What are 'cultures'? When people come together into groups and start working together, they soon develop a 'culture' which is all their own. This could be a special way of making pottery, painting or carving rocks. Most cultures, as they get bigger and grow separately from others, invent their own language. This is why there are hundreds of different languages in the world today. Each culture will probably have its own gods to worship too. In Peru, people started to form distinct cultures several thousand years ago. These usually grew up because the people were successfully living and growing lots of crops in a fertile river valley and were separated from other peoples by mountains or desert. When one culture got bigger and more successful than a nearby culture, there was usually war and the weaker people lost and often were forced to become slaves, or at least obey the laws of the new culture.
Today, you can visit the remains of the cities, fortresses and religious sites of several different cultures in this big country. The Incas were just the latest and best known culture of many before them stretching back thousands of years.