Inca Empire Crossword Puzzles: Free Printable and Online

Climb into the Andes with Inca Empire crossword puzzles. Explore Machu Picchu and Cusco, Sapa Inca rulers like Pachacuti and Atahualpa, quipu record keeping, the Qhapaq Ñan road network, Quechua words, terrace farming, and the Spanish conquest.

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Inca Empire: The Spanish Conquest

Hard · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 1. A room-filling price promised for a captive sovereign's freedom
  2. 5. San Miguel de ___, conventionally recognized as Peru's first Spanish-founded city
  3. 6. Cristobal ___ de Castro, royal governor victorious at Chupas in 1542
  4. 9. Black magic? Charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter behind the invaders' firepower
  5. 11. Cieza de ___, conquest chronicler with a Spanish lion in his name
  6. 12. Highland settlement chosen as the first Spanish capital of Peru in 1534
  7. 13. Emblem of the invaders' faith, or angry about a thwarted conquest

Down

  1. 1. Bartolome ___, pilot of Pizarro's early voyages, titled 'Pilot of the South Sea' in 1529
  2. 2. Variola's epidemic, widely credited with weakening the empire before the main invasion
  3. 3. Jesuit chronicler ___ Valera, born to a Spanish father and an Indigenous mother
  4. 4. Dominican friar who offered the Inca ruler a Christian book at Cajamarca in 1532
  5. 7. The New ___ of 1542 attempted to restrain colonial exploitation of Indigenous people
  6. 8. Dynastic claimant whose defeat left his half brother dominant just before the Spanish seizure of power
  7. 10. Baptismal name of Quispe Sisa, the leading conquistador's Indigenous partner

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Inca Empire: Quechua Words and Andean Culture

Medium · 11×11 · 15 words
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  1. 1. ___ Raymi, the great June festival celebrated at Cuzco
  2. 3. Corn-based brew served at Inca feasts
  3. 6. Rows of pipes of different lengths make up this Andean wind instrument
  4. 9. Creator deity said to have emerged from Lake Titicaca
  5. 11. Notched Andean flute traditionally made from cane
  6. 12. Sacred Andean site or object believed to hold spiritual power
  7. 13. Quechua name for the tuber that became french fries
  8. 14. Domesticated Andean camelid prized for its soft fleece

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  1. 2. Crescent-bladed ceremonial knife associated with ancient Peru
  2. 4. Andean music and dance genre typically set to a lively duple rhythm
  3. 5. Traditional Andean kinship group that shared land and duties
  4. 7. Quechua drama about a general's forbidden love for an Inca princess
  5. 8. Andean Mother Earth honored with offerings to the land
  6. 9. Wild highland camelid whose exceptionally fine fleece was reserved for Inca royalty
  7. 10. Andean tuber also called the New Zealand yam

Inca Empire: Quipu and Inca Record Keeping

Medium · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 1. Hanging string attached directly to the main horizontal strand
  2. 6. A string's shade, potentially serving as a category marker
  3. 9. Modern profession closest to the numerical duties of a khipukamayuq
  4. 12. Numerical tier where three single knots would represent 300
  5. 13. Coloring substance applied to an accounting string

Down

  1. 1. Single strand combined with others to make a thicker accounting string
  2. 2. Information encoded by an Andean device's tied patterns and shades
  3. 3. Obligation to a ruler that imperial officials tracked, often fulfilled through required work
  4. 4. Guaman Poma's Nueva coronica is this kind of historical narrative
  5. 5. On an Andean numerical string, the 4 in 247 belongs to this place
  6. 7. Animal family member such as the alpaca, whose herds imperial officials tracked
  7. 8. Language from which the term khipu, meaning 'knot,' comes
  8. 10. Flexible strand carrying tied marks in an Andean accounting device
  9. 11. String characteristic described by an S or Z direction

Inca Empire: The Inca Road System

Medium · 11×11 · 13 words
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  1. 1. Plant material twisted into cables for Q'eswachaka.
  2. 3. High gap that let a mountain route cross a ridge.
  3. 7. Modern country containing the network's southern reaches.
  4. 9. Bridge design that hangs its deck from load-bearing cables.
  5. 11. Catch one's breath between stages of an imperial journey.
  6. 12. Goods carried by pack animals along imperial routes.

Down

  1. 2. Discipline behind fitting a vast transport network to rugged terrain.
  2. 4. Built risers that helped travelers tackle steep slopes.
  3. 5. Sloping terrain into which builders cut ledges for mountain routes.
  4. 6. Imperial courier trained to carry messages between assigned posts.
  5. 7. Pacific margin followed by one of the empire's two principal routes.
  6. 8. Rounded paving blocks under travelers' sandals.
  7. 10. Northern imperial center in what is now Ecuador.

Inca Empire: The Sapa Inca Emperors

Medium · 11×11 · 15 words
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  1. 1. The eleventh traditional sovereign was known as ___ Capac
  2. 5. Kin group responsible for a deceased sovereign's memory and estates
  3. 8. ___ Inca, title meaning 'sole ruler'
  4. 10. Sanctuary in the imperial capital whose name means 'golden enclosure'
  5. 12. Red forehead fringe that served as the sovereign's chief insignia
  6. 13. ___ Cusi, ruler who dictated an account of the Spanish conquest
  7. 14. First name of the Vilcabamba ruler welcomed by the viceroy in Lima in 1558

Down

  1. 2. Captive sovereign who offered a room filled with treasure as his ransom at Cajamarca
  2. 3. First name of the tenth traditional ruler, an expansionist who campaigned in Ecuador
  3. 4. Mountain spirit honored in imperial religion
  4. 6. Reciprocal help between households in the empire's economy
  5. 7. Ninth traditional ruler, credited with transforming a kingdom into an empire
  6. 9. Sinchi ___, second ruler in the traditional king list
  7. 11. ___ Capac, legendary founder of the dynasty
  8. 12. Rotating labor obligation used for imperial projects

Inca Empire: Cusco, the Inca Capital

Easy · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 3. Relative from an earlier generation, honored in Inca rituals.
  2. 6. Organized celebration such as Inti Raymi in Cusco.
  3. 7. Study of stars and planets, practiced by Inca observers in Cusco.
  4. 12. Animal fleece spun into yarn by Inca textile makers.
  5. 13. Male deity worshipped by the Incas, such as Inti.
  6. 14. Cultivation of crops and raising of livestock to feed the Inca population.

Down

  1. 1. Tie in a cord used to record numbers in an Inca quipu.
  2. 2. Interlacing threads to produce Inca textiles.
  3. 4. Top covering that Inca builders often made from thatch.
  4. 5. Person who carried official news on foot between Inca settlements.
  5. 8. Built route linking Cusco with distant parts of the Inca realm.
  6. 9. Nighttime celestial body worshipped as Mama Quilla.
  7. 10. Musical instrument with finger holes, played by blowing air, used by the Incas.
  8. 11. Large cat also called a cougar, depicted in Inca art.

Inca Empire: Crops, Llamas and Andean Farming

Easy · 11×11 · 15 words
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  1. 1. Thick cord used to secure loads on pack animals
  2. 4. Hot pepper used to season Andean dishes
  3. 6. Artificial channel that brings river flow to crops
  4. 8. Keeping crops in warehouses for future use
  5. 10. The star worshipped as Inti was the ___
  6. 11. Member of the civilization that built Machu Picchu
  7. 12. Long-handled farming tool for loosening earth and removing weeds
  8. 13. South American range where the empire flourished

Down

  1. 2. Nutlike legume whose pods develop underground
  2. 3. Open area of land used to grow crops
  3. 5. Artificial supply of moisture to crops through channels or pipes
  4. 6. Historic imperial capital near Machu Picchu
  5. 7. Flat farming ledge cut into a hillside
  6. 8. Vegetable such as a pumpkin or zucchini
  7. 9. Edible legumes, including kidney and lima varieties

Inca Empire: Machu Picchu

Easy · 11×11 · 15 words
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  1. 1. Urban settlement described by the blank in Machu Picchu's nickname, 'Lost ___'.
  2. 5. Hard natural material used for Machu Picchu's fitted building blocks.
  3. 6. Open public square, such as the central gathering space at Machu Picchu.
  4. 7. Supreme ruler whose title Pachacuti held.
  5. 12. Tablelike structure used for religious offerings at Machu Picchu.
  6. 13. Domesticated Andean animal with a long neck, traditionally used to carry loads.

Down

  1. 1. Cereal with kernels arranged on a cob, grown by Machu Picchu's inhabitants.
  2. 2. Building devoted to religious ceremonies at Machu Picchu.
  3. 3. Huge Andean bird with a bare head, represented by a famous carving at Machu Picchu.
  4. 4. South American country where Machu Picchu stands.
  5. 5. Series of steps connecting different levels at Machu Picchu.
  6. 8. Andean food plant whose underground tubers are often mashed or baked.
  7. 9. Precious yellow metal prized by Machu Picchu's builders.
  8. 10. Walking route followed by hikers to Machu Picchu.
  9. 11. Vertical structure forming the side of a building at Machu Picchu.
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