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Ayllu (Ayllus)

Ayllu is the name for a type of traditional indigenous community of the Andes. Ayllus are clan-based and partially communal. Ayllus were particularly used by the Quechua and Aymara Indians of Peru and Bolivia, and still are important societal units among native Andean people today. The word ayllu has Inca origins, but has also been borrowed into the languages of non-Inca tribes such as the Aymaras.

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Here are links to some online resources about the ayllu:

Basic Andean Social Structure: The Ayllu
The Inca Ayllu
Wikipedia: Ayllu
¿Que es el Ayllu?

Here are links to our webpages about the Andean tribes and languages:
Aymara
Quechua
Inca legends
Andean nations
Peruvian languages
South American tribes

Here are a few good books about the Ayllus of the Andes:
Mountain of the Condor: Metaphor and Ritual in an Andean Ayllu
Haciendas and Ayllus: Rural Society in the Bolivian Andes

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