Discuss the role and nature of the tribute in two pre-Columbian societies.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the role and nature of the tribute in two pre-Columbian societies. Candidates may refer to the differing nature of tribute: products, labour or a kind of currency, such as cacao in some Mesoamerican areas. They may distinguish between state and local tributes. Candidates may mention the use of tribute for the development of infrastructure. They may argue that tribute also sustained rulers, political and religious hierarchies, and state bureaucracy. Additionally, or alternatively, candidates may discuss reciprocity and redistribution relationships, the use of tributaries, the relationship between local and state authorities (for example the caciques’ tributes to the Zipa in Chibcha culture, or the curacas’s tributes to the Inca).