MACHU PICCHU: One hundred years ago on July 24, Yale lecturer Hiram Bingham was led by locals to the ruins of Machu Picchu, a mountain retreat created by the Inca Empire in the middle of the 15th century.
Image: LARRY GREENEMEIER
More In This Article
On July 24, 1911, Yale University lecturer and amateur archaeologist Hiram Bingham completed a steep climb from Peru's Urubamba River valley through the thin air of the Andes Mountains to one of the most significant and lasting discoveries in archeological history—the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. Perched about 2,400 meters above sea level and 80 kilometers from the onetime Inca capital of Cusco, the "Lost City of the Incas" remained undiscovered by the Spanish throughout their conquest of Peru in the 1500s. As a result Bingham was able to introduce the world to a relatively pristine sanctuary of a once-mighty pre-Columbian empire that would be carefully studied by archeologists, geologists, anthropologists and engineers for a century to come.
Bingham's expedition had traveled to the Urubamba Valley, near the village of Ollantaytambo (today's best surviving example of an Inca town) in search of Vitcos, the last Inca capital before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. What Bingham instead found was "a remarkably large and well-preserved abandoned city practically untouched by the hands of the spoiler, and apparently unknown to the Spanish chroniclers," Bingham wrote in the March 26, 1914, issue of Nature. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)
During its rediscovery and in subsequent trips to the site, Bingham and his colleagues excavated the ruins at Machu Picchu. "Many difficulties had to be overcome, but we were eventually successful in locating more than one hundred burial caves," Bingham wrote. "The excavation yielded a considerable amount of anthropological material, including human and animal bones, a large number of potsherds and a few stone, silver, and bronze implements." Bingham also noted that he and his colleagues found no gold, the treasure that fueled much of Spain's seemingly insatiable pillaging of the Inca Empire.
"Machu Picchu is in a remarkably good state of preservation, and its architecture has not become confused by Spanish efforts to build churches and villas," as occurred in Cusco and elsewhere, Bingham wrote. "It is safe to say that Machu Picchu was essentially a city of refuge." Given the Incas had no written language, the true purpose of Machu Picchu remains open to debate, with some calling it a government retreat and others convinced that it was a defensive citadel.
Whereas Bingham's archeological finds were a significant breakthrough in the study of pre-Columbian cultures in South America, his handling of these artifacts launched a custody battle between the Yale Peabody Museum and the Peruvian government that has been festering for many decades. Peru claims to have agreed to an 18-month loan to Yale of the ceramic pieces, silver statues, jewelry and human bones that Bingham and his team excavated. Yale argued that the artifacts belonged in a museum where they could be properly maintained and displayed. The museum relented last year and recently sent 350 artifacts back to their native land.
Machu Picchu has since become a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary, UNESCO World Heritage Site and major tourist destination. In order to preserve the site, a no-fly zone was implemented over the ruins, and tourism has been limited in recent years.
In honor of the centennial of Bingham's initial expedition to Machu Picchu, Scientific American presents a slide show of images from the site of the famous ruins as well as the 88-kilometer Inca Trail that stretches from Cusco to the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu Mountain.
See what we're tweeting about
6 Comments
Add CommentI found the article very interesting and remembered my trip to Macchu Picchu with fondness...thank you Larry. Unfortunately I was unable to acess the slide show for some reason.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSame for me. The scenic train ride up the valley. The scary bus ride up the mountain (I walked down). The views of the terraced mountainsides. I remember the coca tea at the hotel and being told that the only buildings in Cusco that have survived all the earthquakes were built on Inca foundations. I remember a very scary ride in a taxi from Cusco to the regional market, where I traded my cheap digital watch for an alpaca blanket that I still have
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis was the mid-70's and I also recall armed military on every street corner in central Lima.
Great memories. Cheers.
The slide show doesn't play for me. The page is so full of advert scripts, I am not surprised.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI had no problem with the slide show.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was very disappointed in the out-dated commentary that accompanied the slide show. Recent research, as publicized in the 2010 Nova documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu", makes a very strong case that the site was selected for ceremonial purposes. Machu Picchu is located at a point where the four most sacred mountains of the Inca religion lie directly to the north, south, east and west. In addition, at the southern winter solstice--the most sacred day of the Inca calendar which is celebrated by the festival of Inti Raymi--the sun shines through a small window to illuminate the main altar, and rises directly over the upright piece of the altar stone. Given that the location was an extraordinarily difficult place to build, even by Inca standards, the older, prosaic explanations like "government retreat" or summer resort for the Inca royalty, seem hopelessly inadequate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would not call the comments outdated, although I would agree in-principle with the comments on the significance of the site to the Inca.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrom cultural standpoint, we today have little in common with the 14th century Inca. No one today can put this site into a proper cultural perspective, we can only surmise or guess.
If we draw on what we have learned about other pre-Columbian sites, it is very likely we will eventually discover that MP pre-dates what we initially believed. Underneath what we see and have found, there is probably evidence of earlier cultures, and for a site of this importance, probably Chavin or earlier.
Further, historically we have always initially under- estimated the religious, astronomical, and geographical, and mathematical significance of pre-Columbian sites. Undoubtedly, that is the case here with MP. Generations from now, we will still be discovering new aspects and new facts of great significance.
Let's enjoy and marvel at what we think we know now, with the realization there is yet much to be discovered and understood about MP, and all pre-Columbian sites.