In the 16th century, the Incas flourished in the harsh conditions of the Andes Mountains in South America, ranging over an area nearly 2,500 miles from end to end. During this time, the Incas organized a remarkable system of government: a welfare state in which everyone worked on a rotating schedule and no one went hungry. Land was assigned to individuals to be farmed for private and public ends; state warehouses throughout the empire held grain and clothing for use by the army and by the public; and a network of well-engineered roads enabled relay runners to cover more than 100 miles a day as they carried information to and from the imperial capital of Cuzco. Yet this advanced civilization existed at its peak for fewer than 40 years before Spaniard Francisco Pizarro arrived and virtually destroyed one of the world’s greatest civilizations.

Follow three archaeologists as they seek to better understand the Inca people, and find out what everyday life was like within the administrative system, review centuries-old documents that reveal Inca traditions, learn how ancient agricultural systems are relevant today, and discover how the Inca used their extensive network of roads for the prosperity of this unique civilization.