Editing Inca road system (section)

==Extent==
{{Cquote
 |text=I believe that, since the memory of people, it has not been read of such a greatness as this road, made through deep valleys and high peaks, snow covered mountains, marshes of water, live rock and beside furious rivers; in some parts it was flat and paved, on the slopes well made, by the mountains cleared, by the rocks excavated, by the rivers with walls, in the snows with steps and resting places; everywhere it was clean, swept, clear of debris, full of dwellings, warehouses for valuable goods, temples of the Sun, relay stations that were on this road.<!--translated from original text-->
 | source= [[Pedro Cieza de León]] <br/> El Señorío del Inca. 1553
}}
[[File:Inca roads-en.svg|thumb|upright|Road system of the Inca Empire]]
The Tawantinsuyu, which integrated the current territories of Peru, continued towards the north through present-day Ecuador, reaching the northernmost limits of the Andean mountain range in the region of [[Pasto, Colombia|Los Pastos]] in Colombia; by the South, it penetrated down to the [[Mendoza, Argentina|Mendoza]] and [[Atacama Region|Atacama]] lands, in the southernmost reaches of the Empire, corresponding currently with Argentine and Chilean territories. On the Chilean side, the road reached the [[Maipo river]].<ref name="martinez" /> The Inca Road system connected the northern territories with the capital city Cusco and the southern territories. 
About {{convert|5,000|km|mi}}, out of the more than {{convert|7,000|km|mi}} that the Andean mountains spans, were covered by it.<ref name="camino">Ministerio de Cultura de Peru (2011). Qhapaq Ñan, el Camino Inca - Lima</ref>

As indicated by Hyslop, "The main route of the ''sierra'' (mountains) that passes through [[Quito]], [[Tumebamba]], [[Huánuco]], [[Cusco]], [[Chucuito]], [[Paria, Bolivia|Paria]] and Chicona to the [[Mendoza River]], has a length of 5,658 km." (3,516 miles)<ref name="hyslop"/>

The exact extent of the road network is not known: travelers and scholars proposed various lengths, spanning from {{convert|23,000|km|mi}}<ref name="hyslop">Hyslop, John (1984). The Inca Road System (Studies in Archaeology) - New York: Institute of Andean Research - Academic Press INC – Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers</ref> to {{convert|40,000|km|mi}}<ref name="D'Altroy2002a"/>{{rp|242}} to {{convert|60,000|km|mi}}.<ref name="mattos">Mattos, Ramiro (2015). El Qhapaq Ñan del Tawantinsuyu: reflexiones sobre su significado político y social en el presente andino - Revista de Antropología del Museo de Entre Ríos 12-20 (2015)</ref>
Two main routes were defined: the eastern one, inland, runs high in the [[puna grassland]], a large and undulating surface, which extends above {{convert|4,000|m|ft}}; the second one, the western route, that starts from the region of [[Tumbes, Peru|Tumbes]] in the current Peru–Ecuador border, follows the coastal plains,<ref name="martinez"/> but does not include the coastal deserts, where it hugs the foothills. This western road outlines the current [[Pan-American Highway]] in its South American pacific extension.<ref>{{cite book |title=Incas: lords of gold and glory |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=New York |year=1992 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/incaslordsofgold00time/page/94 94–97] |isbn=0-8094-9870-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/incaslordsofgold00time/page/94 }}</ref>

Recent investigations carried out under the ''Proyecto Qhapaq Ñan'', sponsored by the Peruvian government and basing also on previous research and surveys, suggest with a high degree of probability that another branch of the road system existed on the east side of the Andean ridge, connecting the administrative centre of [[Huánuco Pampa]] with the [[Amazon Basin|Amazon]]ian provinces and having a length of about {{convert|470|km|mi}}.<ref name="guia">Ministerio de Cultura del Perú (2016). Guía de Identificación y Registro del Qhapaq Ñan – Lima</ref>

More than twenty transversal routes ran over the western mountains, while others traversed the eastern cordillera in the mountains and lowlands, connecting the two main routes and populated areas, administrative centres, agricultural and mining zones, as well as ceremonial centres and sacred spaces in different parts of the vast Inca territory. Some of these roads reach altitudes of over {{convert|5,000|m|ft}} above sea level.<ref name="D'Altroy2002a"/>{{rp|242}}<ref name="hyslop"/><ref name="martinez"/>

=== The four routes ===
[[File:Cusco plaque with the directions of 4 suyus DSC 4834.jpg|thumb|Cusco, Peru - plaque indicating the 4 directions of the 4 regions (suyus) of the Inca Empire]]
During the Inca Empire, the roads officially stemmed from [[Cusco]] into the 4 cardinal directions towards the 4 ''suyus'' (provinces) into which the Tawantinsuyu was divided. Cusco was the center of Peru: the Inca-Spanish chronicler [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]] states<ref name="garcilaso">Garcilaso Inca de la Vega – "Primera parte de los comentarios reales de los incas, escrita por Garcilaso Inca de la Vega y publicada en 1609, en Lisboa" --- http://museogarcilaso.pe/mediaelement/pdf/3-ComentariosReales.pdf</ref> that "Cozco in the language of the Incas means navel that is the Earth's navel". 
The four regions were named ''Chinchaysuyu'' towards the North, ''Collasuysu'' towards the South, ''Antisuyu'' towards the East and the lower valleys of the Amazon region and ''Contisuyu'' towards the West and the lower valleys along the Pacific coast.

The route towards the North was the most important in the Inca Empire, as shown by its constructive characteristics: a width ranging between 3 and 16 m<ref name="hyslop"/>{{rp|108}} and the size of the archaeological vestiges that mark the way both in its vicinity and in its area of influence. It is not coincidental that this path goes through and organizes the most important administrative centers of the Tawantinsuyu outside Cusco, such as [[Vilcashuamán]], [[Jauja|Xauxa]], [[Tarmatambo]], Pumpu, Huánuco Pampa, [[Cajamarca]] and [[Huancabamba]], in current territories of Peru; and [[Ingapirca]], [[Tomebamba]] or [[Riobamba]] in Ecuador. This was regarded by the Incas as "the" Qhapaq Ñan, main road or royal road, starting from Cusco and arriving in Quito. From Quito northwards, the Inca presence is perceived in defensive settlements that mark the advance of the Empire by the Ecuadorian provinces of [[Carchi Province|Carchi]] and [[Imbabura Province|Imbabura]] and the current [[Nariño Department]] in Colombia, which in the 16th century was in process of being incorporated into the Inca Empire.<ref name="lumbreras">[[Lumbreras, Luis Guillermo]] (2004).Presentación. Proyecto Qhapaq Ñan Informe de Campaña 2002-2003. Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Lima,</ref>

The route of Qollasuyu leaves Cusco and points towards the South, splitting into two branches to skirt [[Lake Titicaca]] (one on the east and one the west coast) that join again to cross the territory of the Bolivian [[Altiplano]]. From there the roads were unfolding to advance towards the southernmost boundaries of the Tawantinsuyu. One branch headed towards the current Mendoza region of Argentina, while the other penetrated the ancient territories of the [[Diaguita]] and [[Atacama people]] in Chilean lands, who had already developed basic road networks. From there, crossing the driest desert in the world, the Atacama Desert, the Qollasuyu route reached the Maipo river, currently in the [[Santiago]] metropolitan region. From there no vestiges of the Inca advance have been found.<ref name="lumbreras"/>

Contisuyu roads allowed to connect Cusco to coastal territories, in what corresponds to the current regions of [[Arequipa]], [[Moquegua]] and [[Tacna]], in the extreme Peruvian south. These roads are transversal routes that guaranteed the complementarity of natural resources, since they cross very varied ecological floors, in the varied altitude of the descent from the heights of the cordillera to the coastal spaces.<ref name="martinez"/>

The roads of the Antisuyu are the least known and a lesser number of vestiges were registered. They penetrated into the territories of the ''Ceja de Jungla'' or Amazonian Andes leading to the [[Amazon rainforest]], where conditions are more difficult for the conservation of archaeological evidences. The true physical extension of the Inca Empire for this region is not very clear.<ref name="martinez"/>