± 1500 to ± 1600

The Incas learned much from their conquered subjects from the kingdom of Chimor. Chimu metalsmiths were brought to Cuzco to create the Coricancha, the Sun Temple. Precious metals played an important role for the Incas. Gold was associated with the sun and silver with the moon. The noble Incas dressed in jewelry made of precious metals and used cups and other gold and silver objects at their feasts. Special objects for religious rituals were used from the same sacred materials.

Male and female figurines were given the same techniques. The face was treated with more care than the body and lower extremities. The most common are small gold and silver figures of naked women and men. These were grave offerings. They seem to represent the young women and men who would accompany the dead during the ritual of capacocha, meaning royal sin or obligation. The hands on the chest are a gesture of reverence. Figures like these are usually cast. The hands are usually folded across the chest, or they are holding an object, such as a corn cob or fan. Some dressed figures with textiles and feathers have been found. More common are pairs of small figures, which may mean day and night. They are metallic beings who stand by the dead eternally.

The Incas believed that every entity requires two complementary opposites. They applied this in their social life. Above and below, good and evil, man and woman. The capital Cuzco also consists of two parts, Hanancuzco and Hurincuzco, the upper and lower city. The population also consists of two parts. In low-lying Cuzco live family communities of former Inca monarchs. The closest relatives of the rulers live in the higher part. The dualistic principle in thinking is also apparent in their utensils, pottery, textiles, and architecture.