A kallanka is a typical building of the Inca architecture consisting of an elongated rectangular single room building hall with a gabled thatched roof. In the wider buildings the roof is supported by one or more rows of columns along the major axis. The short sides have gables to support the roof. The entrance is normally through one of the longer sides having equally spaced doors, the opposite side has niches facing the inside or windows but no doors.Gasparini, Graziano; Margolies, Luise (1977). Arquitectura inka - Centro de Investigaciones Históricas y Estéticas, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo Universidad Central de Venezuela - Caracas Kallankas are normally placed on the (main squares) of the Inca settlements with their doors opening to the plaza.Hyslop, John (1990). Inka Settlement Planning - University of Texas Press - Austin
Kallankas were built by the government of the Inca Empire for collective, administrative, religious and military uses. The Inca roads had way station generally referred to as tambos where these great halls were used as temporary quarters for passing soldiers and workers under the mit'a service −a mandatory tribute to the Inca in the form of labor.
In Cusco, Peru and in some other Inca state settlements, kallankas were very large and, according to some chroniclers,Pizarro, Pedro (1978 ). Relación del descubrimiento y conquista de los reinos del Perú. Edited by Guillermo Lohmann Villena and notes by Pierre Duviols. Second edition 1986 - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú - Lima, Peru Garcilaso de la Vega, El Inca (1976 ). Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas. Edition Aurelia Miró Quesada - Caracas: Biblioteca Ayacucho,. Editorial: Biblioteca Ayacucho they were used for festivals and ceremonies in bad weather.
Kallankas were the largest Inca buildings with a length up to and width up to .Barraza Lescano, Sergio (2010). Redefiniendo una categoría arquitectónica inca: la kallanka - Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines 39 (1) - 2010 pages 167-181 All kallankas had imposing thatched roofs. Considering the average gable angle to be between 55° and 60°,Agurto Calvo, Santiago (1987). Estudios acerca de la construcción, arquitectura y planeamiento incas. Vol. 24. Cámara Peruana de la Construcción - Lima the roof height could exceed in the case of the widest ones, thus taking up «most of the visual experience of the building, as well as a considerable part of the construction effort»Nair, Stella et al. (2018). The lost half of Andean architecture: eighteenth-century roofing traditions and environmental use at Chinchero, Peru - Latin American Antiquity - Vol. 29, No. 2, 2018
No kallanka is nowadays fully extant, but ruins are found in many archaeological sites and have been the object of excavation and publication.
Function of the kallankas
Kallankas are found practically in every Inca state settlement. Nevertheless, they appear more insistently in the populated centers along the Inca road system, that is where large masses of armies or people carrying out the mit'a (forced labor) were in movement and needed shelter and temporary supplies. Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire, had at least four kallankasGarcilaso de la Vega, El Inca "Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas" cited by Bauer, Ancient CuscoBauer, Brian S. (2004). Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca - Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture - University of Texas Press - Austin facing its main square −named (also spelled hawkaypata) or square of the rest and happiness"Diccionario quechua - español - quechua" Gobierno Regional Cusco - Cusco – Second edition, 2005 –where the main festivals and celebrations were held.
There is still scarce published information regarding the archaeological findings made inside kallankas, but sherds and animal remains are the most recurrently reported materials. The multifunctional use of kallankas is supported by the discovery of weapons (bolas, sling projectiles) and human remains. Cusco was considered a sacred city where many ceremonies were held. It is possible that Inca Garcilaso de la Vega was correct in stating that the kallankas were areas for the festivals in case of rain. However, Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui, referring to the building called Cuyusmanco in Cusco (the same one that Garcilaso refers to as the first cathedral), says that it was «a house of court and council».
In the territories conquered by the Incas other uses may be assumed. In important administrative centers, the kallankas facing the had probably more than one function. They could serve as well as a covered space to celebrate festivities on rainy days or in he case of the visit of a high official, the celebration of a religious ceremony or the passage of a triumphant army, but it is more likely that they served as temporary accommodation for human groups in transit, soldiers or mitimaes, people fulfilling the forced labor mit'a service. This is confirmed by the archaeological excavations carried out by Edward Craig Morris and colleagues in the kallankas of Huánuco Pampa that showed there was no continuous occupation of them. Morris was one of the archaeologists working for the Institute of Andean Research,website of the Institute of Andean Research directed by John Victor Murra, who excavated the site.Morris, Craig; Covey, R. Alan; Stein, Pat (2011). The Huánuco Pampa archaeological project - Volume I: The plaza and palace complex. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History - Number 96, 234 pages, 230 figures, 35 tables - Issued November 2, 2011 A good definition for the use of the kallankas is given by Cristóbal de Molina «el Almagrista»cited by Gasparini & Margolies page 208not to be confused with Cristóbal de Molina, called «el Cusqueño» (from Cusco) who, speaking of army displacements, states «… they settled in the town they arrived in, in large sheds and large houses that were made for the purpose, some of which were one hundred and fifty paces long, very wide and spacious, each one could accommodate a large number of people, very well covered, clean and furnished, with many doors, so that they were clear and pleasant …» This also confirms that the kallankas were planned buildings in the administrative centers and in the tambos along the Inca road system.
The following table summarizes different functions attributed to the kallankas by Spanish chroniclers and scholars. Function of the kallanka Author / references Palaces of the Inca king or other important persons. Sergio Barraza Barracks or shelters for the Inca soldiers. John Hyslop Covered plazas «for their parties and dances» when weather conditions did not allow outdoor gatherings. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Workshops and/or accommodation for tributaries of the mit'a system. John Hislop Temporary collective accommodation for transients, such as pilgrims going to sanctuaries. Santiago Agurto Places of public meeting or assembly. Ramiro MatosMatos Mendieta, Ramiro (1994) "Pumpu Centro administrativo inka de la Puna de Junín" cited by Sergio Barraza Lescano in "Redefiniendo una categoría arquitectónica inca: la kallanka" Temples. Polo de OndegardoOndegardo, Polo de (1990). Notables daños de no guardar a los yndios sus fueros - El mundo de los incas Laura González and Alicia Alonso, eds., Historia 16, Madrid -1990 Collective use, multiple purposes. Kallankas «had to be adapted to different situations and purposes». Gasparini & Margolies Court of justice and town hall. Juan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua
Architectural details Size
The size of the Inca buildings is almost infinite. For example, in Machu Picchu the Inca citadel in the roundabouts of Cusco, the smallest room is while the largest building, a kallanka, was . In terms of area the biggest one was 22 times larger than the smallest one. For this reason a minimum size of for kallankas has been proposed,Muñoz Collazos, María de los Ángeles (2015). Una mirada a Samaipata a través de su kallanka, símbolo de la arquitectura de poder inca. In El Fuerte de samaipata - Estudios arqueológicos by Albert Meyers and Isabelle Combès (editors) pags. 133- 160 - Museo de Historia de Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno - Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia but if this criterion is applied only ten Inca building would be classified as kallanka (see table below). The largest kallanka of the Inca Empire has an area of : its sides are . and it is the largest building of the so-called Temple of Wiracocha, in the archaeological site of Raqch'i (department of Cusco, Peru). Another kallanka of exceptional dimensions is the one found at the Inkallaqta monumental complex in Bolivia. This structure is with an area of .
In several Inca settlements one side of the has two kallankas with little separation between them. There are cases in which there is just one kallanka on one side of the plaza, it is possible to interpret this fact as a hierarchical distinction between administrative centers of regional importance and local tambos that the Inca government built along the Inca road system. Cajamarca was an important center which hosted at least two kallankas on one side of its “immense” plaza. Francisco Pizarro mentions two sheds in which he stayed with his troops when they arrived in the city on November 15, 1532, the day before the battle of Cajamarca where Pizarro's less than 200 troops killed most of Atahualpa's 6,000 men garrison and took the Inca emperor captive. The Shincal de Quimivil Inca settlement in Northwestern Argentina had five kallankas, four of then bordering the and one, the biggest, inside it, on the southern side.Raffino, Rodolfo (2004). El Shincal de Quimivíl - Sarquís
Table of kallanka size The following table gives the size of the 20 largest kallankas of the Tawantinsuyu, sorted by decreasing area. it has been adapted form Agurto's (Studies about the Inca construction, architecture and planning). Site Name (Department, Country) Area Length Width) Temple of Wiracocha in Raqch'i (Cusco, Peru) Inkallaqta (Bolivia) El Fuerte de Samaipata (Bolivia) Pumpu (Junín, Peru) Huánuco Pampa (Huánuco, Peru) Shincal de Quimivil (Catamarca, Argentina) Ccopan (Arequipa, Peru) Huchuy Qosqo (Cusco, Peru) Machu Pitumarka (Cusco, Peru) Tambokancha (Cusco, Peru) Achaymarca (Arequipa, Peru) La Joya (Arequipa, Peru) Ccopan (Arequipa) Pumpu (Junín, Peru) Sondor (Apurímac, Peru) Ccopan (Arequipa, Peru) Choquequirao (Apurímac, Peru) La Joya (Arequipa, Peru) Ccopan (Arequipa, Peru) Maucallacta (Arequipa, Peru) Moreover, Garcilaso states that «there were very large sheds [kallankas] up to two hundred paces in length and fifty to sixty steps wide» ( by ).
Columns and roofs In small Inca houses, the ridge beam of the roof –usually a log– rested its ends on the vertex of the two opposite gables; in the longer rooms, where it was not possible to bridge the distance between the gables with a single wooden beam, wooden pillars were used to support the series of ridge beams and the entire roof. This procedure was very common in the kallankas. On the outer side of the gables, protruding cylindrical stones like stone nails were frequently found to tie and hold the roof.
In bigger kallankas more than one row of pillars was used. The biggest kallanka, the Temple of Wiracocha had a longitudinal central wall having a height of about and a thickness of . The lower part was made of fine cut stone while the upper part was adobe. This wall divided the temple into two separate rooms which were connected through 10 openings in the wall. Each of the two halves had a longitudinal row of 11 pillars with a height of about . They supported a series of wooden beam which in turn supported the roof.