Machu Picchu in brief
Machu Picchu sits on a ridge at about 2,430 metres above sea level, in the Andes of southern Peru, about 80 kilometres northwest of Cusco. It was built in the 15th century as a royal estate, probably for the Inca emperor Pachacuti. It has about 200 buildings, in an area of stone terraces, temples, houses and fountains. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 1983.
Age and purpose
Spanish records suggested that Pachacuti conquered the region around 1438 and then built the estate. In 2021 radiocarbon dates from skeletons found at the site showed that the site was in use from about 1420 until about 1530, somewhat earlier than expected. The site seems to have been a retreat for the emperor and his family and a ceremonial centre, with farmland and servants. It was abandoned about the time of the Spanish conquest, in the 1500s, perhaps because of the death of the royal family and a smallpox epidemic. The Spaniards seem never to have found it, which is why it was not destroyed.
What is there
- Terraces. Hundreds of stone terraces, for farming and to stabilise the slopes, with a drainage system.
- Stonework. Fitted stone blocks, with no mortar, that have survived earthquakes.
- Temple of the Sun, the Intihuatana, and the Room of the Three Windows. Buildings with astronomical and religious functions. The Intihuatana is a carved stone pillar that may have been used to follow the sun.
- Fountains and water channels. A series of 16 fountains, fed by a spring.
Rediscovery
In 1911 the American explorer Hiram Bingham III, a lecturer at Yale University, was led there on 24 July by a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, and a boy, Pablito Alvarez. Local people knew of the place, and a farming family lived on the terraces. Others had visited before him, but Bingham’s photographs and articles, published in National Geographic in 1913, made it famous. He took thousands of objects to Yale for study. After a long dispute, Yale returned them to Peru between 2011 and 2012.
Why it matters
Machu Picchu shows the skill of the Inca in engineering, stone building and terrace farming in a mountainous terrain, and the extent of their empire, which stretched along the Andes for about 4,000 kilometres, without a written language or wheeled vehicles. It is also the main tourist attraction in Peru, which causes problems of erosion and crowds.
Visiting
Visitors travel by train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo, or hike the Inca Trail, to the town of Aguas Calientes, and then by bus. Entry is limited and timed, and tickets should be booked long in advance. See also Teotihuacan.
Sources
- Bingham, H. (1913). In the wonderland of Peru. National Geographic Magazine 24(4): 387 to 573.
- Burger, R. L. and others (2021). New AMS dates for Machu Picchu: results and implications. Antiquity 95: 1265 to 1279.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.