Imperial Poop

Long before we Llamas started shoveling the shite in this digital format, our ancestors were, shall we say, kicking it old school and, as a result, rocking the Bronze Age:

Lots of llama droppings helped the ancient Inca build the largest empire ever to exist in the Americas, according to a new study.

Human populations took off and developed into complex societies in the Andes by switching from hunter-gathering to agriculture centered on maize, according to the research published in the June issue of the journal Antiquity. llama poop helped fertilize that crucial crop.

"This leap occurred 2,700 years ago and was made possible by a huge availability of animal excrement. Organic fertilizers enabled corn to be cultivated at very high altitudes, allowing the Inca to settle and flourish," Alex Chepstow-Lusty, a palaeoecologist from the French Institute for Andean Studies in Lima, Peru, told Discovery News.

Oh, you betcha. Wanna conquer the world? Get the llama backsides on your side!

Yip! Yip! Yip!