The Lost City of the Incas

Machu Picchu

Location

Andes Mountains

8,000 ft above sea level

Covered with tropical forests of the Upper Amazon Basin

Plateau 2,000 ft above the Urubamba River in the Sacred

Valley

Mystery #1—Why?

• Monument to Inca ruler

• Retreat center for elites

• Religious & ceremonial center

• Fortress or military stronghold

• Coca production

• Survival

When? How? What?

15th century

Built & Abandoned within 100 yrs

Quarry –river rock

No iron, no steel, no wheels

Approx 1,000 people

Religious ceremonies

Agriculture (maize & coca)

Guard a number of roads

The Incas

Growth of an Empire

Diplomacy, intermarriage,

warfare

Size of Empire

Cuzco region became the

administrative center

Fighting within

The Spanish ArriveFrancisco Pizarro + 260 Spaniards

1532

The Conquest

Met with ruler

Tricked and Kidnapped him

Ransom

Murder

Truce

Other Europeans arrived

Destruction

Mystery #2– Why not?

Abandoned before Spanish

No precious artifacts

Too expensive to maintain?

Remoteness

“Forgotten” for 400 years

Until July 24, 1911

Hiram Bingham

Professor of SA history at Yale

Fascinated by lost Inca cities

Try to find Vilcabamba, the last Inca stronghold

Return trips—removal of artifacts

Book Lost City of the Incas

Controversy

1911

Excavation

Work

Today

Temples and Religious stones

Rulers palace and ~200 other dwellings

16 fountains and baths

~ 700 terraces (and a sophisticated drainage system)

Large plaza and small courtyards

Amazing stonework

The Watchman’s Hut

The Funerary Stone

The Fountains

The Intihuatana

The Sacred Rock

Temple of 3 Windows

Stonework

The Terraces

Visiting

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983)

One of new Seven Wonders of the World

Up to 3,500 people daily

Open daily 6 AM to 5 PM

Inca Trail or bus/train transportation

Inca Trail

The Future--Conservation

Unlimited tourism taking a toll

Plan to limit numbers of visitors

Perhaps closing the Inca Trail 3 months a year