The Inca trail on the east flank of Machu Picchu served a vital communication and economic function. The trail discovered by the 1998-99 archaeological exploration is the continuation of the Inca Trail that joined Cusco with Machu Picchu and which then continued to Maador Pampa, joining with the Inca Trail on the right bank of the Urubamba River in such a way that one could continue on downriver as far as the deepest part of the Amazon jungle. Likewise, one could return to the upper part of the valley as far as Cusichaca, Ollantaytambo or Cusco by another route. The east flank trial which joins Conjunto 11 (qolqas) in Machu Picchu with the left bank of the Urubamba River has several branches like the one leaving from Conjunto 4, which went toward Conjuntos 1, 2 and 3 and the gate entrance, which faced the trail on the east flank. One also sees other small branches that connected, by means of stairways, with several sectors of each of the conjuntos of terraces. This east flank trail filled an important economic function by connecting the six large conjuntos of agricultural terraces and other smaller ones, assuring the cultivation and harvest of useful food plants such as corn, potatoes and likely beans. It also assured the provision of water by means of five springs along the main trail and its branch trails located in Conjuntos 1, 3, 4 and 6 and by providing easy direct access to the water in the river below.
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