The Inca State developed a complex political, social, and economic organization capable of moving goods, people, and information, ensuring communication and transportation through an extensive road network across its vast territory. These roads extended from Cusco to the four regions of Tawantinsuyu, connecting areas from southern Colombia to Mendoza in Argentina and southern Santiago in Chile, through routes that reached over 40,000 kilometers, although only about 25,000 have been discovered.
This network was marked by sites such as tampus or tambos, chasquihuasis (houses of the messengers), observation posts, and administrative control centers for mining, agricultural, and livestock production, among others.
In 2002, the Qhapaq Ñan Project began with the main goals of documenting, researching, and conserving the pre-Hispanic Andean road system. In June 2014, the Andean Road was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The nomination included road sections and associated areas to six countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. In Argentina, it covered seven provinces: Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan, and Mendoza.
The nominated archaeological sites in Salta are: Santa Rosa de Tastil, Potrero de Payogasta, Las Peras-Sauzalito, Los Graneros de La Poma; a section of the Inca trail between Tastil and Las Capillas passing through the Ingañan Pass, and the Llullaillaco Volcano Ceremonial Complex. Each of these places has its own unique history and significance in both the regional and international context, contributing to the outstanding universal value of the Qhapaq Ñan.
