Ethnoarchaeological studies provide details on the more immediate decision making practices of caravan drivers including the daily routine, the rate of travel, and the scheduling of rest days. References in the ethnographic and ethnohistoric literature concerning to the velocity and capacity of llama caravans provides benchmarks for estimating the rate of travel in prehispanic times. There is some variability in the reported weights, speeds, and distances in the ethnographic and ethnohistoric literature (Bonavia 1996: 501-515).
|
Mode |
Weight |
Distance |
Time |
Reference |
|
Caravan distance calculated by coca chews |
3 km level, 2 km uphill |
Approximately 40 min per "cocada", 6-8 per day. |
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|
Llama |
Up to 40-45 kg |
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|
Llama caravan (ethnohistoric) |
75 - 100 lb loads (34.1 - 45.4 kg) |
10-12 miles (16-19 km) / day |
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|
Llama caravan |
25-30 kg (< 40 kg) |
15-20 km / day |
Ten hour marches. A long trip can last 30 days. |
|
|
Llama caravan |
Approximately |
25 km / day (150 km journey) |
From 8-9am to nearly 4 pm, or 8 hrs per day |
|
|
Llama caravan (ethnohistoric) |
11 miles (17.7 km) / day |
1 day: from daybreak to noon |
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|
Llama caravan |
Approximately |
20-25 km / day |
1 day: 7 am to 2-3 pm. |
|
|
Llama caravan |
Approximately |
15-20 km / day |
Journey: 2-3 months |
|
|
Llama caravan (ethnohistoric) |
10-20 km / day |
1 day: From dawn until early afternoon |
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|
Llama caravan (model for long trips) |
30 kg |
20 km / day |
6 days a week of travel |
|
|
Llama caravan |
15-20 km / day |
1 day: From dawn until early afternoon. |
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|
Llama: Lighter loads |
25-35 kg |
300-400 km journey |
Journey: 2-3 months |
|
|
Llama: Heavy loads |
50-60 kg |
Short distance |
Short duration |
|
|
Llama caravan (salt blocks) |
23 kg |
15-25 km / day |
From 4-5am to 2-4pm, or 6-9 hrs/day, no stops |
Table 3-1. Reported llama caravan loads, distances, and times.
Caravan drivers generally arise at first light and begin preparing for the journey and loading animals for an early departure. Caravans often travel until early afternoon when camp is established and the animals are allowed to graze. As camelids do not pasture at night (whereas Equusdo) ample time must be provided for animals to feed during the afternoon in order to avoid stressing the animals (Nielsen 2000: 446-449). Rest days are taken regularly on caravan routes that exceed six days, with Nielsen (2000: 461) reporting one rest day for every three to five days of travel (Lecoq 1988: 185-186;West 1981: 70). The top priority with respect to nightly campsite selection is the needs of the herd animals. Quality pasture is sought for the animals, the next priority is sufficient water, and additionally the emotional condition of the llamas is considered as reported the llamas can be restless in certain camps. Subsequently the needs of humans are considered including hunting opportunities, trade opportunities, and the comfort of the camp. Thus, while economic and social demands frame the larger scale decisions of caravan routes and products to transport for trade, the needs of the herd animals dominate in short term decision making (Nielsen 2000: 490).
Male llamas are larger and caravan animals are typically castrated males, based on some reports, but "left intact" according to others. Flores Ochoa (1968: 118), reports that castrated llamas produce better meat and wool, but non-castrated llamas make better caravan animals. According to most other reports caravan llamas are castrated because they are stronger and tamer, and this practice allows herders to manage mixed herds (Browman 1990: 398;Nielsen 2001: 168;West 1981: 66).
A computer model for estimating travel speed based on topography, where velocity over a segment of trail is calculated as function of slope, could be derived using the function presented by Tobler (1993) for hiking and horseback riding (the source of cost paths shown in Figure 3-5). While these topography based calculations have serious limitations (Connolly and Lake 2006: 252-255), for general estimates over larger regions with measurable changes in terrain steepness these estimates are superior to the simple use of slope for estimating velocity. Such models would preferably be derived using original data from fieldwork, perhaps based on a contemporary study that takes into account the size and weight of the cargo animal, the amount and type of cargo, and the performance of the cargo animals based on trail conditions mapped using GPS receivers.
In the course of ethnoarchaeological fieldwork accompanying a llama caravan in Bolivia, Nielsen (2000: 449;2001: 184) notes that there were differences in the going and returning portions of a 2-3 month caravan journey that had implications for the overall travel speed. The out-going trip involved visits with companions and a variety of rituals at propitious locations along the route. During the return journey, in contrast, no rituals were performed but the animals moved more slowly because they were carrying large loads of produce uphill from the eastern lowlands; and they had been traveling for months and reportedly their feet hurt. Thus the lack of ritual performance and visiting and bartering saved time, but the walking speeds were slower, breaks were longer, and layover rest days were more frequent and longer.
In the Mantaro region of the central Andes, Earle (2001: 310) notes that long distance exchange (classified as taking place over a distance of 50 km or greater, to lands beyond those held by the local ethnic group), rarely includes staple items. During the Late Intermediate and Late Horizon, items that were found in the Mantaro area include items of metal and shell described as "wealth items", emphasizing the political nature of long distance exchange in this period.
While Colca valley obsidian was primarily conveyed throughout the Titicaca Basin during prehispanic times by unspecified groups, during the colonial period Colca valley polities are known to have been dominant caravan operators in the region. Residents of the Colca valley owned large camelid herds and they were responsible for extended caravan journeys to the altiplano during the Colonial period. Documentary evidence shows that the Collaguas from the main Colca valley initiated caravans to transport products, such as Arequipa wine to Cusco and Canas, and Colca corn to "wherever they would like to sell it" (Crespo 1977: 56). A testament to the role of the Collaguas, and the Colca valley in Arequipa more generally, comes from Toledo's (1924 [1570-1575]) visita generaldescribing populations of Colca community members resettled as farmers in the new city of Arequipa, Yanahuara, and environs. Toledo states that these Collaguas mitimaesgroups should produce wine in these lower-altitude areas for transport to Cusco and to the mines of Potosí in Bolivia over 700 km to the south-east (Málaga Medina 1977: 114).
Information exchange concerning the relative barter values for goods are subsumed by the intimacy of the exchange context. In ethnographic accounts of exchange the negations occur predominantly in the privacy of domestic patio areas, and not in a public forum, such as a marketplace, where prices and equivalencies are public knowledge (Humphrey and Hugh-Jones 1992).
Caravan travel involves negotiating long distances with unforeseen delays. Due to the difficulty in scheduling encounters between caravans as highly mobile segments of the population, settled villages probably served as important nodes in the fluid regional interaction network (Dillehay and Nuñez 1988). The manner in which these temporal factors intersect with the diachronic nature of reciprocal exchange is counter to the synchronic expectations of establishing immediate, market-based equivalences for goods.
When caravan drivers do not have established trade partners in a settlement they may initiate a new trade relationship with unknown partners upon entering the community. Casaverde Rojas (1977: 177) describes how women in Cabanaconde, in the lower Colca valley, would besiege the first caravans to arrive seasonally at the village entrance with offers. The women would attempt to establish trade partner relationships by negotiating favorable terms for agricultural goods and a place to corral the caravan animals in exchange for labor and pastoral products. Nielsen (2001: 183) states that when market prices fluctuate then contemporary caravanners in Oruro, Bolivia, will sometimes avoid established trade partners in order to better pursue profit opportunities with the greater variety offered by modern market forces; the compadrazgoinstitution seems to be waning. As Danby (2002) and M. E. Smith (2004) both argue, commercialization and alienability of products in all ancient economies should perhaps best be considered in terms of degrees and not in absolutes.