Lost tambos, forgotten routes:

new contributions from the study of qhapaq ñan in the Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy, Argentina)

Abstract

Based on researches carried out in recent years in the hills and mountain areas surrounding the Quebrada de Humahuaca, we have been able to identify several tambos and segments of pre-Hispanic routes. Considering the importance of inter-regional transversal routes, linking the Puna with the eastern valleys of Jujuy, we make some proposals regarding the transit system reasons and the complexity of its location. The dominance mantained by the Tahuantinsuyu in this distant and marginal territory -constituted as an internal frontier for the empire of the Southern Andes- reflects the state's control over the production of sumptuary goods with high symbolic value, and over ritual and transportation routes.