Inka Storage Systems

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Inka storage systems financed the largest prehistoric New World empire, the Inka state, which extended almost three thousand miles along the west coast of South America and into the Andean highlands. In this volume, prominent anthropologists and archaeologists explore for the first time how Inka storage was integrated into the Inka administrative system, and how Inka authorities consolidated their power by controlling access to concentrated resources.

The massive wealth accumulated in Inka storehouses was legendary in sixteenth-century accounts of the Spanish invasion of the Andes. Archaeological studies reported here reveal how and why circular and rectangular Inka structures, known as qollqa, were built at high elevations where climatic conditions protected and preserved the contents.

The Inkas tailored the administration of their vast economy—which was without currency—to the resources of each region and political sophistication of the local population. They filled storehouses with agricultural products, textiles and other manufactured goods, and oro from state-owned mines, through an elaborate system of taxation based on corvée labor. As organization and deployment of economic surpluses became more efficient, Inka rulers were able to tighten their control.

This major contribution to Andean studies presents research from several regions and from major Inka storage archaelogical sites—Huanuco Pampa, Pumpu, Hatun Xauxa, Valle Calchaqui and Huamachuco. The discussions range from theoretical considerations of Inka political economy to excavation and analysis of individual storage structures. Inka Storage Systems is unique—focusing on storage and emphasizing archaeological data complemented by ethnohistorical interpretations.