INCA-005B Inca Warrior

The army’s elite units were provided by the Inca troops themselves, composed of the military contingents of the capital’s two rival divisions of Hanan (upper) and Hurin (lower) Cuzco. Which was north and south of the Urubamba river.

These soldiers were fiercely competitive with each other, and were called “huaminca”, meaning veterans. These veterans received formal military training as part of their coming of age on reaching 14 or 15 years of age. They were taught not only how to use various weapons but also how to manufacture them. They would undergo numerous tests of courage and stamina, on successful completion of which they received assorted insignia denoting their status, including having their ears pierced, as well as being given the traditional Inca weapons of sling, mace and shield.

Scale 1/30.