Qhapaq Ñan - Camino Principal Andino

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Argentina (Latin America and the Caribbean)

Date of Submission: 15/11/2001
Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)
Category: Cultural
Submission prepared by:
Delegacion Permanente de la Republica Argentina ante la UNESCO
Ref.: 1583

Themes

• Cultural landscapes

Description

The origin of the Inka Empire goes back to the XIII century, beginning th expansion in the following century. It reaches the biggest extension toward end the XV century, very close to its desintegration and decline starting in 1532, dates where Cuzco -it

Capital - was dominated by the Spanish Crown. The conquest of the Kollasuyu began at the end of the decade of 1430, by Pachakuti Inka Yupanki, who was called "the transformer of the world." This was continued by one of his children, Thopa Inka Yupanki who began th conquest of the Southern Andes Mountain. These conquests were consolidated by th eleventh Inka, well-known as Wayna Kapaj who acts between 1493 and 1525. Through it development he integrated extensive territories of South America from the south of Colombi to the center of Chile, of north to south - through the length of the Andes Mountain - an toward the east and the west -valleys and sub Andeans mountains-, in what was called "Land of the Four Quadrants" or Tawantinsuyu' The dividing lines of the four sections ran approximately in north-south directions and east-west, converging in the city of Cuzco, its capital.



The Tawantinsuyu included the northwest division or Chinchasuyu that included most o Central and North Peru, Ecuador and the south of Colombia. The headquarters or Southwest county was the Kuntisuyu that embraced the coast in the Central Peru. On the hillsides of the eastern forest the Antisuyu extended toward the northeast and southeast. The biggest county, the Kollasuyu, toward the south included the basin of Lake Titicaca, most of Bolivia, the high lands of Argentina to the province of Mendoza, and the north half of Chile.



Along the Empire of the Tawantinsuyu, the Inka Trail or Royal road crosses the territory limiting the various towns, regions and ecosystems of the Andes Mountain, and it represents the communication road or "corridor" that reflects the complex, effective and integrative organization of the state. The Inka Trail System, with its coast roads, the highlands roads and a great net of secondary and traverse roads, united all the parts facilitating its administration and communication among each settlements of the empire. Through them it is possible to understand the diverse aspects of the culture such as the operation of their organization. The different itineraries realize the spaces and emphasized resources as well as of the diverse associated establishments and the activities and developed infrastructures: bridges, towns, fortifications, tamberias, deposits, chasquis, mining, agriculture, etc.



The crucial magnitude of this empire's interrelation net and its courses along deep valleys, high peaks, snowy mountains, swamps, rocky outcrops and torrential rivers, is that at the same time that it constitutes a cultural resource -as a base of communication of the empire-, it self allow us to incorporate the appraisal of the diversity of settings or natural resources represented by the environment that the great trail crosses. The notion of lineal resource -the road -, integrated to the notion of landscapes -the road and the surrounding environment constitute theoretical-methodological elements that will serve for the identification, to the protection and the management of this heritage (Boyle, 1996).



In such terms, the Inka Trail constitutes a heritage resource of importance, in an integrative concept and indisociable of its natural and cultural dimension, which contributes to the understanding of the development of the Inka culture such as the limits that are planned for conservation and management. From the Biorregional ecosystems management (Miller, 1996), we can also consider the concepts of cores; defined as those identified areas as natural and cultural integrated units that possess high value for the renovation of the relationships and processes that sustain the biodiversity and the cultural diversity of the ecosystems (Molinari and Ferraro, 200 1).



The cores are represented by the Inka Sites interconnected by the net of Inca's roads. These constituted the access corridors and circulation that allowed the development of the empire. The cores and the corridors conformed a matrix, of great geographical width that represents the, global space of the empire with its characteristics of diversity and ecosystem variety.



These roads had a layout and a different construction according, to the topography of the lands that they crossed, looking for mostly of the times the most direct line and keeping in mind the water resources available. According to the circumstances sometimes they used roads already existent of Pre-Inka times, and in other cases they built them specifically. The measure of the roads was variable. From a simple path to wide paths. In Argentina the records of the specialists correspond to widths between 2 and 4 meters, and of generally straight appearance.



For their structural features the specialists have made a typology of the same ones:



1 - Clear: the most used type of all. It recognizes to present a "raked" product of the simple cleaning of the track or for the own pedestrian traffic. There are numerous vestiges in the Calchaqui region, to the North of the Quebrada del Toro, between Punta Ci6naga and El Moreno (Raffino). Also in La Rioja province (Rohmeder and Aparicio), in San Juan province (Mdrquez Miranda) and in Mendoza province (Schobinger and Bdrcena).



2 - Clear and landmarked: they present here and there lines of stones that demarcated the road. For example in the Famatina region between Las Piedras and Vinchina (Schobinger); in the Sierra del Ambato (Boman) and in the tract that extends among Fuerte Quemado and Quilmes (Raffino).



3 - Contained by walls: when the road crossed a settlement it could be skirted by the walls of enclosures. Inside this type is included, as a variation, those that present seats, mainly in sharp stretches, which could serve as places of rest for the travelers. It is observed, although quite imperceptibly, in the Nevado of Aconquija.



4 - Stone paving: sectors where stones or flagstones were placed on the ground, with certain regularity and unkempt termination. This can observed in the Quebrada del Toro between Punta Ci6naga and Las Cuevas IV (Raffino), in the Sierra del Aconquija, in the homonymous site.



5 - Cobble stoned: The stones placed on the ground are more regular in their forms, it seems them to be assembled and with a more careful finish. Absent in the Center - South Andes Mountain



6 - Having steps and/or ramps: Steps was carved in the base rock or was completed with the transporting of stones. The ramps were delineated on the slopes and they could have attached stone and gravel. Stone stairs are observed in the Nevados del Aconquija, in Doncellas and in Quilmes.



7 - With retaining bank: Serving as reinforcement in very abrupt areas, with danger erosion or of collapses. This type is observed in the swicht-back roads, in high places, in the Quebrada del Toro (noted by Boman), and in the Famatina mountain (Schobinger).