sacred city of Machu Picchu
The ruins of Machu Picchu, rediscovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham, are one of the most beautiful and enigmatic ancient sites in the world. While the Inca people certainly used the Andean mountain top (9060 feet elevation), erecting many hundreds of stone structures from the early 1400's, legends and myths indicate that Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in the Quechua language) was revered as a sacred place from a far earlier time. Whatever its origins, the Inca turned the site into a small (5 square miles) but extraordinary city. Invisible from below and completely self-contained, surrounded by agricultural terraces sufficient to feed the population, and watered by natural springs, Machu Picchu seems to have been utilized by the Inca as a secret ceremonial city. Two thousand feet above the rumbling Urubamba river, the cloud shrouded ruins have palaces, baths, temples, storage rooms and some 150 houses, all in a remarkable state of preservation. These structures, carved from the gray granite of the mountain top are wonders of both architectural and aesthetic genius. Many of the building blocks weigh 50 tons or more yet are so precisely sculpted and fitted together with such exactitude that the mortarless joints will not permit the insertion of even a thin knife blade. Little is known of the social or religious use of the site during Inca times. The skeletal remains of ten females to one male had led to the casual assumption that the site may have been a sanctuary for the training of priestesses and /or brides for the Inca nobility. However, subsequent osteological examination of the bones revealed an equal number of male bones, thereby indicating that Machu Picchu was not exclusively a temple or dwelling place of women.
One of Machu Picchu's primary functions was that of astronomical observatory. The Intihuatana stone (meaning 'Hitching Post of the Sun') has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods. The Intihuatana (also called the Saywa or Sukhanka stone) is designed to hitch the sun at the two equinoxes, not at the solstice (as is stated in some tourist literature and new-age books). At midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stands almost directly above the pillar, creating no shadow at all. At this precise moment the sun "sits with all his might upon the pillar" and is for a moment "tied" to the rock. At these periods, the Incas held ceremonies at the stone in which they "tied the sun" to halt its northward movement in the sky. There is also an Intihuatana alignment with the December solstice (the summer solstice of the southern hemisphere), when at sunset the sun sinks behind Pumasillo (the Puma's claw), the most sacred mountain of the western Vilcabamba range, but the shrine itself is primarily equinoctial.
Shamanic legends say that when sensitive persons touch their foreheads to the stone, the Intihuatana opens one's vision to the spirit world (the author had such an experience, which is described in detail in Chapter one of Places of Peace and Power, on the web site, www.sacredsites.com). Intihuatana stones were the supremely sacred objects of the Inca people and were systematically searched for and destroyed by the Spaniards. When the Intihuatana stone was broken at an Inca shrine, the Inca believed that the deities of the place died or departed. The Spaniards never found Machu Picchu, even though they suspected its existence, thus the Intihuatana stone and its resident spirits remain in their original position. The mountain top sanctuary fell into disuse and was abandoned some forty years after the Spanish took Cuzco in 1533. Supply lines linking the many Inca social centers were disrupted and the great empire came to an end. The photograph shows the ruins of Machu Picchu in the foreground with the sacred peak of Wayna Picchu towering behind. Partway down the northern side of Wayna Picchu is the so-called "Temple of the Moon" inside a cavern. As with the ruins of Machu Picchu, there is no archaeological or iconographical evidence to substantiate the 'new-age' assumption that this cave was a goddess site.
jueves, 20 de agosto de 2009
about Machu Picchu
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 "Old 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.
View of the Machu Picchu ruins and Huaynu Picchu, the peak on the right, from the agricultural terraces. The small center peak is the location of the Intihuatana. The plaza area is in its foreground.
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
Machu Picchu (which means "Old 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.
View of the Machu Picchu ruins and Huaynu Picchu, the peak on the right, from the agricultural terraces. The small center peak is the location of the Intihuatana. The plaza area is in its foreground.
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
martes, 28 de julio de 2009
Inti Raymi, Festival of the Sun
Inti Raymi, Festival of the Sun
Before the colonial Spaniards banned the ceremonial events occurring each Winter Solstices cusco, the native residents gathered to honor the Sun God, sacrifice an animal to ensure good crops and to pay homage to the Inca, as the first born Son of the Sun.
The ceremonies took place at the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest from the earth. Fearing the lack of sun and ensuing famine, the ancient Incas gathered in Cuzco to honor the Sun God and plead for his return. The celebrants fasted for days before the event, refrained from physical pleasures and presented gifts to the Inca, who in return put on a lavish banquet of meat, corn bread, chicha and coca tea as they prepared to sacrifice llamas to ensure good crops and fertile fields.
In 1572, Viceroy Toledo banned Inti Raymi celebrations as pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith. Following the edict, the ceremonies went underground.
Today, it's the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cuzco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a week long celebration marking the beginning of a new year, the Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun.
Every day has its events, from daytime expositions, street fairs, and people milling and dancing in the streets. In the evenings, live music from the best of Peruvian musical groups draws the crowds to the Plaza de Armas for free concerts. During the preceding year, in preparation for Inti Raymi, hundreds of actors are chosen to represent historical figures. Being selected to portray the Sapa Inca or his wife, Mama Occla, is a great honor.
The centerpiece of the festival is the all-day celebrations on June 24, the actual day of Inti Raymi. On this day, the ceremonial events begin with an invocation by the Sapa Inca in the Qorikancha, also spelled Koricancha (pictured) square in front of the Santo Domingo church, built over the ancient Temple of the Sun. Here, the Sapa Inca calls on the blessings from the sun. Following the oration, Sapa Inca is carried on a golden throne, a replica of the original which weighed about 60 kilos, in a procession to the ancient fortress saqsaywaman, in the hills above Cuzco. With the Sapa Inca come the high priests, garbed in ceremonial robes, then officials of the court, nobles and others, all elaborately costumed according to their rank, with silver and gold ornaments.
They walk along flower-bedecked streets, to music and prayers and dancing. Women sweep the streets to clear them of evil spirits. At Sacsayhuamán , where huge crowds await the arrival of the procession, Sapa Inca climbs to the sacred altar where all can see him.
Once all the celebrants are in place in the grand square of the fortress, there are speeches by Sapa Inca, the priests and representatives of the Suyos: the Snake for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods.
A white llama is sacrificed (now in a very realistic stage act) and the high priest holds aloft the bloody heart in honor of Pachamama. This is done to ensure the fertility of the earth which in combination with light and warmth from the sun provides a bountiful crop. The priests read the blood stains to see the future for the Inca.
As the sun begins to set, stacks of straw are set on fire and the celebrants dance around them to honor Tawantinsuty or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions. In ancient times, no fire was allowed that day until the evening fires.
The ceremony of Inti Raymi ends with a procession back to Cuzco. Sapa Inca and Mama Occla are carried on their thrones, the high priests and representatives of the Supas pronounce blessings on the people. Once again, a new year has begun.
June 24 is also celebrated throughout Peru as Indians Day or Peasants Day.
Things to know:
Inti Raymi is an all-day event, with at least five hours spent at Sacsayhuamán. Entry to the fortress is free, and rental chairs are available from booths around the main square. There are also food and drink vendors. There are no guard rails on the ruins and every year people are injured in falls. If you want a reserved seat, they are available with tickets bought in advance.
Lodgings are booked far in advance for the festival week. Hotels and restaurants do a booming business. While you are there, it may be difficult to get an unobstructed view of the Inca method of building using stones and no mortar, but buy a visitor ticket which is valid for ten days and gets you into fourteen important sites in Cuzco.
Tell us about your experiences! What not to miss, what to avoid and how to manage the crowds
Before the colonial Spaniards banned the ceremonial events occurring each Winter Solstices cusco, the native residents gathered to honor the Sun God, sacrifice an animal to ensure good crops and to pay homage to the Inca, as the first born Son of the Sun.
The ceremonies took place at the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest from the earth. Fearing the lack of sun and ensuing famine, the ancient Incas gathered in Cuzco to honor the Sun God and plead for his return. The celebrants fasted for days before the event, refrained from physical pleasures and presented gifts to the Inca, who in return put on a lavish banquet of meat, corn bread, chicha and coca tea as they prepared to sacrifice llamas to ensure good crops and fertile fields.
In 1572, Viceroy Toledo banned Inti Raymi celebrations as pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith. Following the edict, the ceremonies went underground.
Today, it's the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cuzco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a week long celebration marking the beginning of a new year, the Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun.
Every day has its events, from daytime expositions, street fairs, and people milling and dancing in the streets. In the evenings, live music from the best of Peruvian musical groups draws the crowds to the Plaza de Armas for free concerts. During the preceding year, in preparation for Inti Raymi, hundreds of actors are chosen to represent historical figures. Being selected to portray the Sapa Inca or his wife, Mama Occla, is a great honor.
The centerpiece of the festival is the all-day celebrations on June 24, the actual day of Inti Raymi. On this day, the ceremonial events begin with an invocation by the Sapa Inca in the Qorikancha, also spelled Koricancha (pictured) square in front of the Santo Domingo church, built over the ancient Temple of the Sun. Here, the Sapa Inca calls on the blessings from the sun. Following the oration, Sapa Inca is carried on a golden throne, a replica of the original which weighed about 60 kilos, in a procession to the ancient fortress saqsaywaman, in the hills above Cuzco. With the Sapa Inca come the high priests, garbed in ceremonial robes, then officials of the court, nobles and others, all elaborately costumed according to their rank, with silver and gold ornaments.
They walk along flower-bedecked streets, to music and prayers and dancing. Women sweep the streets to clear them of evil spirits. At Sacsayhuamán , where huge crowds await the arrival of the procession, Sapa Inca climbs to the sacred altar where all can see him.
Once all the celebrants are in place in the grand square of the fortress, there are speeches by Sapa Inca, the priests and representatives of the Suyos: the Snake for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods.
A white llama is sacrificed (now in a very realistic stage act) and the high priest holds aloft the bloody heart in honor of Pachamama. This is done to ensure the fertility of the earth which in combination with light and warmth from the sun provides a bountiful crop. The priests read the blood stains to see the future for the Inca.
As the sun begins to set, stacks of straw are set on fire and the celebrants dance around them to honor Tawantinsuty or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions. In ancient times, no fire was allowed that day until the evening fires.
The ceremony of Inti Raymi ends with a procession back to Cuzco. Sapa Inca and Mama Occla are carried on their thrones, the high priests and representatives of the Supas pronounce blessings on the people. Once again, a new year has begun.
June 24 is also celebrated throughout Peru as Indians Day or Peasants Day.
Things to know:
Inti Raymi is an all-day event, with at least five hours spent at Sacsayhuamán. Entry to the fortress is free, and rental chairs are available from booths around the main square. There are also food and drink vendors. There are no guard rails on the ruins and every year people are injured in falls. If you want a reserved seat, they are available with tickets bought in advance.
Lodgings are booked far in advance for the festival week. Hotels and restaurants do a booming business. While you are there, it may be difficult to get an unobstructed view of the Inca method of building using stones and no mortar, but buy a visitor ticket which is valid for ten days and gets you into fourteen important sites in Cuzco.
Tell us about your experiences! What not to miss, what to avoid and how to manage the crowds
lunes, 13 de julio de 2009
lares trek 4d/3n cusco peru
2009/7/13 Marie Ayer
hi Marianella,
Just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful trek. We really enjoyed working with your agency and had a fantastic time with Rudi.
Take care and wishing you and your family the best!
Marie Ayer
hi Marianella,
Just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful trek. We really enjoyed working with your agency and had a fantastic time with Rudi.
Take care and wishing you and your family the best!
Marie Ayer
Khipu Archives
Khipu Archives
An archive is a set of records pertaining to the people of an area who had common, interrelated interests, and shared practices of accounting and record keeping.
In the context of khipu, the archive paradigm is based on the hypothesis that khipu that have a common provenience, or that are known to come from the same archaeological context, were probably produced by local khipu keepers or by Inka accountants who were resident in that locale. In either case, khipu that come from a single site or narrowly defined region can be considered potentially to bear some historical and/or substantive relationship to each other. One potential consequence of such relationships is that the khipu that constitute an archive will likely build on, complement, duplicate, and possibly even comment on each other.
At present there are only two archives of khipu known to have been found together: the set of Chachapoyas khipu from the north of Peru, and the khipu of Puruchuco, a site on the coast near Lima. Other archives are based on grouping together khipu from different collections which have the same provenance. There are three of these archives: Ica, Circum-Ica (khipu from the area immediately surrounding Ica), and Pachacmac. Though most archives are currently composed of less than 30 khipu each, there are some clear differences from one archive to another. As more data are collected, it is possible that the archive paradigm could be used to suggest provenance for khipu that have no known origin.
Garcilaso de la Vega, a 17th-century Spanish chronicler, reported the following about khipu practices:
Although the quipucamayus [khipu-makers/keepers] were as accurate and honest as we have said, their number in each village was in proportion to its population, and however small, it had at least four and so upwards to twenty or thirty. They all kept the same records, and although one accountant or scribe was all that would have been necessary to keep them, the Incas preferred to have plenty in each village and for each sort of calculation, so as to avoid faults that might occur if there were few, saying that if there were a number of them, they would either all be at fault or none of them (1966 [1609]:331).
This passage clearly implies that multiple khipu with the same information existed in one area. Relationships such as matching numerical sequences, identical color patterning, or similar structure are more likely to be found between khipu belonging to the same archive than between objects with different provenance.
An archive is a set of records pertaining to the people of an area who had common, interrelated interests, and shared practices of accounting and record keeping.
In the context of khipu, the archive paradigm is based on the hypothesis that khipu that have a common provenience, or that are known to come from the same archaeological context, were probably produced by local khipu keepers or by Inka accountants who were resident in that locale. In either case, khipu that come from a single site or narrowly defined region can be considered potentially to bear some historical and/or substantive relationship to each other. One potential consequence of such relationships is that the khipu that constitute an archive will likely build on, complement, duplicate, and possibly even comment on each other.
At present there are only two archives of khipu known to have been found together: the set of Chachapoyas khipu from the north of Peru, and the khipu of Puruchuco, a site on the coast near Lima. Other archives are based on grouping together khipu from different collections which have the same provenance. There are three of these archives: Ica, Circum-Ica (khipu from the area immediately surrounding Ica), and Pachacmac. Though most archives are currently composed of less than 30 khipu each, there are some clear differences from one archive to another. As more data are collected, it is possible that the archive paradigm could be used to suggest provenance for khipu that have no known origin.
Garcilaso de la Vega, a 17th-century Spanish chronicler, reported the following about khipu practices:
Although the quipucamayus [khipu-makers/keepers] were as accurate and honest as we have said, their number in each village was in proportion to its population, and however small, it had at least four and so upwards to twenty or thirty. They all kept the same records, and although one accountant or scribe was all that would have been necessary to keep them, the Incas preferred to have plenty in each village and for each sort of calculation, so as to avoid faults that might occur if there were few, saying that if there were a number of them, they would either all be at fault or none of them (1966 [1609]:331).
This passage clearly implies that multiple khipu with the same information existed in one area. Relationships such as matching numerical sequences, identical color patterning, or similar structure are more likely to be found between khipu belonging to the same archive than between objects with different provenance.
What Is a Khipu?
What Is a Khipu?
Most of the existing khipu are from the Inka period, approx 1400 – 1532 CE. The Inka empire stretched from Ecuador through central Chile, with its heart in Cuzco, a city in the high Andes of southern Peru. Colonial documents indicate that khipu were used for record keeping and sending messages by runner throughout the empire. There are approximately 600 khipu surviving in museums and private collections around the world.
Photo courtesy of Peabody Museum, Harvard University.
The word khipu comes from the Quechua word for “knot" and denotes both singular and plural. Khipu are textile artifacts composed of cords of cotton or occasionally camelid fiber. The cords are arranged such that there is one main cord, called a primary cord, from which many pendant cords hang. There may be additional cords attached to a pendant cord; these are termed subsidiaries. Some khipu have up to 10 or 12 levels of subsidiaries. Khipu are often displayed with the primary cord stretched horizontally, so that the pendants appear to form a curtain of parallel cords, or with the primary cord in a curve, so that the pendants radiate out from their points of attachment. When khipu were in use, they were transported and stored with the primary cord rolled into a spiral. In this configuration khipu have been compared to string mops.
Each khipu cord may have one or many knots. Leland Locke (see references) was the first to show that the knots had numerical significance. The Inkas used a decimal system of counting. Numbers of varying magnitude could be indicated by knot type and the position of the knot on its cord. Beginning in the 1970’s, Marcia and Robert Ascher conducted invaluable research into the numeric significance of khipu, and developed a system of recording khipu details which is still in wide use today among khipu researchers. More recently, researchers such as Gary Urton have recognized the depth of information contained in non-numeric, structural elements of khipu.
Most of the existing khipu are from the Inka period, approx 1400 – 1532 CE. The Inka empire stretched from Ecuador through central Chile, with its heart in Cuzco, a city in the high Andes of southern Peru. Colonial documents indicate that khipu were used for record keeping and sending messages by runner throughout the empire. There are approximately 600 khipu surviving in museums and private collections around the world.
Photo courtesy of Peabody Museum, Harvard University.
The word khipu comes from the Quechua word for “knot" and denotes both singular and plural. Khipu are textile artifacts composed of cords of cotton or occasionally camelid fiber. The cords are arranged such that there is one main cord, called a primary cord, from which many pendant cords hang. There may be additional cords attached to a pendant cord; these are termed subsidiaries. Some khipu have up to 10 or 12 levels of subsidiaries. Khipu are often displayed with the primary cord stretched horizontally, so that the pendants appear to form a curtain of parallel cords, or with the primary cord in a curve, so that the pendants radiate out from their points of attachment. When khipu were in use, they were transported and stored with the primary cord rolled into a spiral. In this configuration khipu have been compared to string mops.
Each khipu cord may have one or many knots. Leland Locke (see references) was the first to show that the knots had numerical significance. The Inkas used a decimal system of counting. Numbers of varying magnitude could be indicated by knot type and the position of the knot on its cord. Beginning in the 1970’s, Marcia and Robert Ascher conducted invaluable research into the numeric significance of khipu, and developed a system of recording khipu details which is still in wide use today among khipu researchers. More recently, researchers such as Gary Urton have recognized the depth of information contained in non-numeric, structural elements of khipu.
Selections from Beyond Machu Picchu; Explorations and Adventure in Peru's Remote Vilcabamba
Selections from Beyond Machu Picchu; Explorations and Adventure in Peru's Remote Vilcabamba
"With ten days worth of supplies, tents, fresh food, a ration of Absolut vodka carefully loaded on 28 mules and horses, we march out in the morning like Pizarro's army. Although, it is adventure and the quest for Manco's secrets that fuels are enthusiasm, not Inca gold!"
"Hugh, David and I separate from the mule train to climb a high pointed peak overlooking the junction of the valleys. We suspect that this prominent overlook may have attracted the attention of early inhabitants. To our delight, we find the remains of foundations, ruined walls and a number of burial chambers dotting the flattened summit. A secret of finding ruins is knowing where to look. To mountain worshiping Andean cultures, a tradition that preceded the Inca by several millennium, these high summits were both natural shrines and ritual astronomical observatories."
"Almost any such mountain top is likely to contain ruins. The remoteness and difficulty of traveling in this most rugged part of the Andes, climbing and descending several thousand meters on primitive trails daily, from high glaciers to tropical cloud forest, has restricted exploration to a hand full of eccentric mountaineers."
"The trail down from the pass narrows through exposed cliffs that seem to almost overhang the tiny ribbon of river some 2000 meters below then plunges into thick cloud vegetation. Reminiscent of some Walt Disney enchanted forest, gnarled moss covered trees host long creepers and twisted vines. Steamy vapors raise from decaying leaves and trunks laying beneath a tangle of bamboo. A small gray snake with a pointed head slides quickly across the path in front of me. We pass the occasional moss coated wall indicating that someone else was here in the distant past. Somewhere a tree frog croaks out a warning. We hurry on, not relishing the idea of being benighted here. Camp is comfortably awaiting us on the far end of the great walls that guard the approach to Choquequirao. We arrive just at dark."
"We followed a recently cleared trail to the point where the broad sloping bowl below Choquequirao drops away in cliffs....Suddenly, we are on a steeply descending stone stairway...we arrive at three very unusual buildings, two on top of the other but offset, overlooking a deep gorge and waterfall plunging from the heights of the mountain side above."
"A few old cow trails made by Choquequirao's only resident, Lucas Coborubias lead here and there from a few clearings. We follow one that heads in the direction of the the ridge, a mere kilometer away. Finally, too far to reasonably turn back, all options end in bamboo tangle. Determined, we plunge on swinging machetes. Scratched and exhausted, sweat stained, shirts torn, we reach the ridge hours later.
"As fate would have it, we find a group of six Inca houses and a bath hidden along the way. With little time for study, we take a brief look and push on. Fortunately, I have my GPS to mark the location as no one could find their way here again unaided."
"Each journey to Choquequirao creates more questions than answers. As the site grows in size and importance, my mind races with the possibilities. Now another Colorado winter to plan the next return."
"Leaving Choquequirao by the shortest route requires descending 2000 meters down into the narrow Apurimac gorge, crossing a swinging foot bridge then climbing 2000 meters back out of the canyon on a two day journey along precipitous trails. Since Hiram Bingham's 1910 visit, fewer than two hundred visitors had reached the site before our first expedition in 1994. Our route across the wildest part of the Andes takes seven days. This is the stuff of genuine adventure! In a romantic sense, what we are doing is like stepping back into the 19th century. Where but Peru, the cradle of civilization of the new world, do `lost cities' await discovery by machete and mule?
"With ten days worth of supplies, tents, fresh food, a ration of Absolut vodka carefully loaded on 28 mules and horses, we march out in the morning like Pizarro's army. Although, it is adventure and the quest for Manco's secrets that fuels are enthusiasm, not Inca gold!"
"Hugh, David and I separate from the mule train to climb a high pointed peak overlooking the junction of the valleys. We suspect that this prominent overlook may have attracted the attention of early inhabitants. To our delight, we find the remains of foundations, ruined walls and a number of burial chambers dotting the flattened summit. A secret of finding ruins is knowing where to look. To mountain worshiping Andean cultures, a tradition that preceded the Inca by several millennium, these high summits were both natural shrines and ritual astronomical observatories."
"Almost any such mountain top is likely to contain ruins. The remoteness and difficulty of traveling in this most rugged part of the Andes, climbing and descending several thousand meters on primitive trails daily, from high glaciers to tropical cloud forest, has restricted exploration to a hand full of eccentric mountaineers."
"The trail down from the pass narrows through exposed cliffs that seem to almost overhang the tiny ribbon of river some 2000 meters below then plunges into thick cloud vegetation. Reminiscent of some Walt Disney enchanted forest, gnarled moss covered trees host long creepers and twisted vines. Steamy vapors raise from decaying leaves and trunks laying beneath a tangle of bamboo. A small gray snake with a pointed head slides quickly across the path in front of me. We pass the occasional moss coated wall indicating that someone else was here in the distant past. Somewhere a tree frog croaks out a warning. We hurry on, not relishing the idea of being benighted here. Camp is comfortably awaiting us on the far end of the great walls that guard the approach to Choquequirao. We arrive just at dark."
"We followed a recently cleared trail to the point where the broad sloping bowl below Choquequirao drops away in cliffs....Suddenly, we are on a steeply descending stone stairway...we arrive at three very unusual buildings, two on top of the other but offset, overlooking a deep gorge and waterfall plunging from the heights of the mountain side above."
"A few old cow trails made by Choquequirao's only resident, Lucas Coborubias lead here and there from a few clearings. We follow one that heads in the direction of the the ridge, a mere kilometer away. Finally, too far to reasonably turn back, all options end in bamboo tangle. Determined, we plunge on swinging machetes. Scratched and exhausted, sweat stained, shirts torn, we reach the ridge hours later.
"As fate would have it, we find a group of six Inca houses and a bath hidden along the way. With little time for study, we take a brief look and push on. Fortunately, I have my GPS to mark the location as no one could find their way here again unaided."
"Each journey to Choquequirao creates more questions than answers. As the site grows in size and importance, my mind races with the possibilities. Now another Colorado winter to plan the next return."
"Leaving Choquequirao by the shortest route requires descending 2000 meters down into the narrow Apurimac gorge, crossing a swinging foot bridge then climbing 2000 meters back out of the canyon on a two day journey along precipitous trails. Since Hiram Bingham's 1910 visit, fewer than two hundred visitors had reached the site before our first expedition in 1994. Our route across the wildest part of the Andes takes seven days. This is the stuff of genuine adventure! In a romantic sense, what we are doing is like stepping back into the 19th century. Where but Peru, the cradle of civilization of the new world, do `lost cities' await discovery by machete and mule?
Machu Picchu; Stable As A Rock? A Geological Review..
Machu Picchu; Stable As A Rock? A Geological Review..
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The world famous Inca site Machu Picchu is built upon a large wedge shaped fault block called a graben that was formed by a gradual subsidence downward of the block created by two parallel running faults, one near (north of) Cerro ( hill or peak)Huayna Picchu and the other near (north of) Cerro Machu Picchu. This, along with erosional processes over the past several million years created the familiar ”two peaks with a saddle between “topography that the Inca carefully selected for the most important of their sacred ceremonial centers.
The nearby Urubamba River contributed by carving a deep entrenched meander around the site as continuing tectonic forces slowly lift the mountain mass of the Andes. Numerous lesser faults and subsurface factures resulting from mountain building pressures are also present. As base rock is exposed by erosion, these fractures offer zones of weakness subject to ground water penetration and other surface forces that create fragmentation and disintegration into blocks and pieces and eventually into mixed mineral-organic residue soil. These loose boulders and rocks were the material that supplied building stone for Machu Picchu.
The regional mountain base is part of an uplifted Paleozoic era (250 million years old) intrusive igneous feature classified geological as a batholith. These are massive upward traveling bodies of molten material (magma) that penetrate the upper layers of the earth’s surface before stopping short of the surface. Upon cooling they typically leave a shield or stock shaped mass of igneous rock more than 40 square kilometers in area. Here, the rock type is mainly a resistant fine grained ( small crystallized ) white granite which proved excellent for hammering (the pecking method) into finely shaped blocks and sharply defined angles.
So is the Machu Picchu site about to now fall apart having survived in its present configuration, the past million or so years that we H. Sapiens have been walking about? A recent report by a Japanese funded study suggests that just this event may soon take place based upon discovery of several additional faults.
The faults may indeed be there (we all have faults) but given the regional geological environment, I suggest that Machu Picchu is not likely to fall apart in the near future and may well outlast the human race. The key words in the formation of the fault block described above are “gradual subsidence” This means in geological terms, several million years. Photos taken by the Hiram Bingham expeditions in the early years of the last century compared with recent Machu Picchu photos show no change or settling of Inca structures since Bingham's investigations. (with the exception of the Tourist hotel which seems to be sagging a bit)
This is not to say that catastrophic geological events have not happened in the nearby Andes. Mountain slopes regularly slide away during the intense rainy season. Flooding has destroyed the railroad below Machu Picchu and wiped out entire towns. But there are few examples of a massive, solid granite feature like the Machu Picchu-Huayna Picchu mountain breaking apart within the time frame of human history. The Inca located Machu Picchu squarely upon the ridge plateau between the two mountains realizing that the location is not subject to seasonal land slides as there are few steep slopes to utilize the lubrication of heavy rains and the pull of gravity. Inca builders also engineered excellent drainage systems to protect buildings and terraces. Of course some lower outlying areas of the site have been subject to slides but not the principal high status temples and buildings that the world recognizes as Machu Picchu.
Finally I should say that the area seems to be outside the zone of earth quakes and tremors that have so threatened Cusco and other Peruvian regions. The several major quakes that affected Cusco during the last century were not felt at Machu Picchu. Another major source of geologic catastrophe, active volcanics is far removed from this central-southern region of Peru.
I respectfully Submit that the magnificently engineered Inca works at Machu Picchu will be around intact much longer that the Cassandran Japanese team who predict its eminent destruction.
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The world famous Inca site Machu Picchu is built upon a large wedge shaped fault block called a graben that was formed by a gradual subsidence downward of the block created by two parallel running faults, one near (north of) Cerro ( hill or peak)Huayna Picchu and the other near (north of) Cerro Machu Picchu. This, along with erosional processes over the past several million years created the familiar ”two peaks with a saddle between “topography that the Inca carefully selected for the most important of their sacred ceremonial centers.
The nearby Urubamba River contributed by carving a deep entrenched meander around the site as continuing tectonic forces slowly lift the mountain mass of the Andes. Numerous lesser faults and subsurface factures resulting from mountain building pressures are also present. As base rock is exposed by erosion, these fractures offer zones of weakness subject to ground water penetration and other surface forces that create fragmentation and disintegration into blocks and pieces and eventually into mixed mineral-organic residue soil. These loose boulders and rocks were the material that supplied building stone for Machu Picchu.
The regional mountain base is part of an uplifted Paleozoic era (250 million years old) intrusive igneous feature classified geological as a batholith. These are massive upward traveling bodies of molten material (magma) that penetrate the upper layers of the earth’s surface before stopping short of the surface. Upon cooling they typically leave a shield or stock shaped mass of igneous rock more than 40 square kilometers in area. Here, the rock type is mainly a resistant fine grained ( small crystallized ) white granite which proved excellent for hammering (the pecking method) into finely shaped blocks and sharply defined angles.
So is the Machu Picchu site about to now fall apart having survived in its present configuration, the past million or so years that we H. Sapiens have been walking about? A recent report by a Japanese funded study suggests that just this event may soon take place based upon discovery of several additional faults.
The faults may indeed be there (we all have faults) but given the regional geological environment, I suggest that Machu Picchu is not likely to fall apart in the near future and may well outlast the human race. The key words in the formation of the fault block described above are “gradual subsidence” This means in geological terms, several million years. Photos taken by the Hiram Bingham expeditions in the early years of the last century compared with recent Machu Picchu photos show no change or settling of Inca structures since Bingham's investigations. (with the exception of the Tourist hotel which seems to be sagging a bit)
This is not to say that catastrophic geological events have not happened in the nearby Andes. Mountain slopes regularly slide away during the intense rainy season. Flooding has destroyed the railroad below Machu Picchu and wiped out entire towns. But there are few examples of a massive, solid granite feature like the Machu Picchu-Huayna Picchu mountain breaking apart within the time frame of human history. The Inca located Machu Picchu squarely upon the ridge plateau between the two mountains realizing that the location is not subject to seasonal land slides as there are few steep slopes to utilize the lubrication of heavy rains and the pull of gravity. Inca builders also engineered excellent drainage systems to protect buildings and terraces. Of course some lower outlying areas of the site have been subject to slides but not the principal high status temples and buildings that the world recognizes as Machu Picchu.
Finally I should say that the area seems to be outside the zone of earth quakes and tremors that have so threatened Cusco and other Peruvian regions. The several major quakes that affected Cusco during the last century were not felt at Machu Picchu. Another major source of geologic catastrophe, active volcanics is far removed from this central-southern region of Peru.
I respectfully Submit that the magnificently engineered Inca works at Machu Picchu will be around intact much longer that the Cassandran Japanese team who predict its eminent destruction.
INCA ARCHITECTURE: THE `T’ GROOVE; SYMBOL, GOLD OR BRONZE?
INCA ARCHITECTURE: THE `T’ GROOVE; SYMBOL, GOLD OR BRONZE?
Gary R. Ziegler
T shaped grooves or sockets fitted with bronze clamps in stone building blocks at Tiahuanaco in Bolivia have been long known. At the site of Pumapuku, a number of grooves remain in place, Aligned back to back with adjacent blocks. Several examples of matching arsenic bronze clamps have been located and studied.
Curiously, the Inca adapted something similar some 500 years later. This in itself is not unusual as the Inca, inheritors of several thousand years of cultural development in the Andes, borrowed styles, technology and traditions from their cultural predecessors. What is noteworthy is that the grooves appear to be limited to important ceremonial or monumental structures.
T shaped grooves similar to Tiahuanaco can be found at the Coricancha Temple in Cusco, the temple hill at Ollantaytambo and at Nusta Espana (Yuroc Rumi) in the Vilcabamba. The T grooved blocks at the Coricancha contain U shaped, double T, and other shapes as well. These loose stones were discovered following a partial collapse of the Church of Santa Domingo during the 1930 earthquake. No examples have been found in original positions at these sites.
T grooves at Tiahuanaco are positioned on outer edges of flat surfaced building stones with the shaft of the T designed to match up with a corresponding T groove shaft on the next building block. When the two blocks are fitted together, the Ts line up and form and I or two Ts back to back. A pre-formed bronze insert in the form of an I or `Dog bone' was wedged/pounded into the groove giving the impression of a clamp or staple connecting the two stones.
What immediately comes to mind is why would the builders use or need a weak, small metal clamp to hold large stone blocks in place? One T grooved block at Ollantaytambo measures more than 10‘ feet in length with a thickness of 5 feet. The finest Inca masonry consists of carefully fitted, tapered and beveled blocks which have stayed in place through centuries of earth quakes.
The three sites mentioned represent important ceremonial construction. The Coricancha was the central temple of Cusco, the origin point of the ceques, sighting lines radiating out like spokes of a wheel from the hub of a cosmic observatory for tracking and coordinating celestial phenomenon with earthly events.
The temple site at Ollantaytambo, an enigmatic collection of finely made massive worked blocks of rhyolite from an earlier construction, appears to have been hastily re-fitted together at a later period. The T grooves, some 5 inches in length, curiously show evidence of having been polished. They are found only in several of the larger loose blocks near the hill top temple. None are found in original placement. The evidence of their original use is inconclusive. Jean-Pierre Protzen who has made an extensive investigation of the site believes that the groves represent an earlier construction idea that was later abandoned for different methods. (Protzen, Inca Architecture and Construction at Ollantaytambo, Oxford, 1993)
The third site, Nusta Espana is the Yuroc Rumi or white rock shrine made famous by Machu Picchu discoverer, Hiram Bingham in his search for Manco Inca’s Vilcabamba. A building-sized, sculptured, granite boulder dominates a small complex of ceremonial fountains, baths and the remains of several houses in a remarkable setting surrounded by high mountains.
In a recent visit, we found a large, loose granite building block with a T groove lying beside a ruined wall at one of the buildings. Perhaps further investigation will reveal its origin but the site is badly disturbed. Spanish raiders looted and destroyed Nusta Espana and it has suffered visits by huaqueros (tomb robbers) over the centuries.
It is likely that much of Inca architecture may have been decorative and stylized as well as functional. Some features incorporated in monumental architecture such as the double door jam, are found at Tiahuanaco and originated from earlier tradition.
Based upon these observations, I believe that the T grooves were decorative/symbolic rather than functional. They seem to be limited to important ceremonial constructions. Their practical use as a fastener in Inca construction is doubtful. Other non-functional architectural features were adapted from earlier tradition.
It is significant that no metal clamps/staples have been found at Inca sites. I believe it likely that the clamps, if they had existed at all, were made of Gold or silver instead of bronze as at Tiahuanaco. This would explain why none have been found as looters would have removed them. Of course, it is possible that the grooves themselves were a symbol or design and may never have contained metal inserts. The polished grooves found at Ollantaytambo would support this.
If they had no functional use and were only incorporated at the most important sacred sites it would fit with historical evidence. When the advance element of Pizzaro’s force arrived in Cusco in 1532, they described the Corichancha as “being bedecked with plates of gold and silver. “It seems likely that T grooves would have been fitted with gold or silver as well. They probably represented something more to their designers than mere decor. What that might be is now pure speculation,
Gary R. Ziegler
T shaped grooves or sockets fitted with bronze clamps in stone building blocks at Tiahuanaco in Bolivia have been long known. At the site of Pumapuku, a number of grooves remain in place, Aligned back to back with adjacent blocks. Several examples of matching arsenic bronze clamps have been located and studied.
Curiously, the Inca adapted something similar some 500 years later. This in itself is not unusual as the Inca, inheritors of several thousand years of cultural development in the Andes, borrowed styles, technology and traditions from their cultural predecessors. What is noteworthy is that the grooves appear to be limited to important ceremonial or monumental structures.
T shaped grooves similar to Tiahuanaco can be found at the Coricancha Temple in Cusco, the temple hill at Ollantaytambo and at Nusta Espana (Yuroc Rumi) in the Vilcabamba. The T grooved blocks at the Coricancha contain U shaped, double T, and other shapes as well. These loose stones were discovered following a partial collapse of the Church of Santa Domingo during the 1930 earthquake. No examples have been found in original positions at these sites.
T grooves at Tiahuanaco are positioned on outer edges of flat surfaced building stones with the shaft of the T designed to match up with a corresponding T groove shaft on the next building block. When the two blocks are fitted together, the Ts line up and form and I or two Ts back to back. A pre-formed bronze insert in the form of an I or `Dog bone' was wedged/pounded into the groove giving the impression of a clamp or staple connecting the two stones.
What immediately comes to mind is why would the builders use or need a weak, small metal clamp to hold large stone blocks in place? One T grooved block at Ollantaytambo measures more than 10‘ feet in length with a thickness of 5 feet. The finest Inca masonry consists of carefully fitted, tapered and beveled blocks which have stayed in place through centuries of earth quakes.
The three sites mentioned represent important ceremonial construction. The Coricancha was the central temple of Cusco, the origin point of the ceques, sighting lines radiating out like spokes of a wheel from the hub of a cosmic observatory for tracking and coordinating celestial phenomenon with earthly events.
The temple site at Ollantaytambo, an enigmatic collection of finely made massive worked blocks of rhyolite from an earlier construction, appears to have been hastily re-fitted together at a later period. The T grooves, some 5 inches in length, curiously show evidence of having been polished. They are found only in several of the larger loose blocks near the hill top temple. None are found in original placement. The evidence of their original use is inconclusive. Jean-Pierre Protzen who has made an extensive investigation of the site believes that the groves represent an earlier construction idea that was later abandoned for different methods. (Protzen, Inca Architecture and Construction at Ollantaytambo, Oxford, 1993)
The third site, Nusta Espana is the Yuroc Rumi or white rock shrine made famous by Machu Picchu discoverer, Hiram Bingham in his search for Manco Inca’s Vilcabamba. A building-sized, sculptured, granite boulder dominates a small complex of ceremonial fountains, baths and the remains of several houses in a remarkable setting surrounded by high mountains.
In a recent visit, we found a large, loose granite building block with a T groove lying beside a ruined wall at one of the buildings. Perhaps further investigation will reveal its origin but the site is badly disturbed. Spanish raiders looted and destroyed Nusta Espana and it has suffered visits by huaqueros (tomb robbers) over the centuries.
It is likely that much of Inca architecture may have been decorative and stylized as well as functional. Some features incorporated in monumental architecture such as the double door jam, are found at Tiahuanaco and originated from earlier tradition.
Based upon these observations, I believe that the T grooves were decorative/symbolic rather than functional. They seem to be limited to important ceremonial constructions. Their practical use as a fastener in Inca construction is doubtful. Other non-functional architectural features were adapted from earlier tradition.
It is significant that no metal clamps/staples have been found at Inca sites. I believe it likely that the clamps, if they had existed at all, were made of Gold or silver instead of bronze as at Tiahuanaco. This would explain why none have been found as looters would have removed them. Of course, it is possible that the grooves themselves were a symbol or design and may never have contained metal inserts. The polished grooves found at Ollantaytambo would support this.
If they had no functional use and were only incorporated at the most important sacred sites it would fit with historical evidence. When the advance element of Pizzaro’s force arrived in Cusco in 1532, they described the Corichancha as “being bedecked with plates of gold and silver. “It seems likely that T grooves would have been fitted with gold or silver as well. They probably represented something more to their designers than mere decor. What that might be is now pure speculation,
Machu Picchu, Inca Pachacuti’s Sacred City:
Machu Picchu, Inca Pachacuti’s Sacred City:
A multiple ritual, ceremonial and administrative center.
Gary Ziegler and J. McKim Malville
Introduction and acknowledgments
After many visits to Machu Picchu I was given an opportunity in 2003 to undertake an in-depth study of the site through a generous grant from Microsoft. Earlier that year, I had completed a Royal Geographical Society supported expedition with British Inca researcher, Hugh Thomson, American archeo-astronomer Kim Malville and a field team led by the Australian explorer, John Leivers in which we re-discovered and surveyed the large ceremonial complex of Llactapata. We arrived at Machu Picchu with new data and perspective from investigations of these important associated sites. Kim contributes with extensive knowledge of ethno-astronomy beyond my more terrestrial training. Hugh’s research on Hiram Bingham and the early investigations at Machu Picchu inspired and fueled our interest.
Later, in September of 2005, I was contracted by the BBC to help film an episode of a television series called "Journeys from the Center of the Earth". The focus is how geology, weather and topographical elements shaped ancient cultures. I was the on-camera authority along with talented geologist host, Iain Stewart. Bad weather and frequent breaks from filming allowed time for additional investigation at Machu Picchu. I am greatly indebted to BBC producer/director Arif Nurmohamed and his terrific production team for allowing me this opportunity.
The noted Dutch Anthropologist R. Tom Zuidema also visited Machu Picchu and Llactapata with Kim and I that year, significantly contributing to this paper and our ongoing investigations. I learned more about the Inca from Tom in our two weeks together than I did in years of graduate school. And of course…we owe all to the generous support of John Hemming and the Royal Geographical Society.
Working from the excellent Wright-Valencia Machu Picchu site map and Johan Reinhard’s Machu Picchu The Sacred Center, We carefully re-examined the main groups conjuntos, compounds canchas, shrines huacas, passageways and stones. Our observation is that every feature or construction appears to be planned and aligned with purpose, leaving nothing to chance. David Dearborn, Reinhard and others have identified structures, building groups and features orientated to focus upon, point to or replicate geographical features, solar alignment and other astronomical phenomena (Dearborn 1987, Reinhard 2002).We have further identified features and groups seemingly associated with solstice alignment and/or the surrounding mountains, Huayna Picchu, Cerro Machu Picchu, Yanatin, San Miguel, Cerro Putucusi and the Llactapata Ridge.
This paper is best read with The Machu Picchu Guide Book in hand and is prepared as a summary of data and interpretations building upon the research and studies of many others. Personal communication with Hugh Thomson, Kenneth and Ruth Wright and Johan Reinhard was most helpful. Machu Picchu feature designations are from Ruth Wright, Kenneth Wright and Alfredo Valencia. John leivers, who always leads the way in the field, shared his informed observations. British Consul and bird authority Barry Walker makes the logistics work for all of our expeditions. British explorer-publisher, Nicholas Asheshov gets us there in style on his Sacred Valley Railroad.
With great thanks to these friends and colleagues…
Gary Ziegler, Cusco August, 2006
Observations:
1) Inca roads and the Upper Agricultural Area
Major Inca roads accessing Machu Picchu from the east, Cusco, Ollantaytambo and west, Llactapata-Vilcabamba meet at a large cleared and wide terraced area north of and outside the main gate (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville. 2003). Three other trails drop down to the river from different sides. A long meeting hall kallanca, Machu Picchu’s largest building is here. The "Guard House" and an associated shaped stone shrine huaca which seems to replicate Cerro Yanatin may represent a special ritual, ceremonial feature similar to the Sacred Rock Group identified by Reinhard and others (Reinhard 2002, Wright-Valencia 2001). The Guard house, designed with one side open, a waynona, is similar to the two buildings that border the Sacred Rock Plaza and probably served a similar ritual purpose.
Interpretation: This was likely a large staging area for llama trains, supplies, labor gangs, workers, warehouse goods and state business coming and going. A ceremonial area located outside the gate with a replication of Cerro Yanatin suggests that Yanatin may have had special importance to travelers along these main routes and to those not allowed inside the inter city.
2) Main Gate and entrance corridor: This impressive gateway frames and focuses attention upon Huayna Picchu. (Reinhard 2002, Wright-Valencia 2000). The walled corridor leads some distance at an angle of 350-170 degrees (m) viewing Huayna Picchu when entering and Machu Picchu Mountain upon exiting. Turning sharply to the right (East), the corridor passes through a second gateway and proceeds, framing/focusing on Cerro Putucusi followed by yet another turn and gateway leading to the Sacred Plaza and heart of the complex.
Interpretation:
Focus on principal mountain features dominating Machu Picchu and passage through monumental gates, each defining a new focus, suggest the pathway as a walkway utilized for important processions as well as an ascetic and impressive architectural design for utilitarian passage. First and primary focus upon Huayna Picchu gives added importance to Huayna Picchu.
In various cultures around the world sacred architecture has been used to guide the ritual movement of people as well as limiting their field of view. The archaeologist John Fritz (1978) argues that ceremonial structures and city planning are occasionally designed to provide earthly parallels to the cosmos, reinforcing the ideological integration of a society as its social stratification. Only those with access to certain esoteric knowledge, such as the location of sunrise, the presence of a god in a temple or natural topographic feature, or the symbolic meaning of a mountain, could design such structures, thereby confirming their high status in the society. While performing rituals, participants are forced to follow certain pathways and view certain perspectives such as sacred mountains, palaces, or temples. Fritz suggests sites in India and Chaco Canyon in the American Southwest as examples of such ritual architecture. The entrance corridor at Machu Picchu appears to be another excellent example of such architecture and planning.
3) Solstice Alignment: A number of groups and features distributed throughout the site are aligned with the June solstice sunrise azimuth of 65 degrees. Dearborn and others indicate several December solstice alignments (Dearborn 1987, Reinhard 2002). The December solstice sunrise azimuth is 112 degrees with the sun setting at 245 degrees
a) Sacred Plaza: The plaza is enclosed on three sides, open to the west with an alignment of 245 degrees. The Temple of the Three Windows forms the easterly side opening on the plaza facing Llactapata and the distant summits of Nevado Pumasillo, a mountain reportedly sacred to the Inca (Reinhard 2002). June solstice sunrise would be seen at 65 degrees from the three windows raising over the distant Cordillera Urubamba. During the December solstice the sun would be seen to set over llactapata and Pumasillo.
b) Sacrisiti Temple: Open on one side, facing Llactapata and Pumasillo at 245 degrees.
c) Intihuatana platform: Oriented 65-245 degrees with a shaped replica stone of Huayna Picchu as the central and dominant feature. The rising and setting sun is visible as well as a 360-degree view. The solstice alignment and the importance of solstice ritual to the Inca suggest that this was a primary ceremonial consideration of this central shrine. Reinhard and others note that important mountains lie at cardinal directions from the platform, the most important being Salkantay located directly south at 180 degrees with Veronica to the east. He suggests that the platform was well suited for celestial activities. The hilltop location makes the platform an exceptional place to make astrological observations in association with sacred geography (Reinhard 2002, Ziegler 2001). It is likely that a number of ceremonies and celestial observations were performed here throughout the year.
d) Royal Residence: The compound outer walls and buildings are aligned at 65-245 degrees.
e) Conjunto 10: Contains a large meeting hall kallanca building and two sets of symmetrical buildings facing on a small plaza or platform open to the east and aligned at 65 degrees.
f) Conjunto 15: A compound of high status residence structures with a central walkway facing 65 degrees upon a large shaped replica stone (Undetermined replication...needs study).
g) Assorted Features: Several walkways have solstice alignment, which we have not documented. Additional investigation will likely reveal other alignments, orientations
h) The Intimachy: Reported by Dearborn and others as a December solstice ceremonial feature (Dearborn 1987).
I) The Torreon: Popularly called the Temple of the Sun, a shaped stone enclosed within the Torreon is reported to receive a ray of sun light through the east facing window during the June solstice. (Dearborn 1987, Reinhard 2002, Wright-Valencia. 2001). However, the Torreon and its associated buildings-walkways are aligned 350-170 degrees focusing on Huayna and Machu Picchu Mountains. The shaped stone and the architectural alignment suggest that replication and associated mountain worship may have been a primary ceremonial function.
4) Huayna Picchu:
a) House of Three Windows: A short distance below the summit, a walkway passes through the only building on the upper portion of the mountain. This house is a typical two story Inca design with internal niches, trapezoidal doorways and a gabled roof set carefully on a leveled platform built out on a filled retaining wall from the near vertical granite slope. Three identical tall windows look out toward the Aobamba-Santa Teresa ridge and the Llactapata sites. The walls and windows are aligned at an azimuth of 230 degrees (m) creating a direct focus-alignment upon the main sectors of Llactapata. (See map figure 2). The Sector II group at Llactapata is aligned to face Huayna Picchu at 50 degrees (the back azimuth of 230). A number of ceremonial features focus on Huayna Picchu (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville 2003). A shaped stone replication resembling the profile of the ridge and it's facing topography sets in front of the left window allowing the viewer to view the distant ridge and it's replication at the same time.
Figure 1
Interpretation: The alignment directly toward the Llactapata sites and the shaped replication stone suggest that the house was a shrine huaca focusing on and emphasizing a spiritual importance for Llactapata and its mountain and ridge. This gives strength to recent investigation and interpretation by the Thomson-Ziegler Expedition, May 2003, that the Llactapata complex was in part, an important ceremonial center closely associated with Machu Picchu (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville 2003).
b) Huayna Picchu Arrow stone: The highest point of the summit is shaped granite capped by an unusual feature popularly identified as the head of an arrow pointing toward distant Salkantay.
From careful examination, We believe that this feature is a replication of Machu Picchu Mountain. (See Reinhard. photo, pg. 44).
c) The Temple of the Moon site is a large shelter cave with masonry structures underlying a massive granite capstone, associated small terraces and several small groups of out buildings. The location is well down Huayna Picchu Mountain just above the Urubamba River. Two Inca routes approach the site. One branches off from the trail up Huayna Picchu to descend downward. The other climbs directly up from the cave through very airy, scary cliffs to the summit. Wright indicates that the Inca trail continued down to the river after passing through a high status gateway. This presents yet another route into Machu Picchu. Finely worked granite walls with niches and recesses inside the cave face outward toward the San Miguel ridge. A large shaped stone centered inside appears to replicate the San Miguel ridge and its facing topographic profile when viewed from behind looking outward.
Interpretation: Caves are known to have been important to the Inca, representing sacred places embodied with spiritual powers. (D'Altroy, Poma, Reinhard). The replication of the San Miguel ridge and orientation of the site suggests that a principal ceremonial function may have been a ritual associated with Cerro San Miguel. Reinhard gives importance to Cerro San Miguel as a place to worship sacred geographical features in combination with equinox alignment. Like Huayna Picchu, San Miguel is surrounded on three sides by the spiritually important Urubamba River (Reinhard 2002). The cave may also have represented a symbolic entrance into Huayna Picchu inviting ritual events which could have included a ceremonial passage from Machu Picchu to the summit of Huayna Picchu, down to the cave temple and back by the circular route.
Conclusions
Machu Picchu before its decline and abandonment appears to have been a complex, busy urban center incorporating different purposes with multiple levels of ceremonial and utilitarian usage. There is no archaeological evidence that Machu Picchu was occupied after the arrival of the European invaders in Cusco in 1533.
The recent identification of Llactapata's importance by the Thomson-Ziegler Expedition and a corresponding major road network connecting extensive Inca controlled regions to the west, Vitcos, Choquequirao and the Apurimac, reinforces the idea that Machu Picchu was a spiritual and administrative hub of a network of roads, regional settlements and state controlled commerce as suggested by Ann Kendall and others (Kendall 1988). The large staging area and meeting hall outside the site and a number of internal warehouses qolqas indicate that the site may have been a collecting point for goods arriving from the Vilcabamba to be sent on to the capital or for other distribution.
Recent investigations have revealed that numbers of imported workers mitimaes, lived near Choquequirao, Cota Coca and other Vilcabamba sites in small wood-sided and simple stone hut settlements. (Ziegler, 2001-2, Von Kaupp, Lee, personal Communication). A recent study of the Llactapata area indicates that a sizable low status settlement and associated agricultural fields were located within several hours of Machu Picchu on the nearby Aobamba-Santa Teresa Ridge which would have provided a residence pool of laborers (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville 2003). Kendall suggests that the large Patallacta/Cusichaca site east of Machu Picchu may have also served in part as a resident settlement of laborers for Machu Picchu (Kendall.1988)
John Rowe convincingly argues that Machu Picchu was built as a royal estate of the Inca Pachacuti as evidenced from a sixteenth century document and other evidence (Rowe 1990). Anthropologists Susan Niles and Maria Rostworowski have demonstrated that some royal estates served as administrative centers for the surrounding region. It is reasonable to assume that Machu Picchu would have served as such as well (Rowe 1990, Niles 1999, Rostworowski 1983).
Johan Reinhard compiles compelling evidence that Machu Picchu was located, designed and functioned as a ceremonial center incorporating the site's unique convergence of geographical features, sacred mountains and the Urubamba River with astronomical and cardinal alignments. The alignment of Salkantay, one of the most sacred mountains, with the Pleiades, dark constellations, Milky Way and the Southern Cross is particularly significant at Machu Picchu (Reinhard 2002).
The multiplicity of different ceremonial features and groups within the city indicate that it probably hosted a complex schedule of ritual events, celebrations and important gatherings throughout the Inca calendar. The predominance of mountain replication shrines and solstice alignments suggest that the primary spiritual focus at Machu Picchu was mountain worship and the sun.
The alignment of several important groups and the focus of the main entrance way upon Huayna Picchu suggest that this mountain was the principal and protectorate deity apu of Machu Picchu. The Intihuatana as a replication of Huayna Picchu and the number of ceremonial features on the mountain itself strengthens the case. The Intihuatana is the central and most important shrine as located on the principal raised platform usnu above the Sacred Plaza and at the highest point on the Intihuatana pyramid. Machu Picchu's design gives great importance to the solstice as evidenced by the number and importance of features with a solstice focus.
Additional Observations 2005
Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock
Three walled terraces following the contour of the rounded ridgeline descending from Cerro Machu Picchu shape this large, open, leveled area. The shape is roughly triangular, defined by the convergence of the two main roads from the east and west at its point. The back boundary is formed by a long, multiple entrance structure facing Cerro Yanatin, identified as a meeting hall or Kallanca. This is Machu Picchu's largest building. I have previously suggested that the shaped huaca boulder, centerpiece of the area, replicates Cerro Yanatin. (Ziegler 2001). Numbers of small-elongated stones around one foot by 6 inches in size, are seemingly arranged in upright groups around the large shaped huaca. The stones are andesite, limestone and metamorphic rocks carried in from other regions. Some are rounded river shaped rocks. Ruth Wright and Alfredo Valencia write "river rocks symbolically bring the sacred river to the mountain site" (Wright and Valencia 2001). This may have been the case but the diversity of rocks more likely indicates that they were ritual offerings/burdens carried and placed by visitors at a shine requiring this activity upon arrival at Machu Picchu. Modern Quechua travelers carry small stones to the top of mountain passes to leave as offerings (personal observation). Visitors to the Sapa Inca and to the Coricancha in Cusco were reported to have carried burdens. (Garcilaso, Cieza). Travelers left stones at roadside shrines called apachitas. (Poma).
We have previously written that the area was likely a large staging area for llama trains, supplies, labor gangs, workers, warehouse goods and state business coming and going. A ceremonial area located outside the gate with a replication of Cerro Yanatin suggests that Yanatin may have had special importance to travelers along these main routes and to those not allowed inside the inter city. Additionally ceremonies may have been held here for lower status workers and neighboring settlements during important calendar events. Supporting this, large amounts of broken pottery have been found here suggesting ritual drinking. (Wright and Valencia 2001).
A special kallanca located outside of Cusco served as a sort of a greeting and leaving shrine to travelers coming and going from the city (Zuidema, personal communication). The Kallanca strategically located just outside Machu Picchu at the junction of two main roads may have served a similar purpose. The open sided wayrona structure called the Guard House likely played a role, or served a function, in support of ritual activities here. Other wayronas are located at the Sacred Rock and the Torreon shrine.Facing with apparent focus on Cerro Yanatin, the site layout and its central replica stone strongly suggests that the complex was dedicated to Cerro Yanatin and mountain worship ritual. Perhaps Yanatin would better be called by its local Quechua name Yanati that we will now use.
Petrographic observances
The base rock at Machu Picchu is primarily a fine grained white-gray granite formed by granules of biotite mica, quartz and light colored orthoclase feldspar eroding from an exposed 250 million year old batholith pluton. This material varies in consistency and crystal size. The finest material was selected as building stone for the most important buildings and walls. Occasional pieces of a green chloritic shist seem to be local. Bingham describes small disks made of the material found in excavations. The material apparently came from below a cliff of Machu Picchu Mountain [Bingham 1952]. The Australian anthropologist/explorer John leivers has recently located the site (personal communication)
Imported rock: Other rock types seem to have been imported such as many of the stones deposited at the Ceremonial Rock [Yanati shrine]. Several blocks of reddish ryolite may have come from Ollantaytambo. Bingham reported an area of imported obsidian pebbles. The entranceway to the Torreon Compound has a black slate cornice overhead. Other pieces of slate are seen scattered in buildings near the Main Gate. Interior pegs at the wayrona near the Torreon are made from imported diorite.
Intihuatana
The Intihuatana platform has a two-meter plus high wall structure on the south side with an entranceway [now partially filled] and remains of a wall on the east. The east wall is gone but the foundation is evident. The alignment indicated by the perpendicular from the east wall and the parallel of the south wall, creates a sight line angle of 245 degrees from the open west side to the main sections of llactapata and the main summit of Nevado Pumasillo on the far horizon [December solstice setting azimuth]. Shaped stones on the walkway up from the south and the Sacred Plaza seem to replicate the eastern horizon representing Cerros Yanati and Putucusi. The main huaca stone Intihuatana, viewed from the southern approaching steps, strongly appears to replicate Huayna Picchu which imposingly dominates the northern view. [noted by Reinhard, Wright and others].
Northern Plaza
Large in situ boulders on the western edge of this large plaza have been shaped. Several are enclosed by walled platforms. They seem to replicate Cerro Machu Picchu and associated ridges when viewed from the north.
Torreon
The shaped huaca stone, enclosed by this unusual D shaped building was likely a replication stone and altar for associated rituals, llama sacrifice and chicha offering. The important June Pleiades raising (Zuidema 1982) and the solstice could have been viewed from the east-facing window but the alignment is not precise, off some degrees from the angle of other site solstice features. It does however present a centered view of the early morning raise of the Pleiades during late May and June. Dearborn and others note that a cord affixed at the window would cast a shadow on a carved groove on the altar during the June solstice thereby establishing the Torreon as a sun shrine. This conclusion seems a reach in view of Inca design preciseness. More likely, the window would have been aligned at the correct angle if this had been the intent (Dearborn and White 1989).
However, The Royal Mausoleum, a cave with high status ritual features, internal masonry with full size niches, a stepped motif and shaped, usnu-like stone, forms the lower section of the large granite outcrop that the Torreon sits on. The outfacing alignment of 65 Degrees is precisely toward the June solstice sunrise. This suggests sun ritual as a primary function. Caves are known to have had special ritual significance themselves. (D'Altroy 2003, Reinhard 2002]
This superbly crafted shrine represents the finest monumental construction in the western or upper hanan sector of Machu Picchu below the Sacred Plaza group. It is accessed directly from the neighboring, high status compound kancha, the Royal Residence, Machu Picchu's most important residential group. This suggests that the cave may have been a private shrine established for the Inca or highly privileged visitors when at residence next door.
The Sacred Plaza: Temple of the Three Windows and
the Principal Temple
Wright and Valencia write that the two temples at the Sacred Plaza were not completed: The Principal Temple was not finished because the foundation settled, causing the heavy wall to subside during construction. The builders then abandoned construction. The nearby Temple of the Three Windows was also unfinished. A large stone intended for the temple was left in transit nearby. [Wright and Valencia 2000}
Iain Stewart located what appears to be several localized fault zones with some indicated slippage eastward from the Sacred Plaza and Intihantana hill. Several structures show some degree of slippage since their construction. We hope to explore this topic together in another paper. I believe that subsidence at the Principal Temple occurred after the Inca had abandoned Machu Picchu. The Inca builders at the site were superb engineers [Wright and Valencia 2000]. This was a most important ceremonial structure, which would have had highest priority. If the wall had settled during construction, the builders would have reinforced the foundation and reconstructed the wall.
It seems unlikely that two important temples would have been left uncompleted during the decades of activity and ongoing construction indicated by the archaeological record. At some Inca sites, structures were later modified or removed and replaced by new building. Cusco was rebuild by the Inca Pacachuti. The principal temple at Ollantaytambo was dismantled and in the process of being rebuilt when abandoned [Cieza, Garcilaso, Protzen 1993].
We suggest that the two Machu Picchu temples were either, upgrade replacements for earlier structures at the Sacred Plaza, or new additions, planned by a later generation of Inca designers. Construction began at a late date. The temples were under construction and not completed when the empire fell apart in 1524. Epidemic disease swept the empire resulting in the death of the ruling Inca Huayna Capac. Devastating wars of succession soon followed setting the stage for abandonment of state projects and the Spanish conquest in 1533.
A Summary of Conclusions
1] The large terraced area outside the main gate was a staging area for entering/leaving Machu Picchu, roadside shrine and gathering place for coming and going on the Inca road. It was dedicated to the mountain Yanatin. Yanati. Celebrations and special events were held here for visitors not allowed inside the city.
2] An important function of the Intihuatana was observation and ritual during the December solstice
3] Large boulders along the west edge of the North Plaza are shaped to replicate Machu Picchu Mountain.
4] The Torreon was likely dedicated to Pleiades observation/ritual and mountain worship. The Royal Mausoleum cave was a private royal shrine associated with the June solstice.
5] The Principal Temple was under construction when Machu Picchu was abandoned. Slippage of a wall occurred after abandonment.
6] The Temple of Three Windows was also under construction when abandoned.
Construction of both Temples at the Sacred Plaza was started late in Machu Picchu's development.
7] A series of small stress faults along the ridge below the Sacred Plaza have allowed slight slippage and settlement of some walls to the east
.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Gary Ziegler is an archaeologist, mountaineer and explorer who has spend a lifetime studying the Incas and remote regions of Peru. He is co-owner of Adventure Specialists, a Colorado ranch based adventure tour operation that runs educational treks, horse trips and research expeditions in Colorado, Peru and Mexico's Copper Canyon. His expeditions have located the important Inca sites of Corihuayrachina, Cota Cota and Llactapata. He is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club and a sometime lecturer at Colorado College. He can be contacted at: info@adventurespecialists.org
http://www.adventurespecialists.org
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A multiple ritual, ceremonial and administrative center.
Gary Ziegler and J. McKim Malville
Introduction and acknowledgments
After many visits to Machu Picchu I was given an opportunity in 2003 to undertake an in-depth study of the site through a generous grant from Microsoft. Earlier that year, I had completed a Royal Geographical Society supported expedition with British Inca researcher, Hugh Thomson, American archeo-astronomer Kim Malville and a field team led by the Australian explorer, John Leivers in which we re-discovered and surveyed the large ceremonial complex of Llactapata. We arrived at Machu Picchu with new data and perspective from investigations of these important associated sites. Kim contributes with extensive knowledge of ethno-astronomy beyond my more terrestrial training. Hugh’s research on Hiram Bingham and the early investigations at Machu Picchu inspired and fueled our interest.
Later, in September of 2005, I was contracted by the BBC to help film an episode of a television series called "Journeys from the Center of the Earth". The focus is how geology, weather and topographical elements shaped ancient cultures. I was the on-camera authority along with talented geologist host, Iain Stewart. Bad weather and frequent breaks from filming allowed time for additional investigation at Machu Picchu. I am greatly indebted to BBC producer/director Arif Nurmohamed and his terrific production team for allowing me this opportunity.
The noted Dutch Anthropologist R. Tom Zuidema also visited Machu Picchu and Llactapata with Kim and I that year, significantly contributing to this paper and our ongoing investigations. I learned more about the Inca from Tom in our two weeks together than I did in years of graduate school. And of course…we owe all to the generous support of John Hemming and the Royal Geographical Society.
Working from the excellent Wright-Valencia Machu Picchu site map and Johan Reinhard’s Machu Picchu The Sacred Center, We carefully re-examined the main groups conjuntos, compounds canchas, shrines huacas, passageways and stones. Our observation is that every feature or construction appears to be planned and aligned with purpose, leaving nothing to chance. David Dearborn, Reinhard and others have identified structures, building groups and features orientated to focus upon, point to or replicate geographical features, solar alignment and other astronomical phenomena (Dearborn 1987, Reinhard 2002).We have further identified features and groups seemingly associated with solstice alignment and/or the surrounding mountains, Huayna Picchu, Cerro Machu Picchu, Yanatin, San Miguel, Cerro Putucusi and the Llactapata Ridge.
This paper is best read with The Machu Picchu Guide Book in hand and is prepared as a summary of data and interpretations building upon the research and studies of many others. Personal communication with Hugh Thomson, Kenneth and Ruth Wright and Johan Reinhard was most helpful. Machu Picchu feature designations are from Ruth Wright, Kenneth Wright and Alfredo Valencia. John leivers, who always leads the way in the field, shared his informed observations. British Consul and bird authority Barry Walker makes the logistics work for all of our expeditions. British explorer-publisher, Nicholas Asheshov gets us there in style on his Sacred Valley Railroad.
With great thanks to these friends and colleagues…
Gary Ziegler, Cusco August, 2006
Observations:
1) Inca roads and the Upper Agricultural Area
Major Inca roads accessing Machu Picchu from the east, Cusco, Ollantaytambo and west, Llactapata-Vilcabamba meet at a large cleared and wide terraced area north of and outside the main gate (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville. 2003). Three other trails drop down to the river from different sides. A long meeting hall kallanca, Machu Picchu’s largest building is here. The "Guard House" and an associated shaped stone shrine huaca which seems to replicate Cerro Yanatin may represent a special ritual, ceremonial feature similar to the Sacred Rock Group identified by Reinhard and others (Reinhard 2002, Wright-Valencia 2001). The Guard house, designed with one side open, a waynona, is similar to the two buildings that border the Sacred Rock Plaza and probably served a similar ritual purpose.
Interpretation: This was likely a large staging area for llama trains, supplies, labor gangs, workers, warehouse goods and state business coming and going. A ceremonial area located outside the gate with a replication of Cerro Yanatin suggests that Yanatin may have had special importance to travelers along these main routes and to those not allowed inside the inter city.
2) Main Gate and entrance corridor: This impressive gateway frames and focuses attention upon Huayna Picchu. (Reinhard 2002, Wright-Valencia 2000). The walled corridor leads some distance at an angle of 350-170 degrees (m) viewing Huayna Picchu when entering and Machu Picchu Mountain upon exiting. Turning sharply to the right (East), the corridor passes through a second gateway and proceeds, framing/focusing on Cerro Putucusi followed by yet another turn and gateway leading to the Sacred Plaza and heart of the complex.
Interpretation:
Focus on principal mountain features dominating Machu Picchu and passage through monumental gates, each defining a new focus, suggest the pathway as a walkway utilized for important processions as well as an ascetic and impressive architectural design for utilitarian passage. First and primary focus upon Huayna Picchu gives added importance to Huayna Picchu.
In various cultures around the world sacred architecture has been used to guide the ritual movement of people as well as limiting their field of view. The archaeologist John Fritz (1978) argues that ceremonial structures and city planning are occasionally designed to provide earthly parallels to the cosmos, reinforcing the ideological integration of a society as its social stratification. Only those with access to certain esoteric knowledge, such as the location of sunrise, the presence of a god in a temple or natural topographic feature, or the symbolic meaning of a mountain, could design such structures, thereby confirming their high status in the society. While performing rituals, participants are forced to follow certain pathways and view certain perspectives such as sacred mountains, palaces, or temples. Fritz suggests sites in India and Chaco Canyon in the American Southwest as examples of such ritual architecture. The entrance corridor at Machu Picchu appears to be another excellent example of such architecture and planning.
3) Solstice Alignment: A number of groups and features distributed throughout the site are aligned with the June solstice sunrise azimuth of 65 degrees. Dearborn and others indicate several December solstice alignments (Dearborn 1987, Reinhard 2002). The December solstice sunrise azimuth is 112 degrees with the sun setting at 245 degrees
a) Sacred Plaza: The plaza is enclosed on three sides, open to the west with an alignment of 245 degrees. The Temple of the Three Windows forms the easterly side opening on the plaza facing Llactapata and the distant summits of Nevado Pumasillo, a mountain reportedly sacred to the Inca (Reinhard 2002). June solstice sunrise would be seen at 65 degrees from the three windows raising over the distant Cordillera Urubamba. During the December solstice the sun would be seen to set over llactapata and Pumasillo.
b) Sacrisiti Temple: Open on one side, facing Llactapata and Pumasillo at 245 degrees.
c) Intihuatana platform: Oriented 65-245 degrees with a shaped replica stone of Huayna Picchu as the central and dominant feature. The rising and setting sun is visible as well as a 360-degree view. The solstice alignment and the importance of solstice ritual to the Inca suggest that this was a primary ceremonial consideration of this central shrine. Reinhard and others note that important mountains lie at cardinal directions from the platform, the most important being Salkantay located directly south at 180 degrees with Veronica to the east. He suggests that the platform was well suited for celestial activities. The hilltop location makes the platform an exceptional place to make astrological observations in association with sacred geography (Reinhard 2002, Ziegler 2001). It is likely that a number of ceremonies and celestial observations were performed here throughout the year.
d) Royal Residence: The compound outer walls and buildings are aligned at 65-245 degrees.
e) Conjunto 10: Contains a large meeting hall kallanca building and two sets of symmetrical buildings facing on a small plaza or platform open to the east and aligned at 65 degrees.
f) Conjunto 15: A compound of high status residence structures with a central walkway facing 65 degrees upon a large shaped replica stone (Undetermined replication...needs study).
g) Assorted Features: Several walkways have solstice alignment, which we have not documented. Additional investigation will likely reveal other alignments, orientations
h) The Intimachy: Reported by Dearborn and others as a December solstice ceremonial feature (Dearborn 1987).
I) The Torreon: Popularly called the Temple of the Sun, a shaped stone enclosed within the Torreon is reported to receive a ray of sun light through the east facing window during the June solstice. (Dearborn 1987, Reinhard 2002, Wright-Valencia. 2001). However, the Torreon and its associated buildings-walkways are aligned 350-170 degrees focusing on Huayna and Machu Picchu Mountains. The shaped stone and the architectural alignment suggest that replication and associated mountain worship may have been a primary ceremonial function.
4) Huayna Picchu:
a) House of Three Windows: A short distance below the summit, a walkway passes through the only building on the upper portion of the mountain. This house is a typical two story Inca design with internal niches, trapezoidal doorways and a gabled roof set carefully on a leveled platform built out on a filled retaining wall from the near vertical granite slope. Three identical tall windows look out toward the Aobamba-Santa Teresa ridge and the Llactapata sites. The walls and windows are aligned at an azimuth of 230 degrees (m) creating a direct focus-alignment upon the main sectors of Llactapata. (See map figure 2). The Sector II group at Llactapata is aligned to face Huayna Picchu at 50 degrees (the back azimuth of 230). A number of ceremonial features focus on Huayna Picchu (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville 2003). A shaped stone replication resembling the profile of the ridge and it's facing topography sets in front of the left window allowing the viewer to view the distant ridge and it's replication at the same time.
Figure 1
Interpretation: The alignment directly toward the Llactapata sites and the shaped replication stone suggest that the house was a shrine huaca focusing on and emphasizing a spiritual importance for Llactapata and its mountain and ridge. This gives strength to recent investigation and interpretation by the Thomson-Ziegler Expedition, May 2003, that the Llactapata complex was in part, an important ceremonial center closely associated with Machu Picchu (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville 2003).
b) Huayna Picchu Arrow stone: The highest point of the summit is shaped granite capped by an unusual feature popularly identified as the head of an arrow pointing toward distant Salkantay.
From careful examination, We believe that this feature is a replication of Machu Picchu Mountain. (See Reinhard. photo, pg. 44).
c) The Temple of the Moon site is a large shelter cave with masonry structures underlying a massive granite capstone, associated small terraces and several small groups of out buildings. The location is well down Huayna Picchu Mountain just above the Urubamba River. Two Inca routes approach the site. One branches off from the trail up Huayna Picchu to descend downward. The other climbs directly up from the cave through very airy, scary cliffs to the summit. Wright indicates that the Inca trail continued down to the river after passing through a high status gateway. This presents yet another route into Machu Picchu. Finely worked granite walls with niches and recesses inside the cave face outward toward the San Miguel ridge. A large shaped stone centered inside appears to replicate the San Miguel ridge and its facing topographic profile when viewed from behind looking outward.
Interpretation: Caves are known to have been important to the Inca, representing sacred places embodied with spiritual powers. (D'Altroy, Poma, Reinhard). The replication of the San Miguel ridge and orientation of the site suggests that a principal ceremonial function may have been a ritual associated with Cerro San Miguel. Reinhard gives importance to Cerro San Miguel as a place to worship sacred geographical features in combination with equinox alignment. Like Huayna Picchu, San Miguel is surrounded on three sides by the spiritually important Urubamba River (Reinhard 2002). The cave may also have represented a symbolic entrance into Huayna Picchu inviting ritual events which could have included a ceremonial passage from Machu Picchu to the summit of Huayna Picchu, down to the cave temple and back by the circular route.
Conclusions
Machu Picchu before its decline and abandonment appears to have been a complex, busy urban center incorporating different purposes with multiple levels of ceremonial and utilitarian usage. There is no archaeological evidence that Machu Picchu was occupied after the arrival of the European invaders in Cusco in 1533.
The recent identification of Llactapata's importance by the Thomson-Ziegler Expedition and a corresponding major road network connecting extensive Inca controlled regions to the west, Vitcos, Choquequirao and the Apurimac, reinforces the idea that Machu Picchu was a spiritual and administrative hub of a network of roads, regional settlements and state controlled commerce as suggested by Ann Kendall and others (Kendall 1988). The large staging area and meeting hall outside the site and a number of internal warehouses qolqas indicate that the site may have been a collecting point for goods arriving from the Vilcabamba to be sent on to the capital or for other distribution.
Recent investigations have revealed that numbers of imported workers mitimaes, lived near Choquequirao, Cota Coca and other Vilcabamba sites in small wood-sided and simple stone hut settlements. (Ziegler, 2001-2, Von Kaupp, Lee, personal Communication). A recent study of the Llactapata area indicates that a sizable low status settlement and associated agricultural fields were located within several hours of Machu Picchu on the nearby Aobamba-Santa Teresa Ridge which would have provided a residence pool of laborers (Ziegler, Thomson, Malville 2003). Kendall suggests that the large Patallacta/Cusichaca site east of Machu Picchu may have also served in part as a resident settlement of laborers for Machu Picchu (Kendall.1988)
John Rowe convincingly argues that Machu Picchu was built as a royal estate of the Inca Pachacuti as evidenced from a sixteenth century document and other evidence (Rowe 1990). Anthropologists Susan Niles and Maria Rostworowski have demonstrated that some royal estates served as administrative centers for the surrounding region. It is reasonable to assume that Machu Picchu would have served as such as well (Rowe 1990, Niles 1999, Rostworowski 1983).
Johan Reinhard compiles compelling evidence that Machu Picchu was located, designed and functioned as a ceremonial center incorporating the site's unique convergence of geographical features, sacred mountains and the Urubamba River with astronomical and cardinal alignments. The alignment of Salkantay, one of the most sacred mountains, with the Pleiades, dark constellations, Milky Way and the Southern Cross is particularly significant at Machu Picchu (Reinhard 2002).
The multiplicity of different ceremonial features and groups within the city indicate that it probably hosted a complex schedule of ritual events, celebrations and important gatherings throughout the Inca calendar. The predominance of mountain replication shrines and solstice alignments suggest that the primary spiritual focus at Machu Picchu was mountain worship and the sun.
The alignment of several important groups and the focus of the main entrance way upon Huayna Picchu suggest that this mountain was the principal and protectorate deity apu of Machu Picchu. The Intihuatana as a replication of Huayna Picchu and the number of ceremonial features on the mountain itself strengthens the case. The Intihuatana is the central and most important shrine as located on the principal raised platform usnu above the Sacred Plaza and at the highest point on the Intihuatana pyramid. Machu Picchu's design gives great importance to the solstice as evidenced by the number and importance of features with a solstice focus.
Additional Observations 2005
Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock
Three walled terraces following the contour of the rounded ridgeline descending from Cerro Machu Picchu shape this large, open, leveled area. The shape is roughly triangular, defined by the convergence of the two main roads from the east and west at its point. The back boundary is formed by a long, multiple entrance structure facing Cerro Yanatin, identified as a meeting hall or Kallanca. This is Machu Picchu's largest building. I have previously suggested that the shaped huaca boulder, centerpiece of the area, replicates Cerro Yanatin. (Ziegler 2001). Numbers of small-elongated stones around one foot by 6 inches in size, are seemingly arranged in upright groups around the large shaped huaca. The stones are andesite, limestone and metamorphic rocks carried in from other regions. Some are rounded river shaped rocks. Ruth Wright and Alfredo Valencia write "river rocks symbolically bring the sacred river to the mountain site" (Wright and Valencia 2001). This may have been the case but the diversity of rocks more likely indicates that they were ritual offerings/burdens carried and placed by visitors at a shine requiring this activity upon arrival at Machu Picchu. Modern Quechua travelers carry small stones to the top of mountain passes to leave as offerings (personal observation). Visitors to the Sapa Inca and to the Coricancha in Cusco were reported to have carried burdens. (Garcilaso, Cieza). Travelers left stones at roadside shrines called apachitas. (Poma).
We have previously written that the area was likely a large staging area for llama trains, supplies, labor gangs, workers, warehouse goods and state business coming and going. A ceremonial area located outside the gate with a replication of Cerro Yanatin suggests that Yanatin may have had special importance to travelers along these main routes and to those not allowed inside the inter city. Additionally ceremonies may have been held here for lower status workers and neighboring settlements during important calendar events. Supporting this, large amounts of broken pottery have been found here suggesting ritual drinking. (Wright and Valencia 2001).
A special kallanca located outside of Cusco served as a sort of a greeting and leaving shrine to travelers coming and going from the city (Zuidema, personal communication). The Kallanca strategically located just outside Machu Picchu at the junction of two main roads may have served a similar purpose. The open sided wayrona structure called the Guard House likely played a role, or served a function, in support of ritual activities here. Other wayronas are located at the Sacred Rock and the Torreon shrine.Facing with apparent focus on Cerro Yanatin, the site layout and its central replica stone strongly suggests that the complex was dedicated to Cerro Yanatin and mountain worship ritual. Perhaps Yanatin would better be called by its local Quechua name Yanati that we will now use.
Petrographic observances
The base rock at Machu Picchu is primarily a fine grained white-gray granite formed by granules of biotite mica, quartz and light colored orthoclase feldspar eroding from an exposed 250 million year old batholith pluton. This material varies in consistency and crystal size. The finest material was selected as building stone for the most important buildings and walls. Occasional pieces of a green chloritic shist seem to be local. Bingham describes small disks made of the material found in excavations. The material apparently came from below a cliff of Machu Picchu Mountain [Bingham 1952]. The Australian anthropologist/explorer John leivers has recently located the site (personal communication)
Imported rock: Other rock types seem to have been imported such as many of the stones deposited at the Ceremonial Rock [Yanati shrine]. Several blocks of reddish ryolite may have come from Ollantaytambo. Bingham reported an area of imported obsidian pebbles. The entranceway to the Torreon Compound has a black slate cornice overhead. Other pieces of slate are seen scattered in buildings near the Main Gate. Interior pegs at the wayrona near the Torreon are made from imported diorite.
Intihuatana
The Intihuatana platform has a two-meter plus high wall structure on the south side with an entranceway [now partially filled] and remains of a wall on the east. The east wall is gone but the foundation is evident. The alignment indicated by the perpendicular from the east wall and the parallel of the south wall, creates a sight line angle of 245 degrees from the open west side to the main sections of llactapata and the main summit of Nevado Pumasillo on the far horizon [December solstice setting azimuth]. Shaped stones on the walkway up from the south and the Sacred Plaza seem to replicate the eastern horizon representing Cerros Yanati and Putucusi. The main huaca stone Intihuatana, viewed from the southern approaching steps, strongly appears to replicate Huayna Picchu which imposingly dominates the northern view. [noted by Reinhard, Wright and others].
Northern Plaza
Large in situ boulders on the western edge of this large plaza have been shaped. Several are enclosed by walled platforms. They seem to replicate Cerro Machu Picchu and associated ridges when viewed from the north.
Torreon
The shaped huaca stone, enclosed by this unusual D shaped building was likely a replication stone and altar for associated rituals, llama sacrifice and chicha offering. The important June Pleiades raising (Zuidema 1982) and the solstice could have been viewed from the east-facing window but the alignment is not precise, off some degrees from the angle of other site solstice features. It does however present a centered view of the early morning raise of the Pleiades during late May and June. Dearborn and others note that a cord affixed at the window would cast a shadow on a carved groove on the altar during the June solstice thereby establishing the Torreon as a sun shrine. This conclusion seems a reach in view of Inca design preciseness. More likely, the window would have been aligned at the correct angle if this had been the intent (Dearborn and White 1989).
However, The Royal Mausoleum, a cave with high status ritual features, internal masonry with full size niches, a stepped motif and shaped, usnu-like stone, forms the lower section of the large granite outcrop that the Torreon sits on. The outfacing alignment of 65 Degrees is precisely toward the June solstice sunrise. This suggests sun ritual as a primary function. Caves are known to have had special ritual significance themselves. (D'Altroy 2003, Reinhard 2002]
This superbly crafted shrine represents the finest monumental construction in the western or upper hanan sector of Machu Picchu below the Sacred Plaza group. It is accessed directly from the neighboring, high status compound kancha, the Royal Residence, Machu Picchu's most important residential group. This suggests that the cave may have been a private shrine established for the Inca or highly privileged visitors when at residence next door.
The Sacred Plaza: Temple of the Three Windows and
the Principal Temple
Wright and Valencia write that the two temples at the Sacred Plaza were not completed: The Principal Temple was not finished because the foundation settled, causing the heavy wall to subside during construction. The builders then abandoned construction. The nearby Temple of the Three Windows was also unfinished. A large stone intended for the temple was left in transit nearby. [Wright and Valencia 2000}
Iain Stewart located what appears to be several localized fault zones with some indicated slippage eastward from the Sacred Plaza and Intihantana hill. Several structures show some degree of slippage since their construction. We hope to explore this topic together in another paper. I believe that subsidence at the Principal Temple occurred after the Inca had abandoned Machu Picchu. The Inca builders at the site were superb engineers [Wright and Valencia 2000]. This was a most important ceremonial structure, which would have had highest priority. If the wall had settled during construction, the builders would have reinforced the foundation and reconstructed the wall.
It seems unlikely that two important temples would have been left uncompleted during the decades of activity and ongoing construction indicated by the archaeological record. At some Inca sites, structures were later modified or removed and replaced by new building. Cusco was rebuild by the Inca Pacachuti. The principal temple at Ollantaytambo was dismantled and in the process of being rebuilt when abandoned [Cieza, Garcilaso, Protzen 1993].
We suggest that the two Machu Picchu temples were either, upgrade replacements for earlier structures at the Sacred Plaza, or new additions, planned by a later generation of Inca designers. Construction began at a late date. The temples were under construction and not completed when the empire fell apart in 1524. Epidemic disease swept the empire resulting in the death of the ruling Inca Huayna Capac. Devastating wars of succession soon followed setting the stage for abandonment of state projects and the Spanish conquest in 1533.
A Summary of Conclusions
1] The large terraced area outside the main gate was a staging area for entering/leaving Machu Picchu, roadside shrine and gathering place for coming and going on the Inca road. It was dedicated to the mountain Yanatin. Yanati. Celebrations and special events were held here for visitors not allowed inside the city.
2] An important function of the Intihuatana was observation and ritual during the December solstice
3] Large boulders along the west edge of the North Plaza are shaped to replicate Machu Picchu Mountain.
4] The Torreon was likely dedicated to Pleiades observation/ritual and mountain worship. The Royal Mausoleum cave was a private royal shrine associated with the June solstice.
5] The Principal Temple was under construction when Machu Picchu was abandoned. Slippage of a wall occurred after abandonment.
6] The Temple of Three Windows was also under construction when abandoned.
Construction of both Temples at the Sacred Plaza was started late in Machu Picchu's development.
7] A series of small stress faults along the ridge below the Sacred Plaza have allowed slight slippage and settlement of some walls to the east
.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Gary Ziegler is an archaeologist, mountaineer and explorer who has spend a lifetime studying the Incas and remote regions of Peru. He is co-owner of Adventure Specialists, a Colorado ranch based adventure tour operation that runs educational treks, horse trips and research expeditions in Colorado, Peru and Mexico's Copper Canyon. His expeditions have located the important Inca sites of Corihuayrachina, Cota Cota and Llactapata. He is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club and a sometime lecturer at Colorado College. He can be contacted at: info@adventurespecialists.org
http://www.adventurespecialists.org
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Who Built Machu Picchu? A short history of the Inca.
Who Built Machu Picchu? A short history of the Inca.
Gary R. Ziegler .-
This short summary of Inca history originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Dig Magazine, a publication of Archaeology Magazine designed for kids. Simplified in description and language, I present it as a quick introduction to the Inca for those who have not yet taken or may not take the leap into detailed Inca studies. The Inca represent an incredible human accomplishment, possibly the most organized advanced state of the ancient new world since Homo Erectus began walking upright. Sit vis nobiscum
The construction of Machu Picchu was likely started by order of the Inca emperor Pachacuti, earth shaker, sometime during the mid-15th century. Inca legend relates that Pachacuti ordered the construction of Machu Picchu to celebrate the defeat of a powerful rival ethnic group called the Chancas.
The Inca Empire grew huge in amazingly short time, less than100 years, from a small area in south central Peru to a vast region encompassing all of modern day Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and parts of what is now Colombia, Argentina and Chile. The expansion and development of the Inca into one of the world's great civilizations during such a short time remains one of the mysteries modern science has yet to solve.
The Inca called their empire the Land of the Four Quarters, Tahuantinsuyu. They considered their capital, Cusco to be the geographical/spiritual center or navel of the Inca universe. Ancient people of the Andes mountains gave great importance to observation and reverence of the night sky along with other natural features, rivers and mountains they called apus. The edge of our galaxy, the Milky Way, known to the Inca as the Celestial River or Mayu , is very prominent in South America. The Inca may have adopted the four quarters from the division of the night sky into quarters suggested by positioning of the Milky Way.
The Inca, like Romans of the Old World, were inheritors of several thousand years of human cultural development, traditions and technological evolution. The Inca were masters of using and improving upon what they had learned from earlier peoples. They are best known for amazing feats of engineering, management, road building and astonishing architectural achievements like Machu Picchu, accomplished with only stone, wood and bronze tools.
Through very efficient organization, they effectively managed vast subject populations, agricultural seasons, food distribution, storage, building projects and moving large armies of workers and soldiers without the aid of a written language. Their greatest achievement was the expansion of a small highland state into what may have been the largest empire in the world at the time.
Work on the magnificent site continued until it was abandoned around the arrival of the European conquistadors in Peru in 1532. Machu Picchu, like many Inca projects, was never completed.
A fragment of Kilke transitional pottery found in a burial tomb on a mountain side near Machu Picchu. The early Inca may have occupied the region long before construction of Machu Picchu began
The Intihuatana stone at Machu Picchu seen during the June solstice sunrise. State Inca religion at the site focused upon sun and mountain worship. This important shrine, called a huaca, seems to replicate the peak of Huayna Pcchu when viewed from a different angle.
The empire came to a tragic end when small pox and other diseases killed the Emperor Huayna Capac and an estimated 2/3 of the population during the years 1526-27. In 1520, a Spanish fleet arrived at the Spanish colony at Panama carrying diseases from Europe previously unknown to the Americas. Before the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1532, these diseases had spread, eventually arriving to destroy the carefully organized Inca state. When the Europeans arrived, the empire had fallen into a devastating civil war over who would wear the crown of the Inca ruler. Machu Picchu was probably abandoned at this time.
Gary R. Ziegler .-
This short summary of Inca history originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Dig Magazine, a publication of Archaeology Magazine designed for kids. Simplified in description and language, I present it as a quick introduction to the Inca for those who have not yet taken or may not take the leap into detailed Inca studies. The Inca represent an incredible human accomplishment, possibly the most organized advanced state of the ancient new world since Homo Erectus began walking upright. Sit vis nobiscum
The construction of Machu Picchu was likely started by order of the Inca emperor Pachacuti, earth shaker, sometime during the mid-15th century. Inca legend relates that Pachacuti ordered the construction of Machu Picchu to celebrate the defeat of a powerful rival ethnic group called the Chancas.
The Inca Empire grew huge in amazingly short time, less than100 years, from a small area in south central Peru to a vast region encompassing all of modern day Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and parts of what is now Colombia, Argentina and Chile. The expansion and development of the Inca into one of the world's great civilizations during such a short time remains one of the mysteries modern science has yet to solve.
The Inca called their empire the Land of the Four Quarters, Tahuantinsuyu. They considered their capital, Cusco to be the geographical/spiritual center or navel of the Inca universe. Ancient people of the Andes mountains gave great importance to observation and reverence of the night sky along with other natural features, rivers and mountains they called apus. The edge of our galaxy, the Milky Way, known to the Inca as the Celestial River or Mayu , is very prominent in South America. The Inca may have adopted the four quarters from the division of the night sky into quarters suggested by positioning of the Milky Way.
The Inca, like Romans of the Old World, were inheritors of several thousand years of human cultural development, traditions and technological evolution. The Inca were masters of using and improving upon what they had learned from earlier peoples. They are best known for amazing feats of engineering, management, road building and astonishing architectural achievements like Machu Picchu, accomplished with only stone, wood and bronze tools.
Through very efficient organization, they effectively managed vast subject populations, agricultural seasons, food distribution, storage, building projects and moving large armies of workers and soldiers without the aid of a written language. Their greatest achievement was the expansion of a small highland state into what may have been the largest empire in the world at the time.
Work on the magnificent site continued until it was abandoned around the arrival of the European conquistadors in Peru in 1532. Machu Picchu, like many Inca projects, was never completed.
A fragment of Kilke transitional pottery found in a burial tomb on a mountain side near Machu Picchu. The early Inca may have occupied the region long before construction of Machu Picchu began
The Intihuatana stone at Machu Picchu seen during the June solstice sunrise. State Inca religion at the site focused upon sun and mountain worship. This important shrine, called a huaca, seems to replicate the peak of Huayna Pcchu when viewed from a different angle.
The empire came to a tragic end when small pox and other diseases killed the Emperor Huayna Capac and an estimated 2/3 of the population during the years 1526-27. In 1520, a Spanish fleet arrived at the Spanish colony at Panama carrying diseases from Europe previously unknown to the Americas. Before the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1532, these diseases had spread, eventually arriving to destroy the carefully organized Inca state. When the Europeans arrived, the empire had fallen into a devastating civil war over who would wear the crown of the Inca ruler. Machu Picchu was probably abandoned at this time.
Machu Picchu Abandoned: How they kept the secret.
Machu Picchu Abandoned: How they kept the secret.
By Gary Ziegler
The construction of Machu Picchu was started by order of the Inca Emperor Pachacuti earth shaker during the mid-15th century as a royal estate and religious retreat. Inca legend relates that Pachacuti ordered the construction of Machu Picchu to celebrate the defeat of the Chancas, a powerful rival ethnic group. Work on the magnificent site continued until it was abandoned shortly before the arrival of the European conquistadors in Peru in 1532. Machu Picchu, like many Inca projects, was never completed. It surely was visited by Pachacuti's successors, Topa Inca and the last Emperor, Huayna Capac, although each in turn built their own estates and palaces. It is likely that few outside the Inca's retainers, administrators and regional residents would have known of its existence. Travel outside a home region was restricted except by administrative decree.
Following Pachacuti's death, Machu Picchu became the property of his kinship group panaka who were responsible for maintenance, administration and continuing building. The estate was located, designed and functioned as a ceremonial center incorporating the site's unique convergence of geographical features, sacred mountains apus and the Urubamba River with astronomical and cardinal alignments. The multiplicity of different ceremonial features and groups within the estate indicate that it probably hosted a complex schedule of ritual events, celebrations and important gatherings throughout the Inca calendar.
The predominance of mountain replication shrines and solstice alignments suggest that the primary spiritual focus of Machu Picchu was mountain worship and the sun. Machu Picchu's design gives great importance to both the June and December solstice as evidenced by the number and prominence of features with a solstice focus.
Investigations by the Royal Geographical Society supported Thomson-Ziegler Expeditions have revealed a complex of ceremonial structures including a sun temple and a large worker or agricultural settlement associated with Machu Picchu at nearby Llactapata. These recent discoveries suggest that Machu Picchu probably served as a regional administrative and commerce center as well. Inca roads accessing Machu Picchu from the east, Cusco, Ollantaytambo, 'the Inca Trail' and west, Llactapata-Vilcabamba, meet at a large cleared and wide terraced area north of and outside Machu Picchu's main gate. This was likely a staging area for llama trains, supplies, labor gangs, workers, warehouse goods and state business coming and going. Machu Picchu’s largest building, a long meeting hall kallanca, is located here. Three other trails drop down to the river from different sides.
The Inca Empire came to a tragic end when small pox and other diseases killed Huayna Capac and an estimated 2/3 of the population during the years 1524-26. In 1520, a Spanish fleet arrived at the Spanish colony at Panama carrying diseases from Europe previously unknown to the Americas. Before the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1532, these diseases had spread, eventually arriving to destroy the carefully organized Inca state. The empire then fell into a devastating civil war over Inca secession. Machu Picchu was likely abandoned at this time because cost of maintenance was prohibitive as epidemic and war depleted the remaining male population. Inca roads, particularly in rugged mountain areas, required continual maintenance. Rainfall in the Machu Picchu region is more than 70 inches annually. Rock slides regularly take out the modern railway and nearby roads. Cleared trails are overgrown by dense vegetation in less than a year. The main roads to Machu Picchu would have been rapidly lost without state organized maintenance.
It is difficult to understand from our knowledge of Greek, Egyptian and other great early civilizations with written records how such a magnificent site would not of been discovered by the Spanish. Yet I can see how it happened. The Inca were a highly ordered and regimented society. Although great numbers of subjects were moved around for corporate state projects (mit'a) and resettlement, once at a location, they did not move. The royal roads were reserved for official travel. Machu Picchu as a royal estate was probably even more restricted. Of course it would have required a steady supply of outside goods. Machu Picchu, like most Inca sites, was undergoing continuing construction and had a resident crew of builders as well as attendants,
The Incas were apparently able to control their remarkable state system through a pyramidal hierarchy with information and direction flowing down through 10 overseers to 100, to a 1000 and so on. We know from historical writing and the archaeological record that they did not possess an alphabet or written language although they certainly utilized symbols and diagrams.
We know that the Quipu (collection of colored strings and knots) was extensively used as an accounting and record keeping device. This required a trained interpreter/programmer to accompany it. Although known and used during the early colonial period the technique was not documented and lost to history. The Inca also maintained a class or guild of verbal historians. What records the state may have kept and how remain a mystery. A ongoing study of Quipus is being conducted at Harvard by Inca researcher Gary Urton. see: http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/
With the catastrophic collapse of Inca infrastructure following arrival of the Spanish, these specialists/historians were scattered and forgotten.The Spanish, mostly illiterate, uneducated adventurers had little interest in seeking or preserving anything not producing wealth and power. By the time scholars and responsible administrators arrived the information was lost.
When the conquering Pizarros arrived in Cusco in 1532, Machu Picchu must have been mostly forgotten and the few who remembered, died without revealing its location to the Spanish. Machu Picchu or whatever its name at the time, would not have been of much importance to either the crumbling Inca state or the treasure hungry Spanish.
Manco Inca, an Inca king set in place by the controlling Spanish, staged a country wide rebellion in 1536. After a failed siege of Cusco, Manco, along with remnants of the court, army and followers, abandoned his headquarters at Ollantaytambo. Fleeing back into the remote Vilcabamba beyond Machu Picchu, He burned and destroyed Inca settlements and sites accessible to the Spanish including Patallacta at the start of the now famous trail to Machu Picchu. Of course by now, the trail and the site itself would have been overgrown by cloud forest and the approach blocked by seasonal landslides that so hinder backcountry travel in Peru.
Along with personal investigations and many trips to Machu Picchu, I have borrowed heavily from the studies of Hiram Bingham, Michael Moseley, John Hemming, John Rowe Johan Reinhard, Lucy Salizar, Richard Burger, Kenneth Wright, Ann Kendall, Susan Niles and many others. Their writings are a must for anyone attempting an understanding of Machu Picchu, the Inca and the centuries of cultural development that preceded them. An extensive bibliography can be found at : h
Also see: Machu Picchu, Inca Pachacuti’s Sacred City:
A multiple ritual, ceremonial and administrative center.
Gary Ziegler and J. McKim Malville
________________________________________
Gary Ziegler is an archaeologist, mountaineer and explorer who has spend a lifetime studying the Incas and remote regions of Peru. He is co-owner of Adventure Specialists, a Colorado ranch based adventure tour operation that runs educational treks, horse trips and research expeditions in Colorado, Peru and Mexico's Copper Canyon. His expeditions have located the important Inca sites of Corihuayrachina, Cota Cota and Llactapata. He is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club and a sometime lecturer at Colorado College.
By Gary Ziegler
The construction of Machu Picchu was started by order of the Inca Emperor Pachacuti earth shaker during the mid-15th century as a royal estate and religious retreat. Inca legend relates that Pachacuti ordered the construction of Machu Picchu to celebrate the defeat of the Chancas, a powerful rival ethnic group. Work on the magnificent site continued until it was abandoned shortly before the arrival of the European conquistadors in Peru in 1532. Machu Picchu, like many Inca projects, was never completed. It surely was visited by Pachacuti's successors, Topa Inca and the last Emperor, Huayna Capac, although each in turn built their own estates and palaces. It is likely that few outside the Inca's retainers, administrators and regional residents would have known of its existence. Travel outside a home region was restricted except by administrative decree.
Following Pachacuti's death, Machu Picchu became the property of his kinship group panaka who were responsible for maintenance, administration and continuing building. The estate was located, designed and functioned as a ceremonial center incorporating the site's unique convergence of geographical features, sacred mountains apus and the Urubamba River with astronomical and cardinal alignments. The multiplicity of different ceremonial features and groups within the estate indicate that it probably hosted a complex schedule of ritual events, celebrations and important gatherings throughout the Inca calendar.
The predominance of mountain replication shrines and solstice alignments suggest that the primary spiritual focus of Machu Picchu was mountain worship and the sun. Machu Picchu's design gives great importance to both the June and December solstice as evidenced by the number and prominence of features with a solstice focus.
Investigations by the Royal Geographical Society supported Thomson-Ziegler Expeditions have revealed a complex of ceremonial structures including a sun temple and a large worker or agricultural settlement associated with Machu Picchu at nearby Llactapata. These recent discoveries suggest that Machu Picchu probably served as a regional administrative and commerce center as well. Inca roads accessing Machu Picchu from the east, Cusco, Ollantaytambo, 'the Inca Trail' and west, Llactapata-Vilcabamba, meet at a large cleared and wide terraced area north of and outside Machu Picchu's main gate. This was likely a staging area for llama trains, supplies, labor gangs, workers, warehouse goods and state business coming and going. Machu Picchu’s largest building, a long meeting hall kallanca, is located here. Three other trails drop down to the river from different sides.
The Inca Empire came to a tragic end when small pox and other diseases killed Huayna Capac and an estimated 2/3 of the population during the years 1524-26. In 1520, a Spanish fleet arrived at the Spanish colony at Panama carrying diseases from Europe previously unknown to the Americas. Before the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1532, these diseases had spread, eventually arriving to destroy the carefully organized Inca state. The empire then fell into a devastating civil war over Inca secession. Machu Picchu was likely abandoned at this time because cost of maintenance was prohibitive as epidemic and war depleted the remaining male population. Inca roads, particularly in rugged mountain areas, required continual maintenance. Rainfall in the Machu Picchu region is more than 70 inches annually. Rock slides regularly take out the modern railway and nearby roads. Cleared trails are overgrown by dense vegetation in less than a year. The main roads to Machu Picchu would have been rapidly lost without state organized maintenance.
It is difficult to understand from our knowledge of Greek, Egyptian and other great early civilizations with written records how such a magnificent site would not of been discovered by the Spanish. Yet I can see how it happened. The Inca were a highly ordered and regimented society. Although great numbers of subjects were moved around for corporate state projects (mit'a) and resettlement, once at a location, they did not move. The royal roads were reserved for official travel. Machu Picchu as a royal estate was probably even more restricted. Of course it would have required a steady supply of outside goods. Machu Picchu, like most Inca sites, was undergoing continuing construction and had a resident crew of builders as well as attendants,
The Incas were apparently able to control their remarkable state system through a pyramidal hierarchy with information and direction flowing down through 10 overseers to 100, to a 1000 and so on. We know from historical writing and the archaeological record that they did not possess an alphabet or written language although they certainly utilized symbols and diagrams.
We know that the Quipu (collection of colored strings and knots) was extensively used as an accounting and record keeping device. This required a trained interpreter/programmer to accompany it. Although known and used during the early colonial period the technique was not documented and lost to history. The Inca also maintained a class or guild of verbal historians. What records the state may have kept and how remain a mystery. A ongoing study of Quipus is being conducted at Harvard by Inca researcher Gary Urton. see: http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/
With the catastrophic collapse of Inca infrastructure following arrival of the Spanish, these specialists/historians were scattered and forgotten.The Spanish, mostly illiterate, uneducated adventurers had little interest in seeking or preserving anything not producing wealth and power. By the time scholars and responsible administrators arrived the information was lost.
When the conquering Pizarros arrived in Cusco in 1532, Machu Picchu must have been mostly forgotten and the few who remembered, died without revealing its location to the Spanish. Machu Picchu or whatever its name at the time, would not have been of much importance to either the crumbling Inca state or the treasure hungry Spanish.
Manco Inca, an Inca king set in place by the controlling Spanish, staged a country wide rebellion in 1536. After a failed siege of Cusco, Manco, along with remnants of the court, army and followers, abandoned his headquarters at Ollantaytambo. Fleeing back into the remote Vilcabamba beyond Machu Picchu, He burned and destroyed Inca settlements and sites accessible to the Spanish including Patallacta at the start of the now famous trail to Machu Picchu. Of course by now, the trail and the site itself would have been overgrown by cloud forest and the approach blocked by seasonal landslides that so hinder backcountry travel in Peru.
Along with personal investigations and many trips to Machu Picchu, I have borrowed heavily from the studies of Hiram Bingham, Michael Moseley, John Hemming, John Rowe Johan Reinhard, Lucy Salizar, Richard Burger, Kenneth Wright, Ann Kendall, Susan Niles and many others. Their writings are a must for anyone attempting an understanding of Machu Picchu, the Inca and the centuries of cultural development that preceded them. An extensive bibliography can be found at : h
Also see: Machu Picchu, Inca Pachacuti’s Sacred City:
A multiple ritual, ceremonial and administrative center.
Gary Ziegler and J. McKim Malville
________________________________________
Gary Ziegler is an archaeologist, mountaineer and explorer who has spend a lifetime studying the Incas and remote regions of Peru. He is co-owner of Adventure Specialists, a Colorado ranch based adventure tour operation that runs educational treks, horse trips and research expeditions in Colorado, Peru and Mexico's Copper Canyon. His expeditions have located the important Inca sites of Corihuayrachina, Cota Cota and Llactapata. He is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club and a sometime lecturer at Colorado College.
domingo, 12 de julio de 2009
Corihuayrachina or Victoria’s Secret Revealed
Corihuayrachina or Victoria’s Secret Revealed
A Report of the 2001 National Geographic Society Vilcabamba Expedition
by Gary R Ziegler 2/2002
________________________________________
Introduction
A large crew of wranglers, field workers and assorted specialists supported by mules, horses and helicopters descended on the Vilcabamba range near the ceremonial site of Choquequirao to conduct a month long exploration and study of a sizable Inca period settlement during June, 2001.
Background- Having passed nearby on various adventure tour supported expeditions, we had long suspected that a prominent cone shaped mountain and nearby ridge area contained interesting Inca possibilities but saved investigation until we could do it properly. We preferred not to enter a new area without being able to study and protect it. Once a trail is opened, a site is quickly looted after the investigators leave.
Peter Frost, a Cusco based writer and Inca authority who had accompanied me on previous expeditions and as adventure trek guide for our company located several looted burial chambers on a ridge leading to the mountain. He and travel associate Scott Gorsuch became fascinated with the idea of exploring the top of the mountain.
They approached me with the idea of forming a new project with proposal for National Geographic sponsorship. Scott, a California psychologist is an experienced, eager grant writer so the project was born. Peter invited in a team of experienced Cusco archaeologists headed by Machu Picchu specialist Alfredo Valencia. We brought in Barry Walker and local Manu Expeditions to outfit and staff the field work. Barry was not along in the field but coordinated with us almost daily via satellite phone in Cusco.
Peter served as the administrative director of the project and deserves the credit for pulling the NGS grant together. Alfredo, Peter and I shared leadership in the field. Alfredo was titled 'Principal Investigator' and as such was overall in charge of archaeological coordination, excavations, permits, etc. I was in charge of the expedition and operational affairs, coordinating camp staff, workers and logistics in my role as Co-Leader. The three of us ( Peter, Alfredo, Gary) coordinated general activities and the agenda in the field. Alfredo, archaeologists, Carlos Silva, Zenobio Valencia and I also headed excavation teams for the different sectors of the site. It was my responsibility to map and determine the extent of the site as well. Archeophysicist Meg Watters from US based Geophysical Survey Systems flew in with a Ground Penetrating Radar Unit (GPR) requiring extensive site preparation before her arrival Basically it was a team effort that worked well
Operations- We marched in overland with NGS film crew and a long string of mules in tow, passing through the large ceremonial site of Choquequiro then out several days more into the wild Vilcabamba beyond. At our destination the advance trail cutting team reported that we had hit the jackpot. The mountain was covered with ruins. A permanent camp was set high up and exploratory teams were dispatched to determine the extent and locations of structures and features of interest. This was a preliminary investigation with plans for ongoing future excavation. Our goal was to identify and sample selected areas within the time we had available.
We identified several large constructed platforms as likely places to use the radar to advantage. My main task was to clear the area of debris, survey and stake out grids needed to use the radar unit effectively. Most of the others scrambled up an about investigating the mountain top as the point of principal interest. As suspected the summit was lined with chambers but sadly all seem looted and empty.
After Alfredo arrived by helicopter with Meg Watters, we divided the site into several zones for selected excavation. One team lead by Zenobio worked the summit platform on the mountain while Alfred and Carlos worked a group near the lower extent of the site. I worked with Meg and the GPR unit, scanning a platform lower down, then several of the platforms high up. I also excavated several areas which we thought contained burial chambers. Our excavation was in the form of test pits mostly determined by anomalies indicated by the GPR
Getting about was difficult. the work areas stretched from about 3100 meters to well above 3800 meters on steep mountain slopes and ridges intersperced with cliffs and dense cloud forest vegetation. However, We did manage to roughly map out the site and determine its extent.
Results from GPR scanning were disappointing. Although covered walls were revealed beneath the lower platform indicating that it had once been a building most other anomalies proved to be only disturbed soil and rocks. The reflective nature of the highly micassized metamorphic rock seemed to create many unproductive readings..
History
Victoria or Corihuayrachina as we decided to name the site, lies near an Inca road which led to Choquequirao from the interior of Vilcabamba. The extenuation of Cerro Victoria’s ridge to the east contains rich silver deposits. The ridge within a few hundred meters of the summit is pockmarked with mine workings that may date back to Inca times. Some were last worked as late as the 1980s and certainly were worked during the colonial period. The nearby ( 1/2 day walk) colonial era village of Yanama was the base for the mining. As a result, most but not all of the burial chambers and structural remains around and associated with the Corihuayrachina complex were looted over several centuries. We speculate that the Corhuayrachina site may have at least in part served as support community for nearby mining during Inca times.
It is unlikely that any of the early visitors to Choquequirao found Corihuayrachina. The site lacks monumental constructions that would have attracted attention. Although only 4.5 air miles distant, it is a world away across a deep canyon with connecting Inca routes long lost and severed. The site was never documented, reported or known to the outside world until our present investigation
Site Description
The site is situated in several clustered groups separated by considerable distance and altitude and numerous scattered individual remnants along the flatter areas and ridge tops of the large mountain (Cerro Victoria). All are on the upper third of the mountain above 3000 meters. Below this the slopes generally fall away too steeply to have supported living areas. We did look but found nothing The remains are all on the west and south facing sides, the east/north side being extremely steep with exposed rock cliffs. The total site complex fits within two Kilometer squares on the new government topo map for the region.
Preliminary conclusions
Most structures at Corihuayrachina are circular, many with low walls of 1/2 meter or less. These are common throughout the Vilcabamba. We have always though that these were pre-Inca but here we have Inca or Inca influenced pottery found within the floor debris. One of the groups is clearly rectangular Inca architecture and a well made rectangular building which we think is a Qolca or storehouse sits high up on the slopes of Cerro Victoria. I believe that most of the round structures that I examined were dwellings but there were several types and sizes in different locations. Some were simple low wall affairs that I believe served as retaining platforms for wooden houses now long gone. Other large ones could have been corrals for llamas. Some features such as the large ridge top platforms are ceremonial but we found no obvious ceremonial architecture within the complex.
Our consensus for the moment is that the rectangular group represents an Inca administrative center within a settlement of imported foreign workers or Mitayos.
We examined what seems like an unusual number of burial mounts and chambers scattered throughout the site. All were low status, containing human remains and few burial accouterments such as pots, tools, ornaments which are normally expected in such burials. This influenced our opinion that the inhabitants, at least the ones that were interned here had very few processions
From my experience, the site has the layout and `feel' of a temporary or hastily built settlement of low status workers, perhaps imported from some conquered region, incorporating an Inca administrative compound. The site may have had several periods of occupation and abandonment, sometimes with large numbers of inhabitants and other times with few or none. However, we don't have enough data to conclude this yet. It is likely that the settlement was occupied during early and later Inca times. Pottery samples collected includes pieces from early transitional through classic Inca to very late Vilcabamba style (after the arrival of the Spaniards).
Unfortunately, samples collected for carbon 14 dating were contaminated and proved inconclusive. Nothing of Spanish or colonial origin was found
It is reasonable to say that the site was certainly occupied by the last Incas and was a part of a network of unknown sites that we are just now piecing together with on going expeditions and research. It will be interesting to see what it’s relationship was to Choquequirao. As of this writing, The Expedition Council of the National Geographical Society has generously extended funds for additional field work at the site. Perhaps we will have more answers when this is completed.
________________________________________
________________________________________
Gary Ziegler is an archaeologist, mountaineer and explorer who has spend a lifetime studying the Incas and remote regions of Peru. He is co-owner of Adventure Specialists, a Colorado ranch based adventure tour operation that runs educational treks, horse trips and research expeditions in Colorado, Peru and Mexico's Copper Canyon. His expeditions have located the important Inca sites of Corihuayrachina, Cota Cota and Llactapata. He is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club and a sometime lecturer at Colorado College.:
A Report of the 2001 National Geographic Society Vilcabamba Expedition
by Gary R Ziegler 2/2002
________________________________________
Introduction
A large crew of wranglers, field workers and assorted specialists supported by mules, horses and helicopters descended on the Vilcabamba range near the ceremonial site of Choquequirao to conduct a month long exploration and study of a sizable Inca period settlement during June, 2001.
Background- Having passed nearby on various adventure tour supported expeditions, we had long suspected that a prominent cone shaped mountain and nearby ridge area contained interesting Inca possibilities but saved investigation until we could do it properly. We preferred not to enter a new area without being able to study and protect it. Once a trail is opened, a site is quickly looted after the investigators leave.
Peter Frost, a Cusco based writer and Inca authority who had accompanied me on previous expeditions and as adventure trek guide for our company located several looted burial chambers on a ridge leading to the mountain. He and travel associate Scott Gorsuch became fascinated with the idea of exploring the top of the mountain.
They approached me with the idea of forming a new project with proposal for National Geographic sponsorship. Scott, a California psychologist is an experienced, eager grant writer so the project was born. Peter invited in a team of experienced Cusco archaeologists headed by Machu Picchu specialist Alfredo Valencia. We brought in Barry Walker and local Manu Expeditions to outfit and staff the field work. Barry was not along in the field but coordinated with us almost daily via satellite phone in Cusco.
Peter served as the administrative director of the project and deserves the credit for pulling the NGS grant together. Alfredo, Peter and I shared leadership in the field. Alfredo was titled 'Principal Investigator' and as such was overall in charge of archaeological coordination, excavations, permits, etc. I was in charge of the expedition and operational affairs, coordinating camp staff, workers and logistics in my role as Co-Leader. The three of us ( Peter, Alfredo, Gary) coordinated general activities and the agenda in the field. Alfredo, archaeologists, Carlos Silva, Zenobio Valencia and I also headed excavation teams for the different sectors of the site. It was my responsibility to map and determine the extent of the site as well. Archeophysicist Meg Watters from US based Geophysical Survey Systems flew in with a Ground Penetrating Radar Unit (GPR) requiring extensive site preparation before her arrival Basically it was a team effort that worked well
Operations- We marched in overland with NGS film crew and a long string of mules in tow, passing through the large ceremonial site of Choquequiro then out several days more into the wild Vilcabamba beyond. At our destination the advance trail cutting team reported that we had hit the jackpot. The mountain was covered with ruins. A permanent camp was set high up and exploratory teams were dispatched to determine the extent and locations of structures and features of interest. This was a preliminary investigation with plans for ongoing future excavation. Our goal was to identify and sample selected areas within the time we had available.
We identified several large constructed platforms as likely places to use the radar to advantage. My main task was to clear the area of debris, survey and stake out grids needed to use the radar unit effectively. Most of the others scrambled up an about investigating the mountain top as the point of principal interest. As suspected the summit was lined with chambers but sadly all seem looted and empty.
After Alfredo arrived by helicopter with Meg Watters, we divided the site into several zones for selected excavation. One team lead by Zenobio worked the summit platform on the mountain while Alfred and Carlos worked a group near the lower extent of the site. I worked with Meg and the GPR unit, scanning a platform lower down, then several of the platforms high up. I also excavated several areas which we thought contained burial chambers. Our excavation was in the form of test pits mostly determined by anomalies indicated by the GPR
Getting about was difficult. the work areas stretched from about 3100 meters to well above 3800 meters on steep mountain slopes and ridges intersperced with cliffs and dense cloud forest vegetation. However, We did manage to roughly map out the site and determine its extent.
Results from GPR scanning were disappointing. Although covered walls were revealed beneath the lower platform indicating that it had once been a building most other anomalies proved to be only disturbed soil and rocks. The reflective nature of the highly micassized metamorphic rock seemed to create many unproductive readings..
History
Victoria or Corihuayrachina as we decided to name the site, lies near an Inca road which led to Choquequirao from the interior of Vilcabamba. The extenuation of Cerro Victoria’s ridge to the east contains rich silver deposits. The ridge within a few hundred meters of the summit is pockmarked with mine workings that may date back to Inca times. Some were last worked as late as the 1980s and certainly were worked during the colonial period. The nearby ( 1/2 day walk) colonial era village of Yanama was the base for the mining. As a result, most but not all of the burial chambers and structural remains around and associated with the Corihuayrachina complex were looted over several centuries. We speculate that the Corhuayrachina site may have at least in part served as support community for nearby mining during Inca times.
It is unlikely that any of the early visitors to Choquequirao found Corihuayrachina. The site lacks monumental constructions that would have attracted attention. Although only 4.5 air miles distant, it is a world away across a deep canyon with connecting Inca routes long lost and severed. The site was never documented, reported or known to the outside world until our present investigation
Site Description
The site is situated in several clustered groups separated by considerable distance and altitude and numerous scattered individual remnants along the flatter areas and ridge tops of the large mountain (Cerro Victoria). All are on the upper third of the mountain above 3000 meters. Below this the slopes generally fall away too steeply to have supported living areas. We did look but found nothing The remains are all on the west and south facing sides, the east/north side being extremely steep with exposed rock cliffs. The total site complex fits within two Kilometer squares on the new government topo map for the region.
Preliminary conclusions
Most structures at Corihuayrachina are circular, many with low walls of 1/2 meter or less. These are common throughout the Vilcabamba. We have always though that these were pre-Inca but here we have Inca or Inca influenced pottery found within the floor debris. One of the groups is clearly rectangular Inca architecture and a well made rectangular building which we think is a Qolca or storehouse sits high up on the slopes of Cerro Victoria. I believe that most of the round structures that I examined were dwellings but there were several types and sizes in different locations. Some were simple low wall affairs that I believe served as retaining platforms for wooden houses now long gone. Other large ones could have been corrals for llamas. Some features such as the large ridge top platforms are ceremonial but we found no obvious ceremonial architecture within the complex.
Our consensus for the moment is that the rectangular group represents an Inca administrative center within a settlement of imported foreign workers or Mitayos.
We examined what seems like an unusual number of burial mounts and chambers scattered throughout the site. All were low status, containing human remains and few burial accouterments such as pots, tools, ornaments which are normally expected in such burials. This influenced our opinion that the inhabitants, at least the ones that were interned here had very few processions
From my experience, the site has the layout and `feel' of a temporary or hastily built settlement of low status workers, perhaps imported from some conquered region, incorporating an Inca administrative compound. The site may have had several periods of occupation and abandonment, sometimes with large numbers of inhabitants and other times with few or none. However, we don't have enough data to conclude this yet. It is likely that the settlement was occupied during early and later Inca times. Pottery samples collected includes pieces from early transitional through classic Inca to very late Vilcabamba style (after the arrival of the Spaniards).
Unfortunately, samples collected for carbon 14 dating were contaminated and proved inconclusive. Nothing of Spanish or colonial origin was found
It is reasonable to say that the site was certainly occupied by the last Incas and was a part of a network of unknown sites that we are just now piecing together with on going expeditions and research. It will be interesting to see what it’s relationship was to Choquequirao. As of this writing, The Expedition Council of the National Geographical Society has generously extended funds for additional field work at the site. Perhaps we will have more answers when this is completed.
________________________________________
________________________________________
Gary Ziegler is an archaeologist, mountaineer and explorer who has spend a lifetime studying the Incas and remote regions of Peru. He is co-owner of Adventure Specialists, a Colorado ranch based adventure tour operation that runs educational treks, horse trips and research expeditions in Colorado, Peru and Mexico's Copper Canyon. His expeditions have located the important Inca sites of Corihuayrachina, Cota Cota and Llactapata. He is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club and a sometime lecturer at Colorado College.:
lunes, 27 de abril de 2009
Highly recommended Cuzco tour operator
Highly recommended Cuzco tour operator
Just wanted to post something as we went with http://www.incalandadventures.com
and Flavio the owner of the company sorted everything out for us, and we had fantastic service, some one would say luxurious, everything went smoothly, the company was v. ethical, treating the porters fantastically and from what we heard, paid much higher then the bigger companies.
We did the Lares trip with Flavio, all the equipment was top notch and we had 5 horses between 3 of us to carry all this.
the meals were 5 * and his knowledge of the local area was top notch.
He has so many tours on offer, and is very helpful in all the communication.
I saw other companies on the trek, the horses looked ill, porters unhappy, poor equipment.
Flavios Inca Land Adventures is a small compnay but it makes up with the best personal service,
Just wanted to post something as we went with http://www.incalandadventures.com
and Flavio the owner of the company sorted everything out for us, and we had fantastic service, some one would say luxurious, everything went smoothly, the company was v. ethical, treating the porters fantastically and from what we heard, paid much higher then the bigger companies.
We did the Lares trip with Flavio, all the equipment was top notch and we had 5 horses between 3 of us to carry all this.
the meals were 5 * and his knowledge of the local area was top notch.
He has so many tours on offer, and is very helpful in all the communication.
I saw other companies on the trek, the horses looked ill, porters unhappy, poor equipment.
Flavios Inca Land Adventures is a small compnay but it makes up with the best personal service,
lunes, 16 de marzo de 2009
What is Sustainable Tourism?
What is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable tourism in its purest sense, is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. It is responsible tourism that is both ecologically and culturally sensitive.
Thus, Sustainable tourism activities have minimal impact on the environment and culture of the host community.
According to the World Tourism Organization, sustainable tourism is tourism that leads to the management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.
Taking a leaf from the definition of sustainability itself, sustainable tourism is also defined as a process which meets the needs of the present tourists and host communities whilst protecting and enhancing needs in the future
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability. Thus, sustainable tourism should:
Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
- UNEP
Sustainable Tourism refers to a level of tourism activity that can be maintained over the long term because it results in a net benefit for the social, economic, natural and cultural environments of the area in which it takes place.
- ICOMOS
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation defines sustainable tourism as tourism that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. Rather than being a type of product, it is an ethos that underpins all tourism activities. As such, it is integral to all aspects of tourism development and management rather than being an add-on component
The objective of sustainable tourism is to retain the economic and social advantages of tourism development while reducing or mitigating any undesirable impacts on the natural, historic, cultural or social environment. This is achieved by balancing the needs of tourists with those of the destination
- WTO
Sustainable tourism is tourism that is economically, socioculturally and environmentally sustainable. With sustainable tourism, sociocultural and environmental impacts are neither permanent nor irreversible.
- John Beech and Simon Chadwick
Sustainable tourism - Tourism that has minimal impact on the environment and culture of the host community.
- John Beech and Simon Chadwick
Sustainable tourism in its purest sense, is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. It is responsible tourism that is both ecologically and culturally sensitive.
Thus, Sustainable tourism activities have minimal impact on the environment and culture of the host community.
According to the World Tourism Organization, sustainable tourism is tourism that leads to the management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.
Taking a leaf from the definition of sustainability itself, sustainable tourism is also defined as a process which meets the needs of the present tourists and host communities whilst protecting and enhancing needs in the future
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability. Thus, sustainable tourism should:
Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
- UNEP
Sustainable Tourism refers to a level of tourism activity that can be maintained over the long term because it results in a net benefit for the social, economic, natural and cultural environments of the area in which it takes place.
- ICOMOS
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation defines sustainable tourism as tourism that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. Rather than being a type of product, it is an ethos that underpins all tourism activities. As such, it is integral to all aspects of tourism development and management rather than being an add-on component
The objective of sustainable tourism is to retain the economic and social advantages of tourism development while reducing or mitigating any undesirable impacts on the natural, historic, cultural or social environment. This is achieved by balancing the needs of tourists with those of the destination
- WTO
Sustainable tourism is tourism that is economically, socioculturally and environmentally sustainable. With sustainable tourism, sociocultural and environmental impacts are neither permanent nor irreversible.
- John Beech and Simon Chadwick
Sustainable tourism - Tourism that has minimal impact on the environment and culture of the host community.
- John Beech and Simon Chadwick
jueves, 15 de enero de 2009
Ausangate Llama Trek 6 Days / 5 Nights Cusco Peru
Ausangate Llama Trek 6 Days / 5 Nights Cusco Peru
Itinerary
Description: Share the trail with Quechua-speaking llama herders beneath some of Peru's tallest snow peaks. Massive Nevado Ausangate (6,384 m/ 20,950') is the sacred summit at the heart of the spectacular Vilcanota Range - a pristine region of towering peaks, ice fields, and sparkling lakes. In the Andean tradition, llamas carry our camp gear on this exhilarating 6-day, 30-mile/48-km trek, while you hike carrying only a day-pack.
The Vilcanota remains true to cultural traditions stretching back into history. The age-old methods of alpaca herding which sustains the population are everywhere in evidence. Tightly-knit Quechua communities maintain extensive, complex irrigation systems delivering glacial melt water to the valley bottoms for the year-round moisture required to sustain the alpacas' favourite forage crops. At higher elevations, you may glimpse the rare vicuña (cousin of the llama and alpaca), pairs of Andean geese, flamingos, and soaring condors.
A recently completed access road has opened up for us a vast and exciting new area of pristine lakes and dramatic snowfields. Be among the first to explore this remote back country!
To participate in this exciting trek, you need at least three days of acclimation in Cusco (3,310m/ 10,857') or similar elevation. An even better way to acclimate is to participate in one of our weekly treks (for example, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, or Moonstone to Sun Temple Trek.) We can arrange your hotels, airport transfers, flights and other touring in Lima and Cusco according to your specifications.
Itinerary
Day.- 1 To tinki
From Cusco we travel east, over a high pass to the traditional highland town of Ocongate. Just beyond is Tinqui, the trailhead for the Vilcanota Range. We camp by the Mapoche River at 3,800 m/ 12,464'. BLD
Day . - 2 Pacchanta
With the camp gear and personal equipment carried by llamas, we climb steadily through rolling hills dotted with herds of llamas and alpacas. The snows of 6,384 m/20,906' Nevado Ausangate dominate the skyline directly ahead of us. We eat lunch near Upis, then cross a low ridge beneath the west face of Ausangate to our camp at a hot springs in the hamlet of Pacchanta (4,330m / 13,202'). 13km. BLD
Day . - 3 Jampa Pass
We trek past glacial tarns and isolated shepherds' huts toward the magnificent Jampa Pass (5,081 m/16,666') the trail follows a moraine above a glacier flowing down from the snow peaks east of our route. On most treks we see troops of vicuñas (the wild, graceful relative of the llama) amid the rugged screen and glacial ice. We camp beneath the towering west face of the Jatunjampa peaks, at Tiqlliacocha (4,840m/15,875'). 13 km. BLD
Day . - 4 Acero
We ascend a lateral moraine and drop down into our spectacular Acero camp at the head of the broad Jampa valley. You can take the afternoon off, or join the guide for an optional hike up the drainage to enjoy breathtaking views from a tarn directly beneath the glaciers at the head of the Acero valley. 4,860 m/15,905'; 4 km to camp. BLD
Day .-5 Finaya
This morning we offer a challenging scramble, up to the 5,300 m/17,384' cool east of the camp, for spectacular views east toward massive Sibinacocha Lake and the icecap beyond. While we are on the mountain, our crew moves camp a couple of hours down the valley, up a side valley above the hamlet of Finaya, with views toward the east face of Nevado Ausangate. 9 km camp to camp. BLD
Day.- 6 Return to Cuzco
We enjoy a gentle 9-km. hike down along the Chillca River to the village of Chillca, the first sizeable community since the start of the trek. Our vehicle awaits; we load up, return to Cuzco and transfer to your hotel. BL
Tour Leadership: We pride ourselves on the quality, experience, and wide-ranging skills of our trekking guides. They are Peruvians, born and raised in the Cusco highlands, who have combined their love of the mountains of their homeland with years of professional training. They are fluent in English, and bring to their groups a variety of personal interests ranging from birding to astronomy. Most of all, they are caring individuals. They make it their personal goal to see that you have the trip of a lifetime.
Departure Dates.- may to octuber
Prices:
Private Service
Ausangate Llama Trek
8 Day / 7 Night
1.- people.- $ 1020.00
2.- people.- $ 8900.00
4.- people.- $ 830.00
6.- people.- $ 780.00
Includes :
Professional, bilingual Tour Guide
Collection from hotel
Return transportation (local transport )
*6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 6 afternoon snacks (hot drinks, biscuits and popcorn) and 6 dinners (
breakfast on day 1 and dinner and lunch in Sicuani town are not included)
Dining tent with tables and chairs
Cook
2-people tents
Sleeping mattresses
Horseman and mules (they carry cooking and camping equipment and up to 12 kilos of tourist's
belongings)
Extra oxygen
First Aid kit
*Vegetarian/special diet options available
What you need to take:
Original passport and Student card
Travel Insurance is essential
Sleeping bag (not included)
Walking boots
Waterproof jacket/rain poncho
Warm jacket
Hat and gloves
T-shirts
Comfortable trousers
Sun hat
Sun protection cream
Insect Repellent
Re-usable plastic or metal water container or camel bags.
Water (only for first 4 hours of trek, then we will provide you with drinking -previously boiled- water).
Toiletries
Personal medication
Camera and films
Torch with spare batteries
Optional items to take:
Shorts
Walking stick
Plasters and bandages
Sandals
Extra money
Optional services (not included):
Hire of sleeping bag – 5 season
Walking sticks
Day packs
International and internal airfare, airport departure taxes; gratuities for trekking staff; hotels and tour services in Cusco (we can handle these reservations for you;) personal clothing and trek equipment (you receive a detailed equipment list in our pre-departure packet); sleeping bag (you may rent winter-weight, mummy-style sleeping bags from us, subject to availability - please ask!); immunizations, insurance, laundry, telephone, other personal items.
Additional Expenses: airport departure taxes of about US$5 for domestic flights in Peru, and US$28 for international departure. Meals in mainstream restaurants are similar in price to what you'll pay at home in modest restaurants. 19% government value-added tax plus service charges of up to 10% are added to the bill.
Tipping your trek staff is optional but customary.
Please note that this is a high altitude trek with night temperatures typically below freezing for the duration of the trek. Bringing a ski hat, gloves, a winter-weight sleeping bag and parka will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the trek.
We require that you arrive in Cuzco three days or more prior to the trek. ;
Joining Your Group: Once we have received your final payment, we will send a Confirmation of Service voucher with your arrival details, plus any pre-paid transfers, and hotel arrangements. Services in Incas journey adventure. On the day prior to the trek, there is an important orientation meeting with your guide and other group participants at noon in the Incas journey adventure office at flor de la cantata b-2 san sebastian tel. (51-84) 275-97301, Cusco. We review trek arrangements, discuss clothing, health and diet, and distribute trail duffels, sleeping pads, and rented sleeping bags. Passengers who have not contacted the office by noon on the day prior to trek departure will be deleted from the roster. In such cases no refund is payable.
Misc.
To participate in this exciting trek, you need at least three days of acclimation in Cusco (3,310m/ 10,857') or similar elevation. An even better way to acclimate is to participate in one of our weekly treks along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We can arrange your hotels, airport transfers, flights and other touring in Lima and Cusco according to your specifications.
Please Note: We will attempt to adhere to this itinerary, but reserve the right to make minor changes where necessary for the safety and comfort of tour participants. Where changes result in increased costs, such costs will be the responsibility of the tour participant.
Itinerary
Description: Share the trail with Quechua-speaking llama herders beneath some of Peru's tallest snow peaks. Massive Nevado Ausangate (6,384 m/ 20,950') is the sacred summit at the heart of the spectacular Vilcanota Range - a pristine region of towering peaks, ice fields, and sparkling lakes. In the Andean tradition, llamas carry our camp gear on this exhilarating 6-day, 30-mile/48-km trek, while you hike carrying only a day-pack.
The Vilcanota remains true to cultural traditions stretching back into history. The age-old methods of alpaca herding which sustains the population are everywhere in evidence. Tightly-knit Quechua communities maintain extensive, complex irrigation systems delivering glacial melt water to the valley bottoms for the year-round moisture required to sustain the alpacas' favourite forage crops. At higher elevations, you may glimpse the rare vicuña (cousin of the llama and alpaca), pairs of Andean geese, flamingos, and soaring condors.
A recently completed access road has opened up for us a vast and exciting new area of pristine lakes and dramatic snowfields. Be among the first to explore this remote back country!
To participate in this exciting trek, you need at least three days of acclimation in Cusco (3,310m/ 10,857') or similar elevation. An even better way to acclimate is to participate in one of our weekly treks (for example, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, or Moonstone to Sun Temple Trek.) We can arrange your hotels, airport transfers, flights and other touring in Lima and Cusco according to your specifications.
Itinerary
Day.- 1 To tinki
From Cusco we travel east, over a high pass to the traditional highland town of Ocongate. Just beyond is Tinqui, the trailhead for the Vilcanota Range. We camp by the Mapoche River at 3,800 m/ 12,464'. BLD
Day . - 2 Pacchanta
With the camp gear and personal equipment carried by llamas, we climb steadily through rolling hills dotted with herds of llamas and alpacas. The snows of 6,384 m/20,906' Nevado Ausangate dominate the skyline directly ahead of us. We eat lunch near Upis, then cross a low ridge beneath the west face of Ausangate to our camp at a hot springs in the hamlet of Pacchanta (4,330m / 13,202'). 13km. BLD
Day . - 3 Jampa Pass
We trek past glacial tarns and isolated shepherds' huts toward the magnificent Jampa Pass (5,081 m/16,666') the trail follows a moraine above a glacier flowing down from the snow peaks east of our route. On most treks we see troops of vicuñas (the wild, graceful relative of the llama) amid the rugged screen and glacial ice. We camp beneath the towering west face of the Jatunjampa peaks, at Tiqlliacocha (4,840m/15,875'). 13 km. BLD
Day . - 4 Acero
We ascend a lateral moraine and drop down into our spectacular Acero camp at the head of the broad Jampa valley. You can take the afternoon off, or join the guide for an optional hike up the drainage to enjoy breathtaking views from a tarn directly beneath the glaciers at the head of the Acero valley. 4,860 m/15,905'; 4 km to camp. BLD
Day .-5 Finaya
This morning we offer a challenging scramble, up to the 5,300 m/17,384' cool east of the camp, for spectacular views east toward massive Sibinacocha Lake and the icecap beyond. While we are on the mountain, our crew moves camp a couple of hours down the valley, up a side valley above the hamlet of Finaya, with views toward the east face of Nevado Ausangate. 9 km camp to camp. BLD
Day.- 6 Return to Cuzco
We enjoy a gentle 9-km. hike down along the Chillca River to the village of Chillca, the first sizeable community since the start of the trek. Our vehicle awaits; we load up, return to Cuzco and transfer to your hotel. BL
Tour Leadership: We pride ourselves on the quality, experience, and wide-ranging skills of our trekking guides. They are Peruvians, born and raised in the Cusco highlands, who have combined their love of the mountains of their homeland with years of professional training. They are fluent in English, and bring to their groups a variety of personal interests ranging from birding to astronomy. Most of all, they are caring individuals. They make it their personal goal to see that you have the trip of a lifetime.
Departure Dates.- may to octuber
Prices:
Private Service
Ausangate Llama Trek
8 Day / 7 Night
1.- people.- $ 1020.00
2.- people.- $ 8900.00
4.- people.- $ 830.00
6.- people.- $ 780.00
Includes :
Professional, bilingual Tour Guide
Collection from hotel
Return transportation (local transport )
*6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 6 afternoon snacks (hot drinks, biscuits and popcorn) and 6 dinners (
breakfast on day 1 and dinner and lunch in Sicuani town are not included)
Dining tent with tables and chairs
Cook
2-people tents
Sleeping mattresses
Horseman and mules (they carry cooking and camping equipment and up to 12 kilos of tourist's
belongings)
Extra oxygen
First Aid kit
*Vegetarian/special diet options available
What you need to take:
Original passport and Student card
Travel Insurance is essential
Sleeping bag (not included)
Walking boots
Waterproof jacket/rain poncho
Warm jacket
Hat and gloves
T-shirts
Comfortable trousers
Sun hat
Sun protection cream
Insect Repellent
Re-usable plastic or metal water container or camel bags.
Water (only for first 4 hours of trek, then we will provide you with drinking -previously boiled- water).
Toiletries
Personal medication
Camera and films
Torch with spare batteries
Optional items to take:
Shorts
Walking stick
Plasters and bandages
Sandals
Extra money
Optional services (not included):
Hire of sleeping bag – 5 season
Walking sticks
Day packs
International and internal airfare, airport departure taxes; gratuities for trekking staff; hotels and tour services in Cusco (we can handle these reservations for you;) personal clothing and trek equipment (you receive a detailed equipment list in our pre-departure packet); sleeping bag (you may rent winter-weight, mummy-style sleeping bags from us, subject to availability - please ask!); immunizations, insurance, laundry, telephone, other personal items.
Additional Expenses: airport departure taxes of about US$5 for domestic flights in Peru, and US$28 for international departure. Meals in mainstream restaurants are similar in price to what you'll pay at home in modest restaurants. 19% government value-added tax plus service charges of up to 10% are added to the bill.
Tipping your trek staff is optional but customary.
Please note that this is a high altitude trek with night temperatures typically below freezing for the duration of the trek. Bringing a ski hat, gloves, a winter-weight sleeping bag and parka will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the trek.
We require that you arrive in Cuzco three days or more prior to the trek. ;
Joining Your Group: Once we have received your final payment, we will send a Confirmation of Service voucher with your arrival details, plus any pre-paid transfers, and hotel arrangements. Services in Incas journey adventure. On the day prior to the trek, there is an important orientation meeting with your guide and other group participants at noon in the Incas journey adventure office at flor de la cantata b-2 san sebastian tel. (51-84) 275-97301, Cusco. We review trek arrangements, discuss clothing, health and diet, and distribute trail duffels, sleeping pads, and rented sleeping bags. Passengers who have not contacted the office by noon on the day prior to trek departure will be deleted from the roster. In such cases no refund is payable.
Misc.
To participate in this exciting trek, you need at least three days of acclimation in Cusco (3,310m/ 10,857') or similar elevation. An even better way to acclimate is to participate in one of our weekly treks along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We can arrange your hotels, airport transfers, flights and other touring in Lima and Cusco according to your specifications.
Please Note: We will attempt to adhere to this itinerary, but reserve the right to make minor changes where necessary for the safety and comfort of tour participants. Where changes result in increased costs, such costs will be the responsibility of the tour participant.
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