Machu Picchu is a city located high in the Andes Mountains in modern Peru. It lies 43 miles northwest of Cuzco at the top of a ridge, hiding it from the Urabamba gorge below. The ridge is between a block of highland and the massive Huaynac Picchu, around which the Urubamba River takes a sharp bend. The surrounding area is covered in dense bush, some of it covering Pre-Colombian cultivation terraces.
Machu Picchu (which means "manly peak") was most likely a royal estate and religious retreat. It was built between 1460 and 1470 AD by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Incan ruler. The city has an altitude of 8,000 feet, and is high above the Urubamba River canyon cloud forest, so it likely did not have any administrative, military or commercial use. After Pachacuti’s death, Machu Picchu became the property of his allus, or kinship group, which was responsible for it’s maintenance, administration, and any new construction.
Machu Picchu is comprised of approximately 200 buildings, most being residences, although there are temples, storage structures and other public buildings. It has polygonal masonry, characteristic of the late Inca period.
About 1,200 people lived in and around Machu Picchu, most of them women, children, and priests. The buildings are thought to have been planned and built under the supervision of professional Inca architects. Most of the structures are built of granite blocks cut with bronze or stone tools, and smoothed with sand. The blocks fit together perfectly without mortar, although none of the blocks are the same size and have many faces; some have as many as 30 corners. The joints are so tight that even the thinnest of knife blades can't be forced between the stones. Another unique thing about Machu Picchu is the integration of the architecture into the landscape. Existing stone formations were used in the construction of structures, sculptures are carved into the rock, water flows through cisterns and stone channels, and temples hang on steep precipices.
The houses had steep thatched roofs and trapezoidal doors; windows were unusual. Some of the houses were two stories tall; the second story was probably reached by ladder, which likely was made of rope since there weren’t many trees at Machu Picchu’s altitude. The houses, in groups of up to ten gathered around a communal courtyard, or aligned on narrow terraces, were connected by narrow alleys. At the center were large open squares; livestock enclosures and terraces for growing maize stretched around the edge of the city.
The Incas planted crops such as potatoes and maize at Machu Picchu. To get the highest yield possible, they used advanced terracing and irrigation methods to reduce erosion and increase the area available for cultivation. However, it probably did not produce a large enough surplus to export agricultural products to Cuzco, the Incan capital.
One of the most important things found at Machu Picchu is the intihuatana, which is a column of stone rising from a block of stone the size of a grand piano. Intihuatana literally means ‘for tying the sun", although it is usually translated as "hitching post of the sun". As the winter solstice approached, when the sun seemed to disappear more each day, a priest would hold a ceremony to tie the sun to the stone to prevent the sun from disappearing altogether. The other intihuatanas were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors, but because the Spanish never found Machu Picchu, it remained intact. Mummies have also been found there; most of the mummies were women.
Few people outside the Inca’s closest retainers were actually aware of Machu Picchu’s existence. Before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, the smallpox spread ahead of them. Fifty percent of the population had been killed by the disease by 1527. The government began to fail, part of the empire seceded and it fell into civil war. So by the time Pizarro, the Inca’s conquerer, arrived in Cuzco in 1532, Machu Picchu was already forgotten.
Machu Picchu was rediscovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, a professor from Yale. Bingham was searching for Vilcabamba, which was the undiscovered last stronghold of the Incan empire. When he stumbled upon Machu Picchu, he thought he had found it, although now most scholars believe that Machu Picchu is not Vilcabamba. Machu Picchu was never completely forgotten, as a few people still lived in the area, where they were "free from undesirable visitors, officials looking for army ‘volunteers’ or collecting taxes", as they told Bingham.
Ice Maiden Mummy
Sacrificed five centuries ago to a mountain god, this adolescent girl was buried with ritual objects on the summit of Nevado Ampato in the Peruvian Andes. Discovered by archaeologist Johan Reinhard in 1995, she came to be known as the Ice Maiden.
Inca Culture
A 500-year-old figurine, found buried with an Inca mummy, harks back to a time when the Inca Empire stretched from Colombia to central Chile and ruled more than 12 million people.
Rich in colorful textiles and well-ordered cities and marked by occasional human sacrifices and mummifications, the empire was conquered by the Spanish in 1532 but retains its hold on the human imagination.
Rich in colorful textiles and well-ordered cities and marked by occasional human sacrifices and mummifications, the empire was conquered by the Spanish in 1532 but retains its hold on the human imagination.
Guides to the Afterworld ?
Statues of gold, silver, or rare spondylus (a type of oyster) shells were often buried with Inca human sacrifices. The figurines may have been offerings to the gods, small icons of the sacrificial victims, or guides to the afterworld.
With the exception of their feathered headdresses, the statues were usually dressed in the same manner as the bodies they accompanied. The tightly woven threads in the textiles were dyed using vegetables and minerals.
With the exception of their feathered headdresses, the statues were usually dressed in the same manner as the bodies they accompanied. The tightly woven threads in the textiles were dyed using vegetables and minerals.
Accounting Cords
With no written language, the Inca devised a tool for recording the movement of people and goods.
The quipu is a series of colored, knotted strings. The type of knot indicated a number, and the knot’s placement signified units of 1, 10, 100, or more. All the cords hung from a main string, and their positions and colors likely signaled what was being counted—gold, corn, or other goods.
The quipu is a series of colored, knotted strings. The type of knot indicated a number, and the knot’s placement signified units of 1, 10, 100, or more. All the cords hung from a main string, and their positions and colors likely signaled what was being counted—gold, corn, or other goods.
Little Llamas
Llama figurines were often buried with the Inca dead, perhaps as offerings to the gods to ensure the fertility of the Inca herds.
Llamas played an important role in Inca culture. They were the primary transportation source for the empire, which had a vast mountain road system but no wheels. Hardy animals, llamas carried all sorts of loads, from water to building materials. Llamas also provided dung (which served as fuel and fertilizer) and wool for textiles. After their deaths, llamas provided hide for leathers and meat for food.
Llamas played an important role in Inca culture. They were the primary transportation source for the empire, which had a vast mountain road system but no wheels. Hardy animals, llamas carried all sorts of loads, from water to building materials. Llamas also provided dung (which served as fuel and fertilizer) and wool for textiles. After their deaths, llamas provided hide for leathers and meat for food.
Mummy Bundles
The Inca sometimes interred their dead in mummy bundles, layers of cloth encasing a body and personal effects. The bundles often had false heads, textiles stuffed with cotton, propped on top. Some wore masks or wigs.
These bundles (right) were part of one of the most recent Inca discoveries: hundreds of mummy bundles buried beneath a shantytown near Lima called Tupac Amaru. The site is the second largest cemetery ever excavated in Peru and the largest from a single time period.
These bundles (right) were part of one of the most recent Inca discoveries: hundreds of mummy bundles buried beneath a shantytown near Lima called Tupac Amaru. The site is the second largest cemetery ever excavated in Peru and the largest from a single time period.
Mummy Bundles Unwrapped
Whole families may have been interred in one mummy bundle. In Tupac Amaru, Peru, up to seven bodies have been found in a single bundle.
Personal effects such as pottery, food, and clothing were usually wrapped with the bodies. Other objects revealed the deceased’s social status. A feathered headdress, for example, might accompany a member of the upper class, and a powerful warrior might be buried with a mace.
Personal effects such as pottery, food, and clothing were usually wrapped with the bodies. Other objects revealed the deceased’s social status. A feathered headdress, for example, might accompany a member of the upper class, and a powerful warrior might be buried with a mace.
Machu Picchu
Master engineers, the Inca built structures that are still standing today. At Machu Picchu, the most famous Inca settlement, stone terraces prevent erosion and provide level spaces for planting, making the most of difficult terrain.
The Inca’s best known building technique is that of fine masonry, in which carefully shaped stones fit together perfectly without mortar or cement. Only the most important buildings were built using this tedious and slow method.
The Inca’s best known building technique is that of fine masonry, in which carefully shaped stones fit together perfectly without mortar or cement. Only the most important buildings were built using this tedious and slow method.
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Did You Know ?
Mountains of refuge Crisscrossed by deep gorges and festooned with waterfalls nearly a thousand feet high, the Cordillera de Vilcabamba stretches 160 miles (260 kilometers) northwest of Cusco, the old Inca capital, into the rugged heart of Peru. In 1537 Manco Inca, one of the last Inca kings, took what was left of his army into the safety of these cliffs and crags after an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Cusco from Spanish hands. A hundred years earlier, the greatest Inca emperor of all, Pachacuti, had built a summer retreat at Machu Picchu, tucked under the spires of the Vilcabamba Range. Manco Inca also needed a retreat, not to escape the summer heat but the guns and horses of the Spanish, a place so inaccessible he could launch forays against Peru's conquerors with impunity. He found this some place within the range. From deep within his mountain stronghold he sent out raiding parties to harass the Spanish, reclaiming Inca treasures and fostering rebellion. The Spanish launched attacks against him, but the harsh terrain made their horses useless. On foot they became easy targets for guerrilla fighters hurling boulders and shooting arrows down on them from mountainside bunkers. Eight years passed before Manco Inca discovered that even his Vilcabamba fortress couldn't protect him from treachery within.After Francisco Pizarro was murdered in 1541, several of his assassins, all Spaniard's seeking to create their own chain of power in Peru, fled to Manco Inca, who welcomed the hated Pizarro's killers. They enjoyed the safety and hospitality of the Incas' Vilcabamba capital for three years, probably until Peru's new viceroy sent letters encouraging them to return to Cusco under his protection. A chronicle records what happened next. At a time when Manco Inca's troops were busy raiding, the assassins killed once more, attacking the Inca king from behind and stabbing him again and again. He lingered for three days, long enough to hear that he had been avenged. His attackers, cornered in a building that had been set on fire, were either burned alive or were killed attempting to flee the flames. The independent Inca state survived for 28 more years under the rule of three of Manco Inca's sons. Then in May 1572, a force led by 250 Spanish fighters set out from Cusco determined to breach the Incas' defenses and capture Tupac Amaru, the last Inca king. The battles were fierce, but this time the Spanish succeeded in reaching the Incas' mountain capital. They discovered the city burned and the king gone. After pursuing him for more then 300 miles (500 kilometers) across rivers and jungle and on into the Amazon, they caught up with him, put him on trial in Cusco, and beheaded him in front of his followers. With his death the mighty Inca reign ended.
Jeanne E. Peters
Jeanne E. Peters
