The domesticated llama was developed from the wild guanaco thousands of years before the appearance of the Incas. It can
resist the Andean cold and the desert heat; it served as a beast of burden--carrying up to a hundred pounds; it supplied meant
(which when sun-dried was called charqui) and wool, used mostly for ropes and cargo sacks. Its dung was important as a
fertilizer. Llamas, like camels, use a common voiding place, so that taqui is easily gathered; it was one of the important factors in
Andean sedentary agriculture.