Abstract

Understanding that the Qhapaq Ñan was a communication system that allowed for the articulation of peoples, the integration of societies, and the cohesion of Inca civilization, the section of the Precordilleran Route in the Arica and Parinacota region (Chile) is analyzed from the perspective that its traces and vestiges not only account for its role in the construction of the ceremonial and productive landscape of the late period but also form part of the territory of current indigenous communities, for whom the paths constitute a part of their memories and practices of translocal movements. Thus, through an ethnoarchaeological approach that captures the ecological, social, and ritual relationships maintained by current communities with the landscape and the paths, a hermeneutic framework is developed that considers the connection of the Inca road network with the geographical-environmental context and pre-Hispanic settlements, as well as the meanings and economic, social, and ritual practices upheld by the current inhabitants of the precordillera.