Machu Picchu, 15th-16th c. Peru.
Photograph by Barbara E. Mundy.

Machu Picchu, an elegant hilltop citadel, is thought to have been a summer retreat for the pre-Hispanic Inka royalty. They would have traveled here along stone roads hugging the hillsides of the mountainous terrain from their capital of Cuzco, which lies about 100 kilometers away. Machu Picchu sits in the “ceja de selva,” or the “eyebrow of the jungle,” and its mild climate is enjoyable year round. During the early 16th century, the Inka seem to have stopped visiting the site, and the Spanish conquistadors never learned of its existence. Thus, Machu Picchu slipped from view in the colonial period, known only to nearby dwellers.

The site regained the limelight only in 1911, when Hiram Bingham, a Yale archeologist, was led to the site by his local guide, Melchor Arteaga. Unlike other Inka sites which have been dismantled by later generations, Machu Picchu had been undisturbed for centuries. The man-made forms of the city are exquisitely aligned to natural ones, and for scholars, the site has become one of the best sources for understanding Inka aesthetics and urban planning. Long a tourist mecca, Machu Picchu is now registered among World Heritage Sites and is, at once, source of energy for spiritualists, a fount of economic support for Peru, and symbol of Peruvian national pride.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burger, Richard L. and Lucy C. Salazar. 2004. Machu Picchu: Unveiling the mystery of the Incas. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Valencia Zegarra, Alfredo and Arminda Gibaja Oviedo. 1992. Machu Picchu: la investigación y conservación del monumento arqueológico después de Hiram Bingham. Cuzco: Municipalidad del Qosqo.

	Conquistador: (Spanish) A Spanish soldier who participated in the conquest of the New World in the 16th century. back to text
	Cuzco: (Quechua) Andean city that was the Inka capital in pre-Hispanic times, now in Peru. Also Cusco, Q'osqo. back to text
	Inka: (Quechua) The empire built by a group of Quechua-speaking Andeans in the 14th and 15th centuries that stretched from Ecuador to Chile. "Sapa Inka" was the title of its supreme ruler, and its capital city was Cuzco. Also Inca. back to text
	Pre-Hispanic: (English) The time before America's discovery and conquest by Spain; synonymous with pre-Columbian (before Columbus). back to text

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