Colca is a small town in the Junín Region of central Peru, located in the Andean highlands. It should not be confused with the better-known Colca Canyon in the Arequipa Region, which is a separate and unrelated location far to the south.
The name "Colca" derives from the Quechua word qullqa, meaning "deposit" or "storehouse." In the Inca Empire, qullqas were storage buildings constructed along roads and near cities and political centers. They were large stone structures with roofs thatched with ichu grass, also known as Peruvian feathergrass.
These storehouses held food and other commodities on a scale described as unprecedented in world prehistory. The goods were distributed to armies, officials, conscripted laborers, and, in times of need, to the general populace. The uncertain agriculture of the high altitudes that made up most of the Inca Empire was likely among the factors that encouraged the construction of large numbers of qullqas.