Llama and Alpaca Pack Transport

Timeline

1. c. -3500–-1000Central highlands of Peru · PeruAndean peoples gradually domesticated guanacos and vicuñas, breeding alpacas and domestic llamas for wool, pack transport, and meat, adapted to the low-oxygen highland environment.
2. c. 600–1000Wari–Tiwanaku trade corridor · BoliviaThe Wari and Tiwanaku empires organized large-scale llama caravans carrying tribute, textiles, and metalware along highland roads; the pack system became a pillar of imperial political control and economic integration.
3. c. 1011–1020Andean interior trade routes · Andes MountainsAfter the empires collapsed, llama caravans remained the main means of exchanging goods among Andean communities; local chiefdoms relied on caravans to maintain regional circulation of salt, wool, and pottery, while pilgrims also traveled by llama caravan to sacred sites such as Tiwanaku.