Altapech Culture

The Altapech Culture (100-1600 AL) was a Lithic culture inhabiting the [Ante] mountains. It practiced horticulture and had pottery. It was succeeded by the Baye Welka Culture.

Altapech Food and Agriculture:
While the Altapech People are hunter gatherers, living mostly on the wild birds (this includes the once-domesticated chickens just wandering around), the indigenous plants and animals (which are being pushed out of their old environments by introduced Earth species), and other wild animals (Vicunas, Llamas, Alpacas). However, one indigenous plant, called the Chucharyu (modern name can happen later) by the Altapech, is starting to be cultivated for clothing. It resembles an asian pear with white hairs coming out. The fruit itself is pretty bland, but rich in carbohydrates and starch (tree potato). However, due to the presence of potatoes and rice, it’s not needed for food, and it’s selectively bred for it’s long hairs, which are woven into cloth. They typically cook their food in clay bowls, and in earth ovens, called Paya and Watya respectively.They’re hunters and gatherers, so food is largely dependent on what they hunt and gather any given day. Over time, the Altapech domesticated another native crop, known as [insert name]. While not as commonly consumed and cultivated as the Chucharyu, an unusually high percentage of phenethylamines and tryptamines present within the fruit led to its reverence as a method of temporary apotheosis.

Altapech Religion:
The Altapech have a rather unique belief system. Unlike most cultures around this time period, the Altapech believe that they still inhabit the Andes, and that the land around them was destroyed and remade in a catastrophic flood and firestorm. This translates to them thinking that they are superior to all the people around them, due to them and their land not being affected as much as the others.

Altapech Art and Music:
Inheriting from their Andean ancestors, the use of flutes and panflutes is a prominent feature of Altapech Music. Typically, they are constructed out of bone or reeds found in the lower-elevation areas. There is also use of a 6-string instrument called the Kwetar, which is shaped similarly to the Erhu. However, there is a variety without the body, which is basically just a glorified zither. They use the standard western 12 note scale with influences from the Andean   Pentatonic scale.The Altapech create certain statues of stuff.

Altapech Architecture:
Grass huts galore, though there are certain stone buildings here and there (they can’t make mortar yet, so they’re pretty shitty).