Since the pandemic still limits our ability to mosey beyond San Diego, we might as well think BIG in our world of armchair world travel. And what grander journey to take than to Machu Picchu, Peru?

Machu Picchu is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1983) and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Part of its appeal is the mystery that surrounds Machu Picchu.

Some questions come to mind. Abandoned just 100 years after its construction, what was its purpose? Established hundreds of years ago in the 15th century, how did the Incas develop such advanced developments in engineering, agriculture, and astronomy?

Sue will take you on a tour of Machu Picchu, explaining more about this wonder of the world.

This lesson provides background and history about the broader Inca Empire. Be sure to check out the class website and enjoy the beautiful images and fascinating videos.

• 1.5 million tourists visit annually (pre-pandemic).  It’s 50 miles from Cuzco.

• There are more than 600 terraces to keep the structures and mountainside in place

• The buildings and design are like a jigsaw puzzle of engineering

• Machu means “old” in Quechua and pikchu is “pyramid”: “Old Mountain” is the literal translation 

• When the Spanish explorers and conquistadors came to South America, they fought the indigenous people and destroyed their civilizations. But luckily they never found Machu Picchu (Stewart, 2019).

There were many aboriginal cultures in Central and South America before European explorers arrived. This Pre-Columbian era dates back as far as 7000 BCE, and includes the Maya, Aztec, and Inca cultures. In the Andes area, early civilizations can be traced to 2500 BCE, as archeologists uncovered evidence of cultivation, textiles, and ceramics.

One trait of the Incas is that could adapt to environmental extremes, and they also took on the ideologies of the local people of the area. For example, they cultivated land in the Lake Titicaca region, at an elevation of more than 12,000 feet! The ancient Quechua language is still spoken by more than 10,000,000 people today in South America (Andean Civilization, 2021).

Back in the 1500s, the Inca Empire ruled most of South America.  But the roots to the Inca Empire go back much earlier. Archeologists believe that the Incas grew out of the Wari Empire, which existed around 1000AD on the site of Chokepukio. 

The Inca headquarters was in the Cuzco area of Peru in 1250 AD. Before they were conquered by Francisco Pizarro in the 16th century, it’s estimated that between 6-14 million Incas lived in the area from Chile to Colombia.

The Incas controlled more than 1 million square kilometers of the region, and their society encompassed more than 100 social groups across the different regions. Inca groups lived on the coast of South America, in the pampas, mountains, and forests. Land they controlled includes modern day Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and of course Peru. It’s estimated that the Inca Empire controlled between 6-9 million people at the peak of its power.

The size of their empire explains the creation of their sophisticated transportation routes, “city” planning, agriculture, science, and commerce. The Inca Trail is one of the most famous routes, which “paves” the path from Cuzco to Machu Picchu.

The Inca’s economy was based on trade. Farmers grew cotton, maize (for food, but also beer), and potatoes. They bred llamas and alpacas and wove fine tapestries and fabrics. They made pottery and crafted objects of copper, gold, silver, stone, and wood.

We have re-constructed the life and Empire of the Incas through excavation of ruins, carbon dating, and other archeological methods. The Incas themselves had no written language; they conveyed their stories through songs, chanting, and paintings on wooden tablets.

Social groups consisted of the “ayllu” hereditary lineage system. These groups ranged greatly in size (from hundreds, to tens of thousands), regulated resources like land, and oversaw ceremonies including marriage (Hirst, 2019).

The Incas believed in many gods. Their religious beliefs were deeply engrained in every aspect of their lives, including their system of government. This is one reason the Spanish conquistadors found them so threatening; they viewed the Incas as heretics, and knew they would be difficult to convert to Catholicism.

The spiritual leaders of the Incas were shamans who were well respected in society. They used animal and plant healing to cure the sick. They could also predict natural disasters (Inca Religion, 2021). These shaman were thought to be messengers between the spirit world and humans. Shamans still exist in modern Andean culture.

Quirikancha, located in Cuzco, was the main temple of the Inca Empire. It was the main site of the Inti Raymi sun festival. The temple also was where the Incas kept their mummified bodies of emperors from years past (Lumen Learning, 2021).

These are some of the main Inca Gods:

Wiracoca or Viracocha.

He was the most powerful of all gods, who created the sun, moon, sea, earth, and people. The Incas believed that Viracocha emerged from Lake Titicaca.

According to  Inca Religion:

He placed the moon and the sun creating light and darkness, then he created the first human couple, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo. When his job was completed he walked away, getting lost in the ocean. Unlike the other Inca gods, Viracocha was abstract, he was not represented in nature and lived in the heavens.

Inti

Inti was the supreme god of the sun. One of the most important celebrations was worshipping Inti on June 24th (winter solstice). The Incas honored Inti with grand temples in their main cities. Priests and priestesses oversaw the temples and made the necessary sacrifices.

Mama Quilla

Mama Quilla was the moon (the sun’s wife). She was a main protector of women.

Pachamama was an Earth goddess worshipped by many clans.

Although South America has many Inca ruins, Machu Picchu is by far the best preserved and most fascinating.

The Machu Picchu complex is a vast stone city in the sky. Visitors experience the dizzying terrain and spectacular sites, breathing in the same oxygen and standing on the same plot of earth as our Inca ancestors.

The Incas intentionally chose the location of Machu Picchu. It’s high in the Peruvian Andes (more than 7700 feet above sea level!) and surrounded by the Urubamba River.  From their lofty mountain home, the Incas could keep track of what was happening in the Urubamba Valley below (How Did the Incas, 2020).

Archeologists believe Machu Picchu was part of the palace compound of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, who ruled the empire from 1438-71. Excavations throughout the 1900s revealed that the site was probably a royal retreat (Machu Picchu, 2021).

Other scholars believe it was a religious sanctuary.  The city was constructed in the shape of a Condor, sacred Incans symbol (How Did the Incas, 2020).

Perhaps I should mention a more recent controversy. In his various expeditions, Bingham “acquired” a good many artifacts from Machu Picchu and he donated them to Yale University. According Machu Picchu Gateway:

“In 2012, one year after the 100th anniversary of Machu Picchu’s scientific discovery, all the artifacts excavated by Bingham team’s and shipped to Yale University’s Peabody Museum, were finally returned to Peru. These artifacts are currently on display at Casa Concha (Machu Picchu Museum) in Cusco.”

One the many wonders and mysteries of Machu Picchu is how well the ruins have been preserved. When Professor Bingham arrived to the site in 1911, the complex aqueduct system was still used by the local Indians. Plazas, terraces, cemeteries, and other buildings have remained intact. Even the thousands of carefully sized stone blocks in the paths and walls have withstood the test of time.

As Professor Bingham and his team of archeologists visited Machu Picchu, they noted extraordinary achievements in building design, “city” planning, and construction (to name a few). The Incas used a construction technique called “Ashlar,” using precisely cut stones made of granite. They did not use iron tools, pack animals, or wheels. Even though Machu Picchu is located on top of two fault lines, it is remarkably stable. Even after earthquake tremors, building stones might shift, but they remain in place.

The city itself could hold anywhere from 750 to 1,000 people, though historians believe it required more than 5,000 people to build Machu Picchu (How Did the Incas, 2020).

It’s not too soon to contemplate your first post-pandemic travel destination… after all, we’ll be traveling again one of these days soon!

If this Rediscovering San Diego (and the World) voyage has whet your travel appetite, you might start planning now. After all, the Andes of Peru are a complicated place to visit.

Most travelers fly to Cuzco and stay a few days to get used to the high altitude. From Cuzco, you can take a narrow-gauge railway trip (a day from Cuzco). More daring and athletic tourists hike the Inca Trail to access the ruins.

In any case, whether Machu Picchu ends up on your “real” travel bucket list, or a virtual adventure, it remains a remarkable site and testimony of the wonders of human creation.

Andean Civilization (2021). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/pre-Columbian-civilizations/Andean-civilization)

Hiram Bingham (2021). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hiram-Bingham-American-archaeologist-and-United-States-senator

Hirst, K. (2019) The Inca Empire: South America’s Kings. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/inca-empire-south-americas-kings-171308

How did the Incas build Machu Picchu? (2020). Retrieved from

         https://hyperaxion.com/history/how-incas-build-machu-picchu/

Inca. (2021). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Inca

Inca Religion. (2021). Retrieved from http://www.discover-peru.org/inca-religion/

Lumen Learning (2021). Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-%20worldcivilization/chapter/religion-in-the-inca-empire/

Machu Picchu (2018) Retrieved from

         https://www.history.com/topics/south-america/machu-picchu

Machu Picchu Ancient City (2021). Retrieved from

         https://www.britannica.com/place/Machu-Picchu

Machu Picchu Gateway. (2021) Retrieved from https://www.machupicchu.org/machu_picchu_facts.htm

Stewart, J. (2019) 7 facts about Machu Picchu that show how incredible the Inca Empire was. Retrieved from https://mymodernmet.com/machu-picchu-facts/