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. 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. The Incas gave priority to the straightness of the roads, whenever possible, to shorten the distances. 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 and could support a population of between twelve and fifteen thousand people. which had an extremely long expiration date and made them ideal for long-term storage for the army in the event of conflicts. The use of the Inca roads, in the colonial period, after the
Spanish conquest of Peru was mostly discontinued. 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.
Transportation 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
chasqui (runners) for relaying information (through the
quipus) and lightweight valuables throughout the empire, and llamas caravans for transporting goods. Llamas were used as
pack animals 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. 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 for a distance of per day, when necessary they can carry up to for short trips. They forage on natural vegetation. 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. 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.
Religious 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 . In addition to high altitude shrines, there were also many holy shrines or religious sites, called
wak’a, that were a part of the
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. 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. ==History==