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Inca road system
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==Purposes of the road== The Incas used the road system for a variety of reasons, from transportation for people who were traveling through the Empire to military and religious purposes.<ref name ="Cartwright">{{cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/757/|title= Mark Cartwright "The Inca Road System", 2014 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> The road system allowed for a fast movement of persons from one part of the Empire to the other: both armies and workers used the roads to move and the tambos to rest and be fed. It also allowed for the fast movement of information and valuable small goods which traveled through the chasquis.<ref>Lavado, Pablo; Franco, Ana Paula (2017). Long-term effects of the Inca Road System on development - Universidad del Pacífico</ref> The Incas gave priority to the straightness of the roads, whenever possible, to shorten the distances.<ref name="hyslop"/> According to Hyslop<ref name="hyslop"/> the roads were the basis for the expansion of the Inca Empire: the most important settlements were located on the main roads, following a provision prefigured by the existence of older roads. The Incas had a predilection for the use of the [[Altiplano]], or ''puna'' areas, for displacement, seeking to avoid contact with the populations settled in the valleys, and project, at the same time, a straight route of rapid communication. Other researchers<ref>Bauer, Brian; Stanish, Charles (2003). Las islas del Sol y de la Luna: ritual y peregrinaje en los antiguos Andes – Cusco – Centro Bartolomé de las Casas, (Antropología, 3)</ref><ref>Canziani Amico, José (2009). El Imperio Inca. La integración macroregional andina y el apogeo de la planificación territorial - Ciudad y Territorio en los Andes. Contribuciones a la historia del urbanismo prehispánico. – Lima - Centro de Investigación de la Arquitectura y la Ciudad - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, pp. 411-483</ref> pointed out additional factors that conditioned the location of Inca settlements and roads, such as the establishment of control zones in an intermediate location with respect to the populations and productive lands of the valleys, the requirement of specific goods, and storage needs, which were favored in the high plains of the Altiplano, characterized by low temperatures and dry climates. As an example, the administrative center of [[Huánuco Pampa]] includes 497 collcas, which totaled as much as {{convert|37,100|m3|cuft}} and could support a population of between twelve and fifteen thousand people.<ref name="Jenkins 2001 659"/> Cotapachi (nowadays in the Bolivian region of [[Cochabamba]]) included a group of 2,400 collcas far away from any significant village. Collcas were long-term storage houses, primarily for the storage of grains and maize,<ref>{{cite news|last=Fellman|first=Bruce|title=Rediscovering Mach Picchu|year=2002|magazine=Yale Alumni Magazine}}</ref> which had an extremely long expiration date and made them ideal for long-term storage for the army in the event of conflicts.<ref name=Vergara/>{{rp|308}} According to Hyslop<ref name="hyslop"/> the use of the Inca road system was reserved to authorities. He states: «soldiers, porters, and llama caravans were prime users, as were the nobility and other individuals on official duty… Other subjects were allowed to walk along the roads only with permission…» Nevertheless, he recognizes that «there was also an undetermined amount of private traffic … about which little is known». Some local structures (called ''ranchillos'') exist alongside the road which may allow to infer that also private trade traffic was present.<ref name="garrido">Garrido, Francisco (2016). Rethinking imperial infrastructure: A bottom-up perspective on the Inca Road - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 43 (2016) 94–109</ref> The use of the Inca roads, in the colonial period, after the [[Spanish conquest of Peru]] was mostly discontinued.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cameron|first=Ian|title=Kingdom of the Sun God: a history of the Andes and their people|year=1990|publisher=[[Facts on File]]|location=New York|isbn=0-8160-2581-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/kingdomofsungodh00came/page/65 65]|url=https://archive.org/details/kingdomofsungodh00came/page/65}}</ref> The Conquistadors used the Inca roads to approach the capital city of Cusco, but they used horses and ox carts, which were not usable on such a road, and soon most of the roads were abandoned. Only about 25 percent of this network is still visible today, the rest having been destroyed by wars (conquest, uprising, independence or between nations), the change in the economic model which involved abandoning large areas of territory, and finally the construction of modern infrastructure, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which led to the superposition of new communication channels in the outline of pre-Hispanic roads.<ref name= "bar">Bar Esquivel, Alfredo (2013). Afectaciones históricas a la red vial inca y la necesidad del estudio documentario de carreteras para la investigación y el registro de caminos prehispánicos – Cuadernos del Qhapaq Ñan - Año 1, N° 1, 2013 / {{ISSN|2309-804X}}</ref> ===Transportation=== [[File:Qapaq Nan on causeway from Chucuito DSC 4275.jpg|thumb|The Inca road bordering the Titicaca lake seen from the ''mirador'' of Chucuito, Peru.]] Transportation was done on foot as in pre-Columbian America; the use of wheels for transportation was not known. The Inca had two main uses of transportation on the roads: the [[chaski|chasqui]] (runners) for relaying information (through the [[quipu|quipus]]) and lightweight valuables throughout the empire, and llamas caravans for transporting goods. Llamas<ref group="note">Although very similar to llamas, alpacas are not pack animals.</ref> were used as [[pack animal]]s in large flocks. They are lightweight animals and cannot carry much but are incredibly nimble. To transport large numbers of goods across the empire, it was more efficient for the Incas to use herds of llamas and to have two or three herdsmen.<ref name="D'Altroy1992"/>{{rp|242}} Herdsmen would drive the animals carrying their loads up the steep mountain roads, increasing carrying capacity without risking additional lives.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Main Andean Road – Qhapaq Nan|journal=UNESCO|date=10 July 2009}}</ref> Llamas have soft, padded hoofs, which give them good traction and a negligible impact on the road surface. Llamas of the Q'ara race (short-haired variety), which are used also in contemporary caravans, can carry about {{convert|30|kg|lb}} for a distance of {{convert|20|km|mi}} per day, when necessary they can carry up to {{convert|45|kg|lb}} for short trips. They forage on natural vegetation.<ref name="Nielsen"/>{{rp|168}} ===Trade=== Roads and bridges were essential to the political cohesion of the Inca state and to the redistribution of goods within it.<ref name=Thompson1966/>{{rp|632}} All resources in the Empire were the property of the ruling elite.<ref name="Jenkins 2001 659">{{cite news|last=Jenkins|first=David|title=Network Analysis of Inka Roads, Administrative Centers, and Storage Facilities|year=2001|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|page=659|edition=Volume 48}}</ref> Commercial exchanges between manufacturers or producers and buyers were not practiced, as the management of all goods came under the control of the central authority. The redistribution of goods was known as the [[vertical archipelago]]: this system formed the basis for trade throughout the Inca Empire.<ref name="D'Altroy1992"/>{{rp|118}} As different sections of the Empire had different resources, the roads were used to distribute goods to other parts of the Empire that were in need of them. Roads reinforced the strength of the Inca Empire, as they allowed for the empire's multitude of resources to be distributed through a set system to ensure all parts of the Empire were satisfied.<ref name="D'Altroy1992"/>{{rp|120}} Nevertheless, scholars<ref name="garrido"/><ref name="Nielsen">Nielsen, Alex (2000). Andean Caravans: An Ethnoarchaeology Ph.D. Dissertation in Anthropology - University of Arizona - Tucson</ref> have noted that there was a possible barter of goods along the roads between caravanners and villagers: a sort of "secondary exchange" and "daily swapping". ===Military=== These roads provided easy, reliable and quick routes for the Empire's administrative and military communications, personnel movement, and logistical support. After conquering a territory or convincing the local lord to become an ally, the Inca would employ a military-political strategy including the extension of the road system into the new dominated territories.<ref name="hyslop"/> The Qhapaq Ñan thus became a permanent symbol of the ideological presence of the Inca dominion in the newly conquered place. The road system facilitated the movement of imperial troops and preparations for new conquests as well as the quelling of uprisings and rebellions. However it was also allowed for sharing with the newly incorporated populations the surplus goods that the Inca produced and stored annually for the purpose of redistribution. The army moved frequently, mostly in support of military actions but also to support civil works.<ref name="mattos"/> The forts or pukaras were located mainly in the border areas, as a spatial indicator of the process of progressing and annexing new territories to the Empire. In fact, a greater number of pukaras are found towards the north of the Tawantinsuyu, as witnesses to the work of incorporating the northern territories, which were known to be rich in pastures. To the south there are abundant remains, around Mendoza in Argentina and along the Maipo river in Chile, where the presence of forts marks the line of the road at the southernmost point of the Empire.<ref name="martinez"/><ref group="note">Out of about 200 known pukaras 100 of them are found in Northern Ecuador and 30 of them in Northern Chile and Argentina. See Anderson, Amber M., "War and Conquest: Inca strategies and struggles in Northern Ecuador", https://www.academia.edu/11358577/War_and_Conquest_Inca_strategies_and_struggles_in_Northern_Ecuador, accessed 27 May 2017</ref> ===Religious === [[File:The Inka coastal road at Pachacamac DSC 0318.jpg|thumb|The Inca coastal road at the Pachacamac Sanctuary]] The high altitude shrines were directly related to the cult of Nature and specifically to the mountains, typical of the Inca society, which the Incas formalized by the construction of religious structures on the mountain peaks. Mountains are the ''apus'', or deities, in the universe of Andean beliefs that are still held today; they have a spiritual connotation linked to the future of Nature and human existence. The Incas held many rituals, including the sacrifice of children, goods, and llamas, at the mountain tops as part of this belief. However, not all mountains held the same religious connotation nor were sanctuaries built on all of them. The only way to reach the summits of the mountains for worship was by connecting the road system to high altitude paths in order to reach the sacred places. They were ritual roads that culminated in the peaks, at the point of contact between the earthly and the sacred space. Some of them reached high altitudes above sea level, such as mount Chañi, which had a road that started at the base and went to the summit at an elevation of {{convert|5,949|m|ft}}.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vitry|first=Christian|title=Roads for Rituals and Sacred Mountains. A study of the Inca Road Systems in High Altitude Shrines in the North|newspaper=Bulletin of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art|year=2007|page=2}}</ref> In addition to high altitude shrines, there were also many holy shrines or religious sites, called [[Huaca|wak’a]], that were a part of the [[Ceque system|Zeq’e system]] along and near the roads, especially around the capital city, Cusco. These shrines were either natural or modified features of the landscape, as well as buildings, where the Inca would visit for worship.<ref name="D'Altroy2002a" />{{rp|163}} Some important places of worship were directly connected by the main Inca roads. Such is the case of the sanctuary of [[Pachacamac]] through which the coastal road passed, just south of present day [[Lima]].
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