The Native American heritage of Peru is one of the richest in South America. Although Spain gave Peru its language, religion, and rulers, the civilization of the Inca has left its traces throughout Peruvian culture. Archaeological excavations have uncovered monumental remains of Native American societies. Architecture of the Spanish colonial period, a fusion of Spanish and Native American forms, is called Creole. In art today, the indigenist school pointedly interprets 20th-century Peru in a Native American mode. See also Latin American Architecture; Latin American Literature; Latin American Music; Latin American Painting; Latin American Sculpture.The descendants of the Quechua and Aymará peoples populate the Andean highlands. Many do not speak Spanish and have preserved the customs and folklore of their ancestors. Along the coast and in the highland cities, the whites, mestizos, and blacks live in a modern Western style. In contrast to these settlements are the jungles of eastern Peru, where more isolated groups of Native Americans retain lifestyles similar to those of their ancestors.
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