, decorations, and figurines.
Next time you visit a museum, you might
see a whole lot of dusty old artifacts, and might not
think very much of them. But if you look more closely,
these artifacts tell a story about how people used to
live. Anyway, here's some more information about the
Incas' lives.
Inca religion and culture
Religion
was a strong part of the Incas’ lives. The Incas
worshipped the sun, and believed the ruling Inca was a
direct descendant of the sun god. There were many regular
festivals and events where communities gathered together
to give thanks for the harvest or request good fortune
for the coming year. Inca temples were impressive. They
were decorated with dazzling displays of gold to mimic
the sun’s radiance.
Religion also created the Incas’
harshest enemies because it involved gruesome sacrifices
of people and animals. The sacrifice of someone young and
beautiful was meant protect the ruling Inca from illness
and ensure his long life. The sacrifice bestowed great
prestige on the victim’s family – the victims
were given great honours and came from privileged
backgrounds. Victims were killed by burying them in a
cave, or throwing them off high cliffs or mountains.
Newly conquered tribes were greatly
opposed to these sacrifices and fought bitterly against
them. The sacrifice of animals was more common and strict
rules governed which animals were to be sacrificed.
(There is a report of more than 10,000 llamas being
sacrificed in a single
ceremony at Cuzco.)
The people of the Andes had other ancient
traditions of worshipping other gods and huacas. A huaca
represented many different things, but was usually a
small temple or sacred place where people gathered or
left offerings to the spirits. At one time, priests
called orejones (“long-eared ones” because of
their heavy gold earrings) wandered throughout the empire
claiming to represent different gods and spirits. Worried
about the increasing power of the orejones, Inca
Pachacuti decreed that there should only be one
all-powerful god, the Sun, represented by him. This was
greatly debated throughout the empire, but the emperor
got his way.
As the Inca empire expanded, it
encountered many other people with different religions
and beliefs. These tribes were pressured into giving up
their old religions, traditions, and language – and
had to accept the Incas’ religion, traditions and
language (Quechua).
Other Inca traditions
There were other traditions within the
Incas’ society. Many of these came from ancient
beliefs pre-dating the Inca empire.
The Incas worshipped their dead ancestors
in ways we would consider strange. They believed the dead
were still part of the community and should be included
in celebrations and ceremonies. When important family
members died, their bodies were mummified and preserved.
Maintaining the goodwill of ancestors was so important
that their bodies were presented with fine clothes,
offered food and drink, and were provided with houses and
palaces complete with servants. At important events, the
dead were carried through the streets in processions,
seated on golden chairs, and then taken to feasts and
provided with food and entertainment.
Another gruesome part of the Incas’
culture was the practise of skull deformation. This
involved tightly strapping boards to some children’s
heads when they were very young. The boards would be left
in place, forcing the children’s heads to grow in an
unnatural way, so that their skulls were deformed into an
elongated (almost pointed) shape. This was regarded as a
symbol of prestige and beauty.
In 1911, an American explorer called
Hiram Bingham made an exciting discovery, which made
headlines around the world. Bingham had heard rumours of
an ancient city hidden in the mountains, and had set off
on a long quest through wild jungles and up mountain
peaks to find it. But the ruins were so well hidden not
even the locals knew where they were. Finally, in July
1911, a small boy acting as a guide led Bingham’s
team up a mountain and on to a stone path which was
overgrown and hidden by the jungle. At the top of this
path they discovered the ancient Inca city, Machu Picchu.
Today, Machu Picchu is the best known of
all the Inca sites. Access to it has now been cleared and
it is visited by more people than any other site in South
America.
No one really knows why Machu Picchu was
built. It is set in a very remote location, and
isn’t likely to have played a major role in the Inca
empire. It is thought that construction of the city was
ordered by Pachacuti Inca, as a royal retreat or as a
religious estate, around the year 1460. Its existence is
thought to have been a secret. It is likely that the
estate passed into the hands of Pachacuti’s most
trusted family members after his death, and that Machu
Picchu was occasionally visited by other Inca rulers,
until the Spanish conquest. With the exception of those
living in the city, very few other people would have
known of its existence since people needed official
permission to travel within the Inca empire.
When Manco Tupac (also called Manco Inca)
began his war against the Spaniards in 1536, a few people
may have remembered the city and it is possible that
Machu Picchu was used as a hide-out for Manco’s
army. He and his army operated from many mountain
hide-outs in and around the area. Despite Manco’s
brave efforts, the Spanish onslaught was too much, and
Manco’s army was driven back into the jungle to
another place called Vilcabamba, that was the last Inca
stronghold.
Following this event, the ancient city of
Machu Picchu became uninhabited and was forgotten about.
Without people living in the city and maintaining it, the
surrounding jungle closed in and covered over Machu
Picchu, leaving it well hidden for many centuries.
The buildings and stonework of Machu
Picchu were very well-made – indicating that the
city probably had religious significance. Several graves
have also been found nearby. The city’s structures
include houses, temples, gardens, a royal palace, and
ceremonial baths. It may once have supported about 2,000
people.
There are reports of other exciting
discoveries in the jungles nearby – including a
second city (called Maranpampa) which was discovered in
1986. Archaeologists are currently working on this city
and believe that it may be even bigger than Machu Picchu.
Win, Win, Win
Telecom's Innovative Amazon Classroom
Activity Competition
Tell us how you're using technology as
part of your Amazon studies and you'll be in with a
chance to win some beautiful books about the Amazon,
donated by Andrew Mercer. Andrew used the books to
research his trip. They're in excellent condition and he
wanted schools to be able to use them too.
There are six books to be won, so we've
divided New Zealand into six regions:
Northern North Island
Central North Island
Wellington region
Nelson, Marlborough West Coast,
Buller
Canterbury
Otago, Southland
The class in each region with the most
innovative use of information technology as part of their
Amazon studies will win one of the books donated by
Andrew.
The competition will run until 3
September so there's plenty of time to come up with
something exciting.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking
If your school or class has a homepage
you may like to use it to feature some of your Amazon
activities. You could phone or fax someone and ask them
about the Amazon
There are lots of possibilities. And
remember the simple ones are often the best.
How to enter
Tell us about your Innovative Amazon
Classroom Activity. You can present the information any
way you like, but remember it has to be faxed or posted.
You may like to a write a description of your activity,
or draw it on a poster - choose the way that you think
best represents your Innovative Amazon Classroom
Activity.
You can either fax your entries to
Adventure Line on 0-4-498 5575 or post them to Explorers
and Adventures
Telecom Education Foundation
Level Two, Telecom Networks House
PO Box 570
Wellington
Your entry must be clearly marked
"Innovative Amazon Classroom Activity
Competition" and must include the region you're in
(from the above list), your school name, your class, your
teacher's name, your school address and a contact phone
number.
Entries close 3 September and the lucky
winners will be featured in the 8 September Fax Bulletin.
Information submitted to the Innovative
Amazon Classroom Activity Competition may be shared with
other schools.
Contacting Explorers and Adventurers
The best way to get in touch with
Explorers and Adventurers Co-ordinator, Danielle Greig,
is by fax. If you have any inquiries about Telecom's
Amazon Adventure please fax the Adventure Line on
Wellington 0-4-498 5575.
Amazon activity
Set up an area of your classroom as an
"Explorers and Adventurers area". You might
like to decorate it as a jungle. (How about some large
wall murals, some stand up jungle trees, stand up jungle
animals and so on?) Set up a tent to act as you
"base camp" and stock your site with good books
on adventures and explorations and other items related to
the explorers theme. This area could be your theme corner
during your work on this unit.
Fun facts
The world's biggest snake, the
anaconda, lives in Amaz⌠nia and can grow over 12
metres long. Anacondas hide on the bottom of
rivers and streams, waiting for other animals to
cross. Anacondas aren't poisonous, but they kill
their prey by curling themselves around it and
they squeeze so tightly that the animal cannot
breathe. The Anaconda then swallows the animal
whole, and lies on the riverbank waiting to
digest its unlucky meal – which can take
several weeks if it was a big animal. Anacondas
usually eat capybaras (large rodents, about the
size of a sheep) and peccaries (a type of pig),
but occasionally an anaconda is found which has
swallowed a human.
Piranha, the famous fish of the
Amazon, can be very vicious when hungry. A school
of piranha has been known to eat an entire
capybara in 90 seconds so that only the skeleton
remained. The teeth of the piranha are so sharp
that local Indians use piranha jaws as scissors.
Guest speaker
Andrew is deep in the Amazon this week
and will be unable to call us, so we've arranged for Joe
Kane to lead this week's audioconferences.
In 1986, Joe took part in the first
expedition to travel the entire length of the Amazon
– from its starting point high up in the Andes to
its mouth where it meets the Atlantic Ocean 6,000 km
later.
Joe spent months travelling, by foot,
river raft, and kayak – often through remote,
unpopulated, and dangerous areas. The book he wrote about
this journey (Running the Amazon) is the
best-known modern adventure story about the Amazon
region.
In 1991, Joe travelled to Ecuador to find
out about the Huaorani Indians and their battle with
international oil companies which were invading the
Ecuadorian Amazon, setting off explosive charges,
building new roads and oil rigs, and causing oil spills
in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Joe visited and
stayed with the Huaorani many times, and met
environmentalists and oil companies to find out what was
really happening to the Amazon rainforest and its people.
His book, Savages, is a fascinating account of
what happens when the 20th Century suddenly hits a remote
rainforest people with full force – bringing with it
huge multinational companies, lawyers, public relations
experts, politicians, environmentalists, evangelists,
technology, and ivory soap (popular with Indians as
"the soap that floats").
Joe’s articles about Amaz⌠nia have
frequently appeared in magazines like the New Yorker
and Esquire. He lives in California, and is
married with two children.
Amazon books
Here are some more books on the Amazon
and South America you may like to hunt out.
Rainforest Animals,
Ladybird Discovery, Leicestershire, UK.
Brazil, Carlos de sa
Moreira, Les Editions Du Pacifique (Distribuidora
Record), Rio de Janeiro.
Jungles: Facts, Stories, and
Activities, Jenny Wood, Two-Can
Publishing, London.
Lost Civilizations: The Search
for El Dorado, Time-Life Books, Alexandria,
Virginia.
Explorers Mystery Quiz - Bulletin 4
Answer the Explorers Mystery Quiz
questions below correctly and be in to win a Panasonic
cassette recorder for your class. You will find the
answer to this week's first question on your Explorers
and Adventurers Mystery Trail poster. You might need to
do a bit more research to answer question two. Fax your
answers to the Telecom Adventure Line: 0-4-498 5575.
Entries close at 5pm on Friday 15 August 1997.
The classes whose students correctly
answer the most Explorers Mystery Quizzes during the
Explorers and Adventurers programme will go into the draw
for a grand prize in December. So good luck everyone.
This week's questions
Question One
How long is the Amazon River?
Question Two
Why is the Amazon River sometimes called
the Ocean River?
Last week's winner
The winner of last week's Explorers
Mystery Quiz was the senior class from Fraser Road
School, Hawera.
Last week's answers
Answer One
The anaconda is the
heaviest snake in the world.
Answer Two
Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon discovered
the delta region of Amaz⌠nia in 1500.
 
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