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<< Our Photo Pages >> Machu Picchu. - Ancient Village or Settlement in Peru

Submitted by bat400 on Thursday, 20 January 2022  Page Views: 39526

Multi-periodSite Name: Machu Picchu.
Country: Peru Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Cusco  Nearest Village: Aguas Calientes
Latitude: 13.1647S  Longitude: 72.545W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

Internal Links:
External Links:

I have visited· I would like to visit

tlcearth would like to visit

bat400 visited on 14th Sep 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 3

MartinJEley visited on 13th Apr 2016 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 5 The site is impressive because there are so many buildings where the walls are still intact, or restored. It makes it possible to imagine how the it may have looked when it was occupied. The journey in and the climb up the mountain, by bus, make it clear just how isolated Mach Picchu was when it was built. Despite having seen many pictures and read many articles a visit to the site still made a huge impression on me.

mfrincu visited on 5th Apr 2015 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Breathtaking! This is one of a "must see in your life" places!

ModernExplorers visited on 1st Sep 2003 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 3 The famous Incan city, a beautiful site set in a beautiful valley. More evidence of advanced technology used in its construction. A must see

SolarMegalith visited on 1st Jul 2003 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 3

Jansold visited on 1st Sep 2001 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 2

Dutch visited on 28th Feb 1997 - their rating: Cond: 3 Access: 3

Tdiver visited on 1st Jan 1991 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 5

sirius_b visited on 1st Jan 1984 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 3

PAB Ogham DrewParsons Dutch davidmorgan keniaar have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.67 Ambience: 5 Access: 3.44

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by Dutch : Houses at Machu Picchu. Photo taken in February 1997. Scan of Ilford 400 ASA B&W film. Olympus OM2n camera. Olympus OM Zuiko 35-105mm zoom lens. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Machu Picchu is a royal Incan estate, one of many sites built in the Urubamba Valley at lower altitudes than the Incan capitol of Cusco. Mountain peaks surround the spit of land above the river. Considering the number and placement of temple and altar sites this area seems to have been used for ceremonials and probably had a military component, but surrounding living quarters indicate a royal residence, supported by storage areas and terraced garden plots.

There were never more than 1000 people living at the site, and most of the year, probably fewer.
"Inca" (Inka) was a chiefdom title given to leaders of a single ethic group in the highland interior around 1200 AD. They won control of lands and tribute from surrounding groups and eventually grew in military power until they succeeded in gaining control of what is now coastal Peru from the Chimu. The adopted much of the ruling social structure of that previous empire. This seems to have included a ruler's immediate family inheriting his wealth, leaving the actual successor to achieve his own wealth through new conquest. By the late 1400's the Incan Empire controlled various peoples of the Andes to the sea from north of the Equator to the middle region of what is now Chile. This was done through seacoast trading, a system of roadways, a system of knotted string base-ten recorders, and a ruthless methodology of transplanting commoners to different locations throughout the Empire.

Manchu Picchu is thought to have been built for Emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472) in around 1450AD and used for around 100 years before being abandoned during the breakup of the old Empire caused by the Spanish conquest of introduced disease, the control and execution of leaders, and the control of a succession of puppet rulers. The Machu Picchu estate was never found by the Spanish. It was shown to explorer Hiram Bingham by a local man (Melchor Arteaga) in 1911. Bingham was actually in search of Vitcos (called Rosaspata), the temporary Inca capital during their withdrawal from Cusco during Manco Inca's rebellion against the Spanish. He the exploring the area based on the notes of previous explorer Charles Wiener.

Set in this astounding natural area, on the edge of wet jungle interior, Machu Picchu is notable for architecture basically untouched by colonial and modern changes. It is estimated that more than half of the Incan works are not directly visible, consisting of foundations, drainage, and terracing creature to support the structures and prevent erosion of the site on the ridge between the mountain tops of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu. Unlike many Bronze Age sites of Europe and Asia, the site was neither built over or disassembled by quarrying for later projects. The site is divided into two main areas, an eastern Agricultural sector of terraces, and a western Urban sector. The Agricultural sector also includes the main entry to the site via a roadway from Cusco coming over Machu Picchu Mountain, control posts and gates, and a striking public hall which may have been used to host common people in the area or lower ranking visitors. The Urban sector includes the vast majority of buildings. Among them are structures used for storage, residential areas, workshops, and multiple sites and structures with ceremonial use, including natural stone outcrops artfully altered by the Inca with steps, altars, seating, and carefully planned angles and planes, the precise meaning of which is speculative. Like many other Incan sites, Machu Picchu reflects what appears to have been a determination of its makers to select building locations in striking and meaningful places among the mountains, where natural beauty and the fall of light and shadow may have had an equal importance to what we see as more practical matters of security, trade, and politics.

There is no museum at the site and very little signage, so bringing a guidebook or hiring a guide is highly recommended. A good museum for Machu Picchu can be found in Cusco, just one street off the central Plaza.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site. A train from Cusco takes visitors to a small town, Agua Calientes or Machu Picchu village, below the ruins. Many lodging options can be found in Agua Calientes, and a single luxury priced hotel allows those who plan ahead to stay very near the site. Alternately one can sign onto a tour and hike on Incan roads, passing other ruins and spectacular mountain scenery, staying at campsites on a multi-day trip.

[Information from a variety of sources, including National Geographic. Flash Earth and other aerial views are wonderful. It should be recognized that Inca "history" was written down by Spaniards after conquest. The chronicles differ depending on which Inca noble family was the source of the information. Most modern historians studying the meteoric rise of the Incan Empire look to multiple sources as well as the archaeological record.]

Note: Top photo: Houses at Machu Picchu - scan of Ilford 400 black and white film taken in 1997. More on our page
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Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by SolarMegalith : General view of Machu Picchu with valley of Rio Urubamba visible (photo taken on July 2003). (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by motist : Machu Picchu (Vote or comment on this photo)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by Michelledubois : The lovely sculpture known as the Intihuatana, or Hitching Post Of The Sun at Machu Picchu. Notice that it is one piece of stone. Most tour guides say the Inca made it, which is probably not true; it could be at least 10,000 years old. It not only points to the four directions, but to magnetic north as well, and their are four sister Intihuatanas on adjacent mountains. While standing close by you ... (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by PAB : Machu Picchu, Peru As if the main vista of Machu Picchu wasn't amazing enough, there were even more structures on the top of Waynapicchu, the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu itself. This photo shows some of these structures - only a couple of hundred people are allowed to climb up, one group at 7.30, another at 10.30. Photo: Sept 2013 (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by KaiHofmann : Machu Picchu. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by motist : Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by motist

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by davidmorgan : Another view of Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by davidmorgan

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by JorgenHansen : Site in Peru

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by KaiHofmann : Machu Picchu. Photo taken by Michael Moll. Site in Peru

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by durhamnature : Photo from Hiram Bingham's "In Wonderland of...." via archive.org Site in Peru

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by SolarMegalith : Inca building near top of Huayna Picchu (photo taken on July 2003). (1 comment)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by motist : Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by motist : The Sun Temple of Machu Picchu, or Intihuatana.

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by Dutch : View at Machu Picchu just after sunrise. Photo taken in February 1997. Scan of Ilford 400 ASA B&W film. Olympus OM2n camera. Olympus OM Zuiko 28mm f/2.8wide angle lens.

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by KaiHofmann : Machu Picchu. Photo taken by Michael Moll. Site in Peru

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by DrewParsons : View from the site across the valley to the forest clad hills. January 1996

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by motist : Machu Picchu, the well known Inca site in Peru

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by Dutch : View of the buildings entering The Machu Picchu temple area. Photo taken in February 1997. Scan of Ilford 400 ASA B&W film. Olympus OM2n camera. Olympus OM Zuiko 35-105mm zoom lens. (1 comment)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by Dutch : View at Machu Picchu just after sunrise. Photo taken in February 1997. Scan of Ilford 400 ASA B&W film. Olympus OM2n camera. Olympus OM Zuiko 35-105mm zoom lens.

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by pab : Temple of the three windows, Machu Picchu, Peru. This photo shows the outside of the Temple of the three windows, taken from across the main square. To give an idea of the scale of the masonry used, some of the lintels are over 3 tons. The sculptured stone which can be seen through the centre window is said to receive the first rays of the rising sun at key times in the year. Photo... (4 comments)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by PeterR87 : Machu Picchu, Peru. (1 comment)

Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu. submitted by PeterR87 (1 comment)

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 1.2km ESE 120° Intipunku* Ancient Temple
 2.1km N 353° Inkaraqay Ancient Village or Settlement
 2.5km S 170° Intipata* Ancient Village or Settlement
 3.2km SSE 162° Winay Wayna* Ancient Village or Settlement
 4.8km SSE 164° Phuyupatamarca* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 8.5km SSE 146° Runkurakay* Ancient Village or Settlement
 15.4km ESE 121° Llactapata* Ancient Village or Settlement
 16.6km ESE 116° Salapunku* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 34.6km ESE 118° Raqaypata* Ancient Village or Settlement
 36.8km ESE 112° Ñaupa Iglesia* Ancient Temple
 42.0km ESE 116° Moray Terraces* Misc. Earthwork
 42.9km W 278° Ñusta Hispana* Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 43.7km SW 235° Choquequirao* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 71.6km ESE 119° Tambomachay* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 72.0km ESE 121° Lanlakuyok Carving
 72.3km ESE 119° Puca Pucara* Stone Fort or Dun
 72.7km ESE 123° Cusco* Ancient Village or Settlement
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"Machu Picchu." | Login/Create an Account | 20 News and Comments
  
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Machu Picchu was built over major fault zones. Now, researchers think they know why. by bat400 on Tuesday, 01 October 2019
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Archaeologists and architects alike have wondered why 15th century Incans built the grand citadel of Machu Picchu where they did, high in the remote Andes atop a narrow ridge in what is now Peru. One simple answer, researchers now suggest, is that that’s where building materials for the site—large amounts of already fractured rock—were readily available.

Both satellite images and recent field work reveal that the ground beneath Machu Picchu is crisscrossed with fault zones of various sizes, some of which control the orientation of river valleys in the region by providing weak zones that are more easily eroded by flowing water. Because some of these faults run from northeast to southwest and others trend from northwest to southeast, they collectively create an X where they intersect beneath the site, researchers reported this week at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Phoenix.

When earthquakes along these fault zones cause rocks to shift, they generate prodigious quantities of fractured rock (large stones in foreground). But these fault zones also channel meltwater from ice and snow and rainwater, thus enabling residents to more effectively collect it. They also help drain it away during intense thunderstorms, preventing short-term damage and aiding long-term preservation of the site.

See this news note with links at Sciencemag.org.
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Re: Machu Picchu highest ever resolution views by AngieLake on Tuesday, 20 November 2012
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From today's online Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2235202/Machu-Picchu-captured-highest-resolution-Zoomable-picture-Inca-citadel-allows-viewers-impressive-detail.html

"Machu Picchu captured in highest ever resolution: Zoomable picture of Inca citadel allows viewers to see it in impressive detail
The picture is actually a collage of nearly 2,000 individual images taken one-by-one then spliced together on computer

Photographer says he hopes it will raise awareness of the dangers posed to the historic site."

There's also a 4 minute film of the guys making this and some walking-around features too. Well worth a look at a site many of us wish we could visit but never will!



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Mysterious Statue once featured at Machu Picchu by Andy B on Wednesday, 17 August 2011
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* Archival research suggests that a large stone statue of a former Inca emperor once stood at Machu Picchu.
* It's believed the statue had been sacked by looters before the site was discovered by an American explorer.
* The stone of the statue may have been coated in gold.

A mysterious stone statue, possibly the portrait of the great Inca emperor Pachacuti, once stood in Machu Picchu, according to archival research.

Likely placed against a round stone wall on one of Machu Picchu's terraces, the statue had already disappeared by the time American explorer Hiram Bingham climbed the steep jungle slope to be faced with an archaeological wonder exactly a century ago on July 24, 1911.

Bingham, who has been credited as one possible inspiration for the "Indiana Jones" character, saw "a remarkably large and well-preserved abandoned city " perched some 8,000 feet in the clouds "in a wonderfully picturesque position," he wrote in the March 26, 1914, issue of Nature.

Surrounded on three sides by the gorges of the Urubamba River (also called the Vilcanota River), and tucked between two massive mountain peaks -- the Huayna Picchu and the Machu Picchu -- the vine-covered ruins of "the lost city of the Incas" were never really lost at all.

Read more at Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/history/machu-picchu-statue-mystery-110725.html#mkcpgn=emnws1
(with thanks to Coldrum)
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What Was Machu Picchu For? Top Five Theories Explained. by bat400 on Saturday, 23 July 2011
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On the 100th anniversary of the Hiram Bingham excavations National Geographic has a summary of the main theories (some now disproved) about the function of the site and the reasons for its being built in the 1400's. See also NG's main page for Machu Picchu
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Inca success 'thanks to llama dung' as Machu Picchu celebrates centenary of discovery by Andy B on Tuesday, 24 May 2011
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One of the world's greatest ancient civilisations may have been built on llama droppings, a new study has found.

Machu Picchu, the famous Inca city set in the Peruvian Andes, celebrates the centenary of its "discovery" by the outside world this July.

Dignitaries will descend on site for a glitzy event in July marking 100 years since US explorer Hiram Bingham came upon the site, but the origins of Machu Picchu were far less glamorous.

According to a study published in archaeological review Antiquity, llama droppings provided the basis for the growth of Inca society.

Llamas have left their mark - literally - on history
It was the switch from hunter-gathering to agriculture 2,700 years ago that first led the Incas to settle and flourish in the Cuzco area where Machu Picchu sits, according to the study's author Alex Chepstow-Lusty.

Mr Chepstow-Lusty, of the French Institute of Andean Studies in Lima, said the development of agriculture and the growing of maize crops is key to the growth of societies.

"Cereals make civilisations," he said.

Mr Chepstow-Lusty has spent years analysing organic deposits in the mud of a small lake, "more of a pond really," called Marcaccocha on the road between the lower-lying jungle and Machu Picchu.

His team found a correlation between the first appearance of maize pollen around 700BC - which showed for the first time that the cereal could be grown at high altitudes - and a spike in the number of mites who feed on animal excrement.

They concluded that the widespread shift to agriculture was only possible with an extra ingredient: organic fertilisers on a vast scale.

In other words, lots of llama droppings.

Marcaccocha is situated next to an ancient trade route, and llamas transporting goods between the jungle and the mountains would stop to have a drink and "defecate communally".

"This provided fertiliser which was easily collectable as today by the local people for the surrounding field systems," Mr Chepstow-Lusty said.

Llama droppings are still used for crop fertiliser and cooking fuel
As the Incas moved from eating wild quinoa to maize, which is higher in calories, their society developed in the Cuzco area.

More at BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13439093
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President García: Yale will return entire Machu Picchu collection by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 23 November 2010
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Starting in early 2011, Yale University will begin to return all 46,632 fragments and artifacts taken from Machu Picchu nearly a century ago by American explorer Hiram Bingham, President Alan García announced late Friday.

“The Peruvian government is thankful for this decision and recognizes that the University of Yale conserved these fragments and pieces that would otherwise have been scattered in private collections around the world or perhaps lost,” García said in a televised address to the nation.

“We recognize also the (scientific) studies carried out during all these years,” García said, adding that Yale scientists will continue to have unfettered access to the collection to continue their studies in Peru.

García said the decision was made official at the conclusion of an hour and a half conversation he had with Yale’s representative, former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo.

The announcement comes after Peru announced in 2005 that negotiations for the artifacts’ return were going nowhere and that it planned to take its case to U.S. courts. Garcia said on Thursday that Peru had upped the ante, and that he made a personal appeal to his counterpart in the US, President Barack Obama, to intervene in the process.

“I know that [Obama] is very informed and I also know that he called representatives from Yale to the White House,” García was quoted saying by daily El Comercio.

According to García, Yale is committed to return the entire collection, which will be delivered to the San Antonio Abad University in Cusco. García added that his administration will ask Peru’s Congress for a supplementary credit in next year’s budget to be used for the preservation and study of the artifacts.

Only some 350 of the ceramic, stone and metal artifacts are considered to be of museum quality, while the remainder is made up to a great extent by bone fragments and potsherds. The objects were excavated by Hiram Bingham at the 15th century citadel and the surrounding area between 1912 and 1916, during his expeditions sponsored by Yale University and National Geographic. Bingham was granted permission by the Peruvian Government to take the artifacts, on loan, to the Peabody Museum, Connecticut, for research, despite protests at the time in Cusco and from the National Historic Institute in Lima.

http://www.peruviantimes.com/president-garcia-yale-will-return-entire-machu-picchu-collection/209910

Submitted by coldrum.
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Peru to receive Yale delegation to discuss Machu Picchu artifacts by bat400 on Sunday, 21 November 2010
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A delegation from Yale University is expected to be arriving in Lima by the weekend to meet with local authorities to discuss the return of archaeological artifacts taken from Machu Picchu by American historian Hiram Bingham almost 100 years ago, President Alan Garcia said.

Peru has stepped up efforts to recover the artifacts over the past weeks. Garcia called on his counterpart in the US, President Barack Obama, to intervene in the process. “I know that [Obama] is very informed and I also know that he called representatives from Yale to the White House,” daily El Comercio reported Garcia as saying.

For years, Peru has attempted to negotiate with Yale seeking the return of 4000 artifacts — of which 350 are considered museum quality – that Bingham excavated during three expeditions from Machu Picchu and the surrounding area. Bingham took the pieces to Yale for further research, under a loan agreement from the Peruvian government. A large number of objects were returned to Peru in 1921, but not the complete collection. The pieces include pots, gold items, and thousands of potsherds.



For more, see http://www.peruviantimes.com.
Article submitted by coldrum.
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Machu Picchu Open to Public as Storm Damaged Railway Operational by bat400 on Monday, 05 April 2010
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In January 2010, dramatic and extended rain storms lead to flooding and mud slides that washed out railroad contact with Aguas Calientes, the modern town below Machu Picchu. Accordingly the site was closed to the general public and the town evacuated. The archaeological sites themselves were not damaged.

Now, over three months later, limited train service has returned, from Piscacucho to Aguas Calientes. The Inca ceremonial site has re-opened.

Travel on board the luxury Hiram Bingham train to Machu Picchu, in this Audio Slide Show from Public Radio International.
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Previously Unknown Inca Road Discovered in Peru by bat400 on Monday, 03 August 2009
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Submitted by coldrum ---

Peruvian archaeologists and Spanish technicians have discovered an Inca road unknown until now and apparently held sacred that led to the citadel of Machu Picchu, the Project Ukhupacha team said Friday in Lima.

The Inca road is made of stone masonry approximately 1 meter (3 1/4 feet) wide, with sustaining walls along the way rising some 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) high, according to a communique from the Project Ukhupacha. Several stretches of the road have collapsed that began at what is now the Wuarqtambo archaeological premises, went up Machu Picchu mountain and then came down from the citadel.

The director of the Machu Picchu National Historical Sanctuary, Fernando Astete Victoria, said there had been evidence of an Inca road to the citadel different from the one that was known, and so its discovery became one of the Ukhupacha Project's goals.

A large part of Peruvian territory is united by different extensions of a great Inca road leading to the sanctuary of Machu Picchu, built high on a ridge and declared a World Heritage Site in 1983. The archaeologists involved in the project said that this road could have been held sacred, so that it was only traveled by spiritual leaders who celebrated religious rites.

The team of experts will carry out another expedition next week to determine the route and length of the road, since on the western slope of Machu Picchu mountain it is apparent that several stretches have been destroyed. EFE



For more, see ArtDaily.org.
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Ancient tomb found in Machu Picchu archaeological park by coldrum on Thursday, 18 June 2009
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Archaeologists at the National Institute of Culture (INC) have found a pre-Inca tomb in the Salapunku archaeological site, located inside the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park in Cusco, southeastern Peru.

Resident archaeologist Francisco Huaycaya Quispe said that these remains would belong to a woman from the Quillke culture, an indigenous which flourished before the Inca Empire.

According to the archaeologist, this hypothesis is based on the pottery and ruminant and poultry bones found at the site.

He mentined that this tomb has "interesting" features because it points towards a mountain called Wakaywillka, considered by the pre-Hispanic inhabitants the tutelary apu of the Vilcanota valley.

The discovery occurred in the sector III, located in a rocky area of the Salapunku archaeological site.

The archaeological site of Salapunku is at 2,631 meters above sea level in the foothills of the La Veronica mount and it occupies an area of 229.420 square meters.

http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/Noticia.aspx?id=eyyzr413uKc=
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Machu Picchu rock painting discovered in plain sight by bat400 on Sunday, 17 May 2009
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Submitted by coldrum --

A University of Central Arkansas professor said Thursday that he has discovered an ancient rock painting at an Inca burial site in the Peruvian Andes and believes the work could be anywhere from 500 to 2,000 years old.

Tens of thousands of tourists each year pass the nearly 50-foot rock at Machu Picchu, a site scientists have studied for nearly a century. But apparently no one has paid attention to the barely visible painting, said Reinaldo "Dito" Morales Jr., assistant professor of art history.

Morales, 45, first saw the rock art in 2000 when he was a graduate student. At the time, he said, "I figured [that] this place is so famous, surely everyone knows about it."
But after he later obtained funding to return to Peru in December 2008, he began digging into the area's art history.

"I've been scouring every journal, book, any kind of publication that discusses Machu Picchu or the rock art there" and haven't found even a mention of this work, he said.

The black painting - likely done with charcoal or the mineral manganese - is partly obscured by a calcium deposit, which Morales said could take hundreds of years or longer to form. No one really knows what the painting depicts or who created it.

But when a drawing of it is su- perimposed upon a photograph Morales took, the painting appears to be "some kind of animal imagery," said James Farmer, an associate professor and chairman of the art history department at Virginia Commonwealth University, where Morales did his doctoral dissertation.


Farmer, who has traveled to Peru since the discovery and saw the drawing, said, "Someone probably has seen this [painting in the past], but ... what is significant ... is that no one has ever really paid much attention to it if, in fact, they had seen it. ... Apparently, [Morales is] the first modern person who certainly noticed it and brought it to the attention of anybody.

"It's very easy to miss," Farmer said. "Even knowing where it was, I had to go up there and look for it. It doesn't jump out at you. It's hard to locate, and it's hard to see."

Art historians already knew of engravings at Machu Picchu. But Morales said, "This is the very first painting ever documented at Machu Picchu."

Morales said he's convinced the image is not of Incan origin "because Incan art is typically dominated by rectilinear geometric patterns, whereas this painting is primarily curvilinear." Farmer said the painting "stylistically looks rather similar to other rock-art traditions ... that we know are much earlier.

For more, see the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
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Machu Picchu’s far-flung residents by bat400 on Thursday, 02 October 2008
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Royal retainers may have been sent from all over to inhabit the lofty Inca site.

A new analysis of human remains buried at Machu Picchu reinforces the idea that royal retainers from all over the Inca empire were the permanent inhabitants of the famous Peruvian site.

High in Peru’s Andes, the skeletons of people buried at the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu tell a tale of displacement and devoted service. A new chemical analysis of these bones supports the previously postulated idea that Inca kings used members of a special class of royal retainers from disparate parts of the empire to maintain and operate the site, which served as a royal estate.

Dramatic differences in the remains’ ratios of certain chemical isotopes that collect in bone indicate that Machu Picchu’s permanent residents spent their early lives in varied regions east or southeast of the site, say anthropologist Bethany Turner of Georgia State University in Atlanta and her colleagues. Some Machu Picchu inhabitants had emigrated from spots along the central South American coast, while others hailed from valleys high in the Andes.

Inca royalty, who regularly visited the site, were not buried at Machu Picchu. They were buried at nearby Cuzco, the capital of the empire.

In an upcoming Journal of Archaeological Science, Turner’s team says that widely distributed geographic origins for Machu Picchu’s population fit with the notion that retainers, known as yanacona, were sent to the royal estate from all corners of the realm.

“This would have made for an interesting dynamic in the Machu Picchu population, as its members may have had little in common besides their service to the Inca elite,” Turner says. Immigrants brought a variety of customs, traditions and dialects to the site, in her view.

Yale University anthropologist Richard Burger says that the new study strengthens an argument he advanced in 2003. He hypothesized that Machu Picchu was run by royal retainers transferred from many parts of the Inca empire. He and his coworkers observed considerable variation in the ratio of certain carbon and nitrogen isotopes in 59 of 177 skeletons that had been excavated from three caves at Machu Picchu.

Turner’s group analyzed oxygen, strontium and lead isotopes in 74 of the skeletons. The researchers extracted isotopes from tooth enamel layers that develop during childhood. Wide variations in the isotopic composition of these substances suggest that individuals at Machu Picchu grew up in a variety of geological contexts with distinct water sources and available foods.

Isotopic variation among individuals at Machu Picchu argues against the possibility that they were drawn from a local peasant population or represented groups of servants dispatched to the site from one or two outside areas, Turner says. Locals would have shared an isotopic signature similar to that of local animals, whereas imported servants would have clustered into one or two isotopic categories.

For more, see Science News article by Bruce Bower.
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Pre-Inca Killke sites are 40 percent of Machu Picchu park by bat400 on Wednesday, 04 June 2008
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Submitted by coldrum --

Pre-Inca remains represent 40 percent of Machu Picchu Archaeological Park (Cusco), which hosts the well-known Inca citadel.

The director of this archeological park, Fernando Astete, explained that the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is only one of the 196 archeological complexes and sites of the zone which has an extension of 38,448 hectares. Astete explained that this 40 percent corresponds to the Killke culture, which inhabited this zone before the naissance of the biggest empire of South America. Killke developed between 1,000 and 1,400 A.C, belonged to the regional states of Cusco.

After confirming that the citadel of Machu Picchu was clearly Inca, Astete reported that this empire was built over Killke archaeological center.
“Usually, in some excavations where we find Inca remains we can also find Killke culture's remains under them, such as ceramics", he stated to Andina news agency.

Astete detailed that most of the Killke settlements are located in the area between the entrance of the Archaeological Park and one kilometre away from the Inca citadel.

Killke architecture "is characterized because it is very similar to the Inca's, though the latter stands out for its very well-defined, geometric, and very good finish structures."

"Killke has neither the Inca's geometry nor its good finish, instead it is much more rustic, he said.

He added that in Machu Picchu Archaeological Park there are traces of another even older PreInca culture: the Chanapata, which was developed during the formative period, but its architectural evidence is minimal.

For more, see this link
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Draft law sparks protests in Peru: Development at Inca sites by bat400 on Friday, 15 February 2008
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Submitted by coldrum --
Thousands of people have brought Peru's tourist capital, Cuzco, to a near standstill in a demonstration against development near Inca monuments.

A proposed law would make it easier for private investors to build near some of Peru's most famous ancient sites.

In the 24-hour protest [8 Feb], main roads were blocked, tours were cancelled and the rail service between Cuzco and Machu Picchu was suspended.
Cuzco residents marched in opposition to the law, which they say will say will harm the city's heritage.

Major roads in and out of town were blocked and access to the famous Sacred Valley and the city's Inca fortress, Sacsayhuaman, was blocked with rocks and burning tyres.

The proposed law will make it easier for private investors to be awarded concessions for the construction of hotels in areas near archaeological sites and Cuzco's historic centre.

But in Cuzco there is deep suspicion of the central government and many, including the regional authority, argue that such a law would allow foreign investors to grow rich from Cuzco's archaeological and cultural heritage.

In the first of two votes, Peru's Congress rejected the proposed law.
Nevertheless, Cuzco's regional president, Hugo Gonzalez, said the protest, which was timed to coincide with the vote, was necessary to ensure it is rejected a second time.

Cuzco's regional authority, which had strong backing from local businesses and unions, says the proposed legislation would have a negative impact on its income and the preservation of the Inca monuments. But Peru's Tourism Minister, Mercedes Araoz, said the law was intended to promote investment and the protest was the result of a misunderstanding.

See This link.
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    Strike! Cuzco Officials Protest Developer Backed Law Change by bat400 on Monday, 18 February 2008
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    Peru Lawmakers Open Sites to Development

    LIMA, Peru — Peru's Congress has ratified a contested tourism development law whose critics say will put the Andean nation's rich archeological heritage at risk.

    The legislation would ease restrictions on private development near archeological and historic sites, opening the way for new hotels and restaurants. Lawmakers pushed to repeal the provisions after an earlier vote, but Congress instead confirmed it.

    It was not clear Wednesday whether President Alan Garcia would sign the measure into law.

    Regional government officials in Cuzco, home to many ancient Inca sites, including Peru's top tourist destination Machu Picchu, said they were planning an indefinite strike against the law starting Friday.

    Last week, residents in the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco in Peru's southern Andes burned tires and blocked roads and public transportation in protest of the law, which they said threatened to their cultural heritage.

    Walter Alva, a prominent Peruvian archeologist, who led one of Peru's most famous archaeological digs uncovering the Moche Lords of Sipan tombs near the northern coast in the late 1980s, said the law could allow development to encroach upon historical sites.

    "They should change that law so that it gives investors incentives to develop tourism infrastructure, but without this idea of investing in our monuments or cultural patrimony," he said.

    For more see,
    AP article from the Houston Chronicle.
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    Re: Strike! Cuzco Officials Protest Developer Backed Law Change by davidmorgan on Monday, 18 February 2008
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    I think something like this might also be happening in Mexico. I saw several "Don't Privatise Our National Heritage" signs there last year.
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More on Yale Returning artifacts to Machu Picchu by bat400 on Thursday, 20 September 2007
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Yale University is to return to Peru thousands of artifacts taken from the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu by a real-life Indiana Jones nearly 100 years ago, the top US university said.

In the following five years, Archaeologist Hiram Bingham took thousands of mummified remains, ceramic fragments, bones and works of art from the site back to Yale, in Connecticut.

The university and the Peruvian government announced at the weekend that after months of negotiations, they had reached agreement over the artifacts, notably acknowledging Peru's title to all the excavated objects.

Under the agreement, Peru is to build a new museum and research center in the city of Cuzco, for which Yale will serve as advisor, where the 4,000 artifacts would be housed after going on an international touring exhibition.

For more, see >this link.
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Slide Show of Machu Picchu Artifacts at Yale by Anonymous on Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Negotiations between Peruvian government representatives and Yale have resulted in a planned return of several artifacts Peru.

A slideshow from the BBC shows some of the artifacts.
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Tourist influx Treatens Machu Picchu by bat400 on Wednesday, 11 July 2007
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Submitted by coldrum ---

Machu Picchu was one of the few Inca citdels that escaped the destruction of the Spanish Conquistadores, perched some 8000 feet above sea level on a shelf jutting out of the Andes Mountains.

More than 500 years later it seems the new wave of invaders, tourists clad in Timberland boots and North Face jackets and armed only with hard currency, may succeed where the conquistadores failed.

Experts have warned the choice of the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu as one of the "new seven world wonders" could lead to such an influx of tourists that the site is destroyed.

The once-lost city high in the Peruvian Andes was already a UNESCO World Heritage site, but its inclusion on Saturday in a new list of the world's wonders, chosen by more than 100 million online voters, could double the number of daily visitors from 2,500 to 5,000, prompting archaeologist Luis Lumbreras to publish an article in La Republica daily on Monday.

"There is a danger that it could be destroyed by abuse," said the former head of the National Cultural Institute.

For more, including the British company with a monopoly on rail service to the site, see
The Telegraph.
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The Posessed: Machu Picchu artefacts by bat400 on Wednesday, 27 June 2007
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Submitted by coldrum ---
The stones at Machu Picchu seem almost alive. They may be alive, if you credit the religious beliefs of the ruler Pachacuti Yupanqui, whose subjects in the early 15th century constructed the granite Inca complex, high above a curling river and nestled among jagged green peaks. To honor the spirits that take form as mountains, the Inca stoneworkers carved rock outcrops to replicate their shapes. Doorways and windows of sublimely precise masonry frame exquisite views. But this extraordinary marriage of setting and architecture only partly explains the fame of Machu Picchu today. Just as important is the romantic history, both of the people who built it in this remote place and of the explorer who brought it to the attention of the world. The Inca succumbed to Spanish conquest in the 16th century; and the explorer Hiram Bingham III, whose long life lasted almost as many years as the Inca empire, died in 1956. Like the stones of Machu Picchu, however, the voices of the Inca ruler and the American explorer continue to resonate.

Imposingly tall and strong-minded, Bingham was the grandson of a famous missionary who took Christianity to the Hawaiian islanders. In his efforts to locate lost places of legend, the younger Bingham proved to be as resourceful. Bolstered by the fortune of his wife, who was a Tiffany heiress, and a faculty position at Yale University, where he taught South American history, Bingham traveled to Peru in 1911 in hopes of finding Vilcabamba, the redoubt in the Andean highlands where the last Inca resistance forces retreated from the Spanish conquerors. Instead he stumbled upon Machu Picchu. With the joint support of Yale and the National Geographic Society, Bingham returned twice to conduct archeological digs in Peru. In 1912, he and his team excavated Machu Picchu and shipped nearly 5,000 artifacts back to Yale. Two years later, he staged a final expedition to explore sites near Machu Picchu in the Sacred Valley.

If you have visited Machu Picchu, you will probably find Bingham’s excavated artifacts at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven to be a bit of a letdown. Mostly, the pieces are bones, in varying stages of decomposition, or pots, many of them in fragments. Unsurpassed as stonemasons, engineers and architects, the Incas thought more prosaically when it came to ceramics. Leaving aside unfair comparisons to the jaw-dropping Machu Picchu site itself, the pottery of the Inca, even when intact, lacks the drama and artistry of the ceramics of earlier civilizations of Peru like the Moche and Nazca. Everyone agrees that the Machu Picchu artifacts at Yale are modest in appearance. That has not prevented, however, a bare-knuckled disagreement from developing over their rightful ownership. Peru says the Bingham objects were sent to Yale on loan and their return is long overdue. Yale demurs.

In many ways, the dispute between Yale and Peru is unlike the headline-making investigations that have impelled the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to repatriate ancient artifacts to their countries of origin. It does not revolve around criminal allegations of surreptitious tomb-raiding and black-market antiquities deals. But if the circumstances are unique, the background sentiments are not. Other countries as well as Peru are demanding the recovery of cultural treasures removed by more powerful nations many years ago. The Greeks want the Parthenon marbles returned to Athens from the British Museum; the Egyptians want the same museum to surrender the Rosetta Stone and, on top of that, seek to spirit away the bust of Nefertiti from the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. Where might it all end? One clue comes in a sweeping request from China. As a way of combating plunder of the present as well as the past, the Chinese government has asked the United States to ban the import of all Chinese art objects made before 1911. The State Department has been reviewing the Chinese request for more than two

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