What is the Inca road system?
Q: What is the Inca road system?
A: The Inca road system (El Camino Inca) of Peru was a network of roads and trails that were constructed in pre-Columbian South America.
Q: How extensive was the Inca road system?
A: It covered approximately 22,500 kilometers (14,000 mi) and reached heights of over 5,000 m (16,500 feet) above sea level.
Q: What was unique about the Inca road system in terms of transportation?
A: The Incas did not make use of the wheel for transportation, and did not have horses until the arrival of the Spanish in Peru in the 16th century, so the trails were used almost exclusively by people walking, sometimes accompanied by pack animals, usually the llama.
Q: How were messages communicated through the Inca road system?
A: Messages were carried via knotted-cord quipu and by memory, and could be carried by runners covering as much as 240 km (150 mi) per day, working in relay fashion much like the Pony Express of the 1860s in North America.
Q: What were the inns along the Inca road system used for?
A: There were approximately 2,000 inns or tambos placed at even intervals along the trails. They provided food, shelter and military supplies to the tens of thousands who traveled the roads.
Q: What was the territory accessible through the Inca road system?
A: The Inca road system provided access to over three million km² of territory.
Q: How did the Inca road system differ from other road systems of its time?
A: The Inca road system was the most extensive among the many roads and trails that were constructed in pre-Columbian South America.
