Tambo Colorado
Puka Tampu
Late Horizon Inca coastal 1470–1532 CE·Inca (coastal Pisco Chinchaysuyu)·🇵🇪 Ica, Pisco Province, Peru
About
About Tambo Colorado
Best preserved Inca coastal administrative site (1470–1532 CE) on Pisco valley: trapezoidal adobe enclosure 600×400 m with vivid red-yellow-white plaster surviving on palace, ushnu, colcas (storehouses 40), cancha compounds and trapezoidal niche polishing. Eastern Inca coastal palace (Puka Tampu = red depot) guarding Pisco–Ayacucho–Cusco road. Called Tambo Colorado for still-brilliant red ochre pigment (iron-oxide). 1532 Pizarro camped en route to Cajamarca. Uhle and Rowe 1905+.
Why it mattersOnly Inca coastal site retaining in-situ polychrome plaster demonstrating Inca color-coded administration (red = state).
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Pigment source hematite vs trade vs local
- 02Tambo vs palace dual function—transient vs resident
Theories
- 01Coastal Inca color semiotics: red-white-yellow as state identification
- 02Tambo as coastal way-station for Chinchaysuyu mit'a coastal-inland funnel
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1470–1532 CE
- Period
- Late Horizon Inca coastal 1470–1532 CE
- Culture
- Inca (coastal Pisco Chinchaysuyu)
- Builders
- Inca Pachacuti–Tupac Yupanqui
- Purpose
- Coastal Inca tambo palace and road storehouse guarding desert Inca road to Cusco
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1470–1532 CE
Initial construction
c. 1539 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
13.7044° S · 75.6806° W · 480 m · 2 mapped features
Tambo Colorado central feature
featureMain architectural feature
13.7044° S · 75.6806° WTambo Colorado secondary sector
sectorSecondary sector
13.7034° S · 75.6796° W
Gallery