Gold was not used as currency, but it was highly prized for its decorative value. Many buildings were covered with sheets of gold.  This precious metal was also shaped into masks, crowns, knives used to sacrifice humans and animals, and many other objects sacred to the Incas.  There are few precious metal objects left from the Inca empire, as the Spanish confiscated all of the gold and silver they could find, melted it, and used it for their own purposes.  Here is a silver llama--it still exists because it was recently found buried in the grave of a young girl.  Oops Spaniards, you missed a few!

Architecture was another means that skillful artists served the empire.  This is the Sun Temple at Machu Picchu.  Every Incan village had a sacred structure such as this, dedicated to the sun (it was also dedicated to the emperor, because he was thought to be the only son of the sun god).  Incan craftspeople shaped huge rocks to use as block in their walls.  They used metal tools and ingenious means, such as the expansion of water when it freezes to split off parts of these boulders to make them into usable blocks.  Some found in walls that still exist are 20 feet high!  The rocks were fit together so skillfully, that they are earthquake proof to this day.  Some of the joints are so fine that a piece of paper cannot be slipped between the boulders.  All of the sun temples had a semi-circular wall, such as the one you see here.