Andean Terraced Farming

Timeline

1. c. -500–600Highlands of Peru and Bolivia · BoliviaFrom the Chavín to the Nazca and Moche cultures, Andean peoples built stone retaining terraces on valley slopes, combined with irrigation canals and fallow rotation, forming an agricultural vertical economy adapted to different altitude zones.
2. 1041–1050Lake Titicaca Basin · Lake Titicaca BasinIn the 1040s and 1050s, after the collapse of the Wari and Tiwanaku empires, communities around Lake Titicaca still maintained large-scale stone terraces and waru waru raised-field systems, repairing field ridges and irrigation works through collective labor (ayni) to sustain plateau food security.
3. c. 1400–1532Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley · Cusco RegionThe Inca Empire brought terraced farming to its zenith, building precise stone terraces and multi-tiered irrigation systems at sites such as Machu Picchu and Moray, organizing large-scale field construction through the mita labor system to support the empire's population and army provisions.