Tambo (Inca)

Conchmarka ( "cooking hearth") Tambo on Inca Trail

A Tambo ( Quechua : tampu , "inn") was an Inca hostel for travelers , soldiers and caravans .

The tambos were set up in the entire Inca road network at intervals of 15 to 25 kilometers, which corresponds to the daily distance that can be covered with a loaded llama . In the Atacama Desert , the distance was over 42 kilometers. They usually consisted of a carefully constructed residential building and adjoining areas for storing goods or housing animals .

Tambos in different sizes indicate a different meaning of the respective place. The smallest were called messenger houses ( Quechua : chaskiwasi ), the largest were administrative centers in which Inca officials controlled the traffic as well as the production, storage and distribution of goods. The tambos in or on settlements were always clearly separated from the living areas of the local population.

Individual evidence

1. ^ John Hyslop, Mario Rivera: An Expedition on the Inca Road in the Atacama Desert. In: Archeology, Vol. 37, No. 6, November / December 1984, pp. 33-39, here p. 39
2. ↑ Hildalgo Jorge, Aldunate Carlos u. a .: Tras la huella del Inka en Chile. Museo de Arte Precolombino, Santiago 2001, p. 47f online