flights of steps as the road made its way across low-lying hills. Widths varied
from 3 to 10 meters (10 feet to over 30 feet) and, as the road ran through the
desert, piles of stones or wooden posts served as markers. When the road
reached irrigated valleys, walls of adobe or tapia (tamped earth) prevented
people and llama caravans from trampling adjacent fields. Peoples living in areas
traversed by the roads and bridges were responsible for maintenance and repair
and road building was also a labor obligation (see Labor Service).
Travel along the roads was apparently restricted to those occupied in state
business: the Inca emperor, accompanied by his court, inspecting his distant
domains; soldiers engaged in conquest or quelling the frequent rebellions; great
llama caravans carrying produce and goods to stockpile the storehouses scattered
throughout the realm; inspectors and quipucamayoc (quipu masters) on state
missions; mitmacuna dispatched as colonists to far-flung regions; or chasquis,
the runners who carried messages from one end of the empire to the other.
Chasqui messengers running in relay covered 250 kilometers (155 miles) in a
day, delivering messages from Cuzco to Quito, Ecuador, in a week, a distance of
some 1,700 kilometers (over 1,000 miles) as the condor flies.
Installations along the road network ranged from large administrative centers
(especially on the Chinchaysuyu road) such as Vilcashuaman, Hatun Jauja,
Pumpu, Huamachuco, Huánuco Pampa, and Cajamarca, just to name a few, to
medium and small-sized tambos, or way stations, and even smaller
chasquihuasi, or chasqui houses for the chasqui messengers. Tambos often
contained large halls for lodging travelers as well as communal kitchens,
storehouses, and llama corrals.
The Inca road and bridge system did more than facilitate travel. It moved
goods, people, and information and served as a physical and conceptual link
between Cuzco and its hinterland. Sometimes the roads appear almost over-
engineered and in this sense they are as much symbolic as practical—a visible
reminder to subject peoples of Inca might and sovereignty, and a symbol of
Tahuantinsuyu itself.
Further Reading
Cieza de León, Pedro de. The Incas of Pedro de Cieza de León. Translated by Harriet de Onis. Edited by
Victor Wolfgang von Hagen. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959 [1553–1554].
Espinosa, Ricardo. La Gran Ruta Inca: El Capac Ñan [The Great Inca Route]. Lima: Petroperu, 2006.
Hyslop, John. The Inka Road System. New York: Academic Press, 1984.
■ADRIANA VON HAGEN