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Machu Picchu is vulnerable to threats from a variety of sources. While natural phenomena like earthquakes and weather systems can play havoc with access, the site also suffers from the pressures of too many tourists. In addition, preservation of the area's cultural and archaeological heritage is an ongoing concern. Most notably, the removal of cultural artifacts by the Bingham expeditions in the early 20th century gave rise to a long-term dispute between the government of Peru and the custodian of the artifacts, [[Yale University]].
Machu Picchu is vulnerable to threats from a variety of sources. While natural phenomena like earthquakes and weather systems can play havoc with access, the site also suffers from the pressures of too many tourists. In addition, preservation of the area's cultural and archaeological heritage is an ongoing concern. Most notably, the removal of cultural artifacts by the Bingham expeditions in the early 20th century gave rise to a long-term dispute between the government of Peru and the custodian of the artifacts, [[Yale University]].


♣♥♥♣♠ឤឥែេឣឥឦឧឮ฿¤₳฿฿==History==
==History==
[[File:Machu Picchu early morning.JPG|thumb|270px|The mountain [[Huayna Picchu]] overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu]]
[[File:Machu Picchu early morning.JP₡₢♠¥₩৳G|thumb|270px|The mountain [[Huayna Picchu]] overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu]]
Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the [[Inca Empire]].<ref name="Wright Valencia Crowley 2000b 1">Wright et al 2000b, p.1.</ref> The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1472–93).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274 |title=Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |date= |accessdate=2012-05-06}}</ref> It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish Conquest]].<ref name="Wright Valencia Crowley 2000b 1"/><ref name="Wright Valencia 1">Wright & Valencia Zegarra 2001, 2003, p.1.</ref> It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from [[smallpox]] introduced by travelers before the Spanish [[conquistador]]s arrived in the area.<ref>{{cite book|last=McNeill|first=W. H.|title=Plagues & Peoples|page=183}}</ref> The latter had notes of a place called ''Piccho'', although there is no record of the Spanish having visited the remote city. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.<ref name="Wright Valencia 1"/>
Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the [[Inca Empire]].<ref name="Wright Valencia Crowley 2000b 1">Wright et al 2000b, p.1.</ref> The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1472–93).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274 |title=Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |date= |accessdate=2012-05-06}}</ref> It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish Conquest]].<ref name="Wright Valencia Crowley 2000b 1"/><ref name="Wright Valencia 1">Wright & Valencia Zegarra 2001, 2003, p.1.</ref> It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from [[smallpox]] introduced by travelers before the Spanish [[conquistador]]s arrived in the area.<ref>{{cite book|last=McNeill|first=W. H.|title=Plagues & Peoples|page=183}}</ref> The latter had notes of a place called ''Piccho'', although there is no record of the Spanish having visited the remote city. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.<ref name="Wright Valencia 1"/>


Revision as of 19:08, 4 April 2013

Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
UNESCO World Heritage Site
CriteriaMixed: i, iii, vii, ix
Reference274
Inscription1983 (7th Session)

Machu Picchu (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu], Quechua: Machu Picchu [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu], "Old Peak") is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level.[1][2] Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.

The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like.[3] By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored.[3] The restoration work continues to this day.[4]

Since the site was not known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.[2] In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana (Hitching post of the Sun), the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu is vulnerable to threats from a variety of sources. While natural phenomena like earthquakes and weather systems can play havoc with access, the site also suffers from the pressures of too many tourists. In addition, preservation of the area's cultural and archaeological heritage is an ongoing concern. Most notably, the removal of cultural artifacts by the Bingham expeditions in the early 20th century gave rise to a long-term dispute between the government of Peru and the custodian of the artifacts, Yale University.

♣♥♥♣♠ឤឥែេឣឥឦឧឮ฿¤₳฿฿==History==

File:Machu Picchu early morning.JP₡₢♠¥₩৳G
The mountain Huayna Picchu overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire.[5] The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1472–93).[6] It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest.[5][7] It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travelers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.[8] The latter had notes of a place called Piccho, although there is no record of the Spanish having visited the remote city. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.[7]

Hiram Bingham theorized that the complex was the traditional birthplace of the Incan "Virgins of the Suns".[9] More recent research by scholars such as John Howland Rowe and Richard Burger, has convinced most archaeologists that Machu Picchu was an estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti.[7] In addition, Johan Reinhard presented evidence that the site was selected because of its position relative to sacred landscape features such as its mountains which are purported to be in alignment with key astronomical events important to the Incas.

Johan Reinhard believes Machu Picchu to be a sacred religious site. This theory stands mainly because of where Machu Picchu is located. Reinhard calls it "sacred geography" because the site is built on and around mountains that hold high religious importance in the Inca culture and in the previous culture that occupied the land. At the highest point of the mountain in which Machu Picchu was named after, there are “artificial platforms [and] these had a religious function, as is clear from the Inca ritual offerings found buried under them” (Reinhard 2007). These platforms also are found in other Incan religious sites. The site’s other stone structures have finely worked stones with niches and, from what the “Spaniards wrote about Inca sites, we know that these [types of] building[s] were of ritual significance” (Reinhard 2007). This would be the most convincing evidence that Reinhard points out because this type of stylistic stonework is only found at the religious sites so it would be natural that they would exist at this religious site.[10] Another theory maintains that Machu Picchu was an Inca llaqta, a settlement built to control the economy of conquered regions. Yet another asserts that it may have been built as a prison for a select few who had committed heinous crimes against Inca society. An alternative theory is that it is an agricultural testing station. Different types of crops could be tested in the many different micro-climates afforded by the location and the terraces; these were not large enough to grow food on a large scale, but may have been used to determine what could grow where. Another theory suggests that the city was built as an abode for the deities, or for the coronation of kings.[11]

View of the city of Machu Picchu in 1911 showing the original ruins before modern reconstruction work began.[3][4]

Although the citadel is located only about 80 kilometers (50 mi) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites.[7] Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew over much of the site, and few outsiders knew of its existence.

On 24 July 1911, Hiram Bingham announced the discovery of Machu Picchu to scholars. As an American historian employed as a lecturer at Yale University, Bingham had been searching for the city of Vilcabamba, the last Inca refuge during the Spanish conquest. He had worked for years in previous trips and explorations around the zone. Pablito Alvarez, a local 11 year-old Quechua boy, led Bingham up to Machu Picchu.[7][12] Some Quechuas lived in the original structures at Machu Picchu.[13]

Bingham started archaeological studies and completed a survey of the area. He called the complex "The Lost City of the Incas," which was the title of his first book. Bingham made several more trips and conducted excavations on the site through 1915, collecting various artifacts which he took back to Yale. He wrote a number of books and articles about the discovery of Machu Picchu.

As Bingham's excavations took place on Machu Picchu, local intellectuals began to oppose the operation of Bingham and his team of explorers.[14] Though local institutions were initially enthused at the idea of the operation supplementing Peruvian knowledge about their ancestry, the team began to encounter accusations of legal and cultural malpractice.[14] Local landowners began to demand payments of rent from the excavation team, and rumors arose about Bingham and his team stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through the bordering country of Bolivia.[14] These accusations worsened when the local press caught wind of the rumors and helped to discredit the legitimacy of the excavation, branding the practice as harmful to the site and claiming that local archaeologists were being deprived of their rightful knowledge about their own history because of the intrusive excavations of the American archaeologists.[14] By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu locals began forming coalitions in order to defend their deserved ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions, an argument that still exists today.[14]

The site received significant publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu.

In 1981 Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometers surrounding Machu Picchu as a "Historical Sanctuary". In addition to the ruins, the sanctuary includes a large portion of the adjoining region, rich with the flora and fauna of the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions.[15]

In 1983 UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization".[1]

The World Monuments Fund placed Machu Picchu on its 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world because of environmental degradation. This has resulted from the impact of tourism, uncontrolled development in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which included a poorly sited tram to ease visitor access, and the construction of a bridge across the Vilcanota River, which is likely to bring even more tourists to the site, in defiance of a court order and government protests against it.

Early encounters

Man sitting on ruins, hand-colored glass slide by Harry Ward Foote, who accompanied Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu, 1911

Although Bingham was the first person to bring word of the ruins to the outside world, previous outsiders were said to have seen them. Simone Waisbard, a long-time researcher of Cusco, claims that Enrique Palma, Gabino Sánchez, and Agustín Lizárraga left their names engraved on one of the rocks at Machu Picchu on 14 July 1901. In 1904, an engineer named Franklin supposedly spotted the ruins from a distant mountain. He told Thomas Payne, an English Christian missionary living in the region, about the site, Payne's family members claim. They also report that in 1906, Payne and fellow missionary Stuart E. McNairn (1867–1956) climbed up to the ruins.

The site may have been discovered and plundered in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns.[16] There is some evidence that a German engineer, J. M. von Hassel, arrived earlier. Maps found by historians show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874.[17]

Geography

Map of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator.[18] It is 80 kilometers northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above mean sea level, over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) lower than Cusco, which has an altitude of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft).[18] As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in South America, one of the most visited tourist attractions in all of Latin America [19] and the most visited tourist attraction in Peru.

The year at Machu Picchu is divided between wet and dry seasons, with the majority of annual rain falling from October through to April. It can rain at any time of the year.[18]

Machu Picchu is situated above a loop of the Urubamba River, which surrounds the site on three sides, with cliffs dropping vertically for 450 metres (1,480 ft) to the river at their base. The area is subject to morning mists rising from the river.[7] The location of the city was a military secret, and its deep precipices and steep mountains provided excellent natural defenses. The Inca Bridge, an Inca rope bridge, across the Urubamba River in the Pongo de Mainique, provided a secret entrance for the Inca army. Another Inca bridge was built to the west of Machu Picchu, the tree-trunk bridge, at a location where a gap occurs in the cliff that measures 6 metres (20 ft). It could be bridged by two tree trunks, but with the trees removed, there was a 570 metres (1,870 ft) fall to the base of the cliffs.

The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu,[7] with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides leading to it have been terraced, not only to provide more farmland to grow crops, but to steepen the slopes which invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduced soil erosion and protected against landslides.[20] Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu go across the mountains back to Cusco, one through the sun gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both could be blocked easily, should invaders approach along them. Regardless of its original purpose, it is strategically located and readily defended.

Site

The dawn mist lifts above the terraced structures
Terraced Fields in the upper Agricultural Sector

Layout

The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, as well as the upper town and the lower town. The temples are part of the upper town, the warehouses the lower.[21]

The architecture is adapted to the natural form of the mountains. Approximately 200 buildings are arranged on wide parallel terraces around a vast central square that is oriented east-west. The various kanchas or compounds are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Extensive terraces were used for agriculture and sophisticated channeling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Numerous stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. The eastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes. This section contains the Torreón, the massive tower which may have been used as an observatory.[22]

Temple of the Sun or Torreon

Located in the first zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows. These were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity.

The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower-class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses.

The royalty area, a sector for the nobility, is a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the Amautas (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the Ñustas (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for rites or sacrifices.

The Guardhouse is a three-sided building, with one of its long sides opening onto the Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock. The three-sided style of Inca architecture is known as the wayrona style.[23]

Intihuatana stone

Main article: Intihuatana
The Intihuatana ("hitching post of the sun") is believed to have been designed as an astronomic clock or calendar by the Incas
The sculpture carved out from the rock bottom of the sun temple is interpreted as "Water mirrors for observing the sky".[24] Tourist guides also talk about the "Eyes of Pachamama" (Mother Earth).

The Intihuatana stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. The name of the stone (coined perhaps by Bingham) is derived from the Quechua language: inti means "sun", and wata- is the verb root "to tie, hitch (up)" (huata- is simply a Spanish spelling). The Quechua -na suffix derives nouns for tools or places. Hence inti watana is literally an instrument or place to "tie up the sun", often expressed in English as "The Hitching Post of the Sun". The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. The stone is situated at 13°9'48" S. At midday on November 11 and January 30 the sun stands almost above the pillar, casting no shadow at all. On June 21 the stone is casting the longest shadow on his southern side and on December 21 a much shorter one on his northern side. Researchers believe that it was built as an astronomic clock or calendar.[citation needed]

Construction

Main article: Incan architecture

The central buildings of Machu Picchu use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar. Many junctions in the central city are so perfect that it is said not even a blade of grass fits between the stones.

View of the residential section of Machu Picchu
Interior of an Inca building, featuring trapezoidal windows

Some Inca buildings were constructed using mortar, but by Inca standards this was quick, shoddy construction, and was not used in the building of important structures. Peru is a highly seismic land, and mortar-free construction was more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. The stones of the dry-stone walls built by the Incas can move slightly and resettle without the walls collapsing.

Inca walls had numerous design details that helped protect them against collapsing in an earthquake. Doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt inward from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and "L"-shaped blocks often were used to tie outside corners of the structure together. These walls do not rise straight from bottom to top, but are offset slightly from row to row.

The Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. Its use in toys demonstrates that the principle was well-known to them, although it was not applied in their engineering. The lack of strong draft animals, as well as steep terrain and dense vegetation issues, may have rendered the wheel impractical. How they moved and placed the enormous blocks of stones remains a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes. A few of the stones still have knobs on them that could have been used to lever them into position; it is believed that after the stones were placed, the Incas would have sanded the knobs away, but a few were overlooked.

Roads and Transportation

As part of their road system, the Incas built a road to the Machu Picchu region. Today, tens of thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They congregate at Cusco before starting on the two-, four- or five-day journey on foot from Kilometer 82 or Kilometer 104 (two-day trip) near the town of Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes mountain range to the isolated city.

The people of Machu Picchu were connected to long-distance trade, as shown by non-local artifacts found at the site. As an example, Bingham found unmodified obsidian nodules at the entrance gateway. In the 1970s, Burger and Asaro determined that these obsidian samples were from the Titicaca or Chivay obsidian source, and that the samples from Machu Picchu showed long-distance transport of this obsidian type in pre-Hispanic Peru.[25]

3D laser scanning of site

In 2005 and 2009, the University of Arkansas made detailed laser scans of the entire Machu Picchu site and of the ruins at the top of the adjacent Huayna Picchu mountain. The university has made the scan data available online for research purposes.[26]

Threats to the site and its heritage

January 2010 evacuation

See also: El Niño-Southern Oscillation

In January 2010, heavy rain caused flooding which buried or washed away roads and railways leading to Machu Picchu, trapping more than 2,000 local people and more than 2,000 tourists, who were taken out by airlift. Machu Picchu was closed temporarily,[27] but it reopened on 1 April 2010.[28]

Concerns over tourism

Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since its discovery in 1911, a growing number of tourists visit Machu Picchu, reaching 400,000 in 2000.[29] As Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually threatened by economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and development of a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants. Many people protested against the plans, including members of the Peruvian public, international scientists, and academics, as they were worried that the greater numbers of visitors would pose a tremendous physical burden on the ruins.[30] Many protested a plan to build a bridge to the site as well.[31] A no-fly zone exists above the area.[32] UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on its List of World Heritage in Danger.[31]

During the 1980s a large rock from Machu Picchu's central plaza was moved out of its alignment to a different location to create a helicopter landing zone. Since the 1990s, the government has forbidden helicopter landings there. In 2006 a Cusco-based company, Helicusco, sought to have tourist flights over Machu Picchu and initially received a license to do so, but the government quickly overturned the decision.[33]

View of Machu Picchu from Huayna Picchu, showing the Hiram Bingham Highway used by tour buses to and from the town of Aguas Calientes

Entrance restrictions

In July 2011, the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco (DRC) introduced new entrance rules to the citadel of Machu Picchu.[34] The tougher entrance rules were a measure to reduce the impact of tourism on the site. Entrance was limited to 2,500 visitors per day, and entrance to Huayna Picchu (within the citadel) was further restricted to 400 visitors per day, in two allocated time slots at 7am and 10am.

In May 2012, however, a team of UNESCO conservation experts called on Peruvian authorities to take "emergency measures" to further stabilize the site’s buffer zone and protect it from pressure as a result of tourism-related development, particularly in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which has seen rapid development.[35]

Cultural Artifacts: Dispute Between Peru and Yale University

In 1912 and 1914–15, Bingham excavated treasures from Machu Picchu—ceramic vessels, silver statues, jewelry, and human bones—and took them from Peru to Yale University in the United States for further study, supposedly for a period of 18 months. Yale has retained the artifacts until now, under the argument that Peru did not have the infrastructure or proper conditions to take care of the pieces.

Eliane Karp, an anthropologist who is married to the former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, accused Yale of profiting from Peru's cultural heritage by claiming title to thousands of pieces removed by Bingham. Many have been on display at Yale's Peabody Museum since their removal. Yale returned some of the artifacts to Peru, but the university kept the remainder, claiming its position was supported by federal case law involving Peruvian antiquities.[36]

On 19 September 2007, the Courant reported that Peru and Yale had reached an agreement regarding the requested return of the artifacts. The agreement includes sponsorship of a joint traveling exhibition and construction of a new museum and research center in Cusco about which Yale will advise Peruvian officials. Yale acknowledges Peru's title to all the excavated objects from Machu Picchu, but Yale will share rights with Peru in the research collection, part of which will remain at Yale as an object of continuing study.[37]

On 19 June 2008, National Geographic Society's vice-president Terry Garcia was quoted by the daily publication, La República. "We were part of this agreement. National Geographic was there, we know what was said, the objects were lent and should be returned."

On 21 November 2010, Yale University agreed in principle to the return of the controversial artifacts to their original home in Peru.[38] As of November 2012, the third and final batch of thousands of artifacts were delivered.[39]

La Casa Concha (The Shell House) located close to Cusco's colonial center will be the permanent site where the Yale University artifacts will be exhibited. Owned by the National University of San Antonio Abad Del Cusco, La Casa Concha will also feature a study area for local and foreign students.

Panoramic photograph of Machu Picchu, looking towards Huayna Picchu
Panoramic photograph of the residential section

In media

The 1954 film Secret of the Incas was filmed by Paramount Pictures on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Five hundred indigenous people were hired as extras in the film.[40]

Machu Picchu also is featured prominently in the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, a biopic based on the 1952 youthful travel memoir of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.[41]

NOVA TV Documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" presents an elaborate documentary on these mysteries of Machu Picchu.[42]

The song "Kilimanjaro" from the 2010 South Indian Tamil film Enthiran was filmed in Machu Picchu.[43] The sanction for filming was granted only after direct intervention from the Indian government.[44][45]

The site was featured in episode 33 of Are We There Yet?: World Adventure.

The song Machu Picchu by The Strokes was featured in their 2011 album, Angles.

Machu Picchu is featured in the 2011 romantic-comedy feature film, Monte Carlo where it shows that Meg, Leighton Meester has gone with Riley, Luke Bracey and they are shown screaming while on top of Machu Picchu.

The site is featured in the 2011 feature film, Beastly which shows the end credit pictures with Lindy, Vanessa Hudgens and Kyle, Alex Pettyfer in Machu Picchu together and showing their love for each other.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "UNESCO advisory body evaluation" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
  3. ^ a b c Nava, Pedro Sueldo (1976). A walking tour of Machupicchu. pp. 9–10. OCLC 2723003.
  4. ^ a b Davey, Peter (2001). "Outrage: Rebuilding Machu Picchu, Peru". The Architectural Review. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b Wright et al 2000b, p.1.
  6. ^ "Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Wright & Valencia Zegarra 2001, 2003, p.1.
  8. ^ McNeill, W. H. Plagues & Peoples. p. 183.
  9. ^ Bingham 1922, p.334.
  10. ^ Reinhard, Johan 2007 Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center. Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles.[page needed]
  11. ^ Weatherford 1988, pp. 60–62.
  12. ^ "Machu Picchu History". Retrieved 27 October 2011.[self-published source?]
  13. ^ "Fights of Machu Picchu" (PDF). Retrieved 22 February 2013. South American Explorer, January 1933
  14. ^ a b c d e "Project MUSE - Local versus Imperial Knowledge: Reflections on Hiram Bingham and the Yale Peruvian Expedition". Muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  15. ^ Olson, David M.; Dinerstein, Eric; Wikramanayake, Eric D.; Burgess, Neil D.; Powell, George V. N.; Underwood, Emma C.; d'Amico, Jennifer A.; Itoua, Illanga; Strand, Holly E. (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth". BioScience. 51 (11): 933–8. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.
  16. ^ Dan Collyns (6 June 2008). "Machu Picchu ruin 'found earlier'". BBC News.;Michael Marshall (7 June 2008). "'Incan lost city looted by German businessman'". NewScientist.
  17. ^ Romero, Simon (7 December 2008). "Debate Rages in Peru: Was a Lost City Ever Lost?". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |newspapeFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List Country Peru Type Mixed Criteria i, iii, vii, ix Reference 274 UNESCO region Cusco Region Inscription history Inscription 1983 (Seventh Session) Map showing location of Machu Picchu in Peru Machu Picchu (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu], Quechua: Machu Picchu [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu], "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level.[1][2] Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas started building the "estate" around 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like.[3] By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored.[3] The restoration work continues to this day.[4] Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.[2] In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana (Hitching post of the Sun), the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University almost reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Yale has held since Hiram Bingham removed them from Machu Picchu in the early 20th century. In November 2010, a Yale University representative agreed to return the artifacts to a Peruvian university.[5] Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Early encounters 2 Geography 3 Site 3.1 3D laser scanning of site 3.2 January 2010 evacuation 4 Intihuatana stone 5 Concerns over tourism 6 Entrance restrictions 7 Controversy with Yale University 8 New airport 9 In media 10 See also 11 References 11.1 Bibliography 12 Further reading 13 External links 13.1 Images 14 Related information [edit]History The mountain Huayna Picchu overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire.[6] The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438-71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1472-93).[7] It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest.[6][8] It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travelers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.[9] The latter had notes of a place called Piccho, although there is no record of the Spanish having visited the remote city. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu. [8] Hiram Bingham theorized that the complex was the traditional birthplace of the Incan "Virgins of the Suns".[10] More recent research by scholars such as John Howland Rowe and Richard Burger, has convinced most archaeologists that Machu Picchu was an estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti.[8] In addition, Johan Reinhard presented evidence that the site was selected because of its position relative to sacred landscape features such as its mountains which are purported to be in alignment with key astronomical events important to the Incas. Johan Reinhard believes Machu Picchu to be a sacred religious site. This theory stands mainly because of where Machu Picchu is located. Reinhard calls it "sacred geography" because the site is built on and around mountains that hold high religious importance in the Inca culture and in the previous culture that occupied the land. At the highest point of the mountain in which Machu Picchu was named after, there are “artificial platforms [and] these had a religious function, as is clear from the Inca ritual offerings found buried under them” (Reinhard 2007). These platforms also are found in other Incan religious sites. The site’s other stone structures have finely worked stones with niches and, from what the “Spaniards wrote about Inca sites, we know that these [types of] building[s] were of ritual significance” (Reinhard 2007). This would be the most convincing evidence that Reinhard points out because this type of stylistic stonework is only found at the religious sites so it would be natural that they would exist at this religious site.[11] Another theory maintains that Machu Picchu was an Inca llaqta, a settlement built to control the economy of conquered regions. Yet another asserts that it may have been built as a prison for a select few who had committed heinous crimes against Inca society. An alternative theory is that it is an agricultural testing station. Different types of crops could be tested in the many different micro-climates afforded by the location and the terraces; these were not large enough to grow food on a large scale, but may have been used to determine what could grow where. Another theory suggests that the city was built as an abode for the deities, or for the coronation of kings.[12] View of the city of Machu Picchu in 1911 showing the original ruins before modern reconstruction work began.[3][4] Although the citadel is located only about 80 kilometers (50 mi) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites.[8] Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew over much of the site, and few outsiders knew of its existence. On 24 July 1911, Hiram Bingham announced the discovery of Machu Picchu to scholars. As an American historian employed as a lecturer at Yale University, Bingham had been searching for the city of Vilcabamba, the last Inca refuge during the Spanish conquest. He had worked for years in previous trips and explorations around the zone. Pablito Alvarez, a local 11 year-old Quechua boy, led Bingham up to Machu Picchu.[8][13] Some Quechuas lived in the original structures at Machu Picchu.[citation needed] Bingham started archaeological studies and completed a survey of the area. He called the complex "The Lost City of the Incas", which was the title of his first book. Bingham made several more trips and conducted excavations on the site through 1915, collecting various artifacts which he took back to Yale. He wrote a number of books and articles about the discovery of Machu Picchu. As Bingham's excavations took place on Machu Picchu, local intellectuals began to oppose the operation of Bingham and his team of explorers.[14] Though local institutions were initially enthused at the idea of the operation supplementing Peruvian knowledge about their ancestry, the team began to encounter accusations of legal and cultural malpractice.[14] Local landowners began to demand payments of rent from the excavation team, and rumors arose about Bingham and his team stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through the bordering country of Bolivia.[14] These accusations worsened when the local press caught wind of the rumors and helped to discredit the legitimacy of the excavation, branding the practice as harmful to the site and claiming that local archaeologists were being deprived of their rightful knowledge about their own history because of the intrusive excavations of the American archaeologists.[14] By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu locals began forming coalitions in order to defend their deserved ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions, an argument that still exists today.[14] The site received significant publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu. In 1981 Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometers surrounding Machu Picchu as a "Historical Sanctuary". In addition to the ruins, the sanctuary includes a large portion of the adjoining region, rich with the flora and fauna of the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions.[15] In 1983 UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization".[1] The World Monuments Fund placed Machu Picchu on its 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world because of environmental degradation. This has resulted from the impact of tourism, uncontrolled development in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which included a poorly sited tram to ease visitor access, and the construction of a bridge across the Vilcanota River, which is likely to bring even more tourists to the site, in defiance of a court order and government protests against it. [edit]Early encountersr= ignored (help)
  18. ^ a b c Wright & Valencia Zegarra 2001, 2004, p.ix.
  19. ^ Davies 1997, p.163.
  20. ^ Wright et al 2000b, p.2.
  21. ^ Bordwich, Fergus (March, 2003). "Winter Palace". Smithsonian: 110. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  22. ^ Longhena, Maria (1999). The Incas and Other Ancient Andean Civilizations. Barnes & Noble, Inc. p. 252. ISBN 0-7607-1918-7.
  23. ^ Wright & Valencia Zegarra 2001, 2004, p.8.
  24. ^ Federico Kauffmann Doig: Machu Picchu - Tesoro Inca, Lima 2005, ISBN 9972-40-341-6
  25. ^ Burger and Salazar 2004[page needed]
  26. ^ "Computer Modeling of Heritage Resources".
  27. ^ BBC, jhayzee27 (29 January 2010). "Machu Picchu Airlift Rescues 1,400 Tourists". Disaster Alert Network LLC. UBAlert. Retrieved 7 February 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ travel staff, Seattle Times (5 February 2010). "Machu Picchu to reopen earlier than expected after storms". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  29. ^ "Llegada de visitantes al Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu", Observatorio Turistico Del Peru. 22 March 2012
  30. ^ Sacredland.org[dead link], Sacred Land Film Project.
  31. ^ a b "Bridge stirs the waters in Machu Picchu", BBC News Online, 1 February 2007
  32. ^ "Peru bans flights over Inca ruins", BBC News Online, 8 September 2006
  33. ^ Collyns, Dan (8 September 2006). "Peru bans flights over Inca ruins". BBC News. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  34. ^ "Machu Picchu New Entrance Rules", Peru Guide (the only). 18 December 2011
  35. ^ "GHF". Global Heritage Fund. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  36. ^ Martineau, Kim (14 March 2006). "Peru Presses Yale On Relics". Hartford Courant.
  37. ^ Mahony, Edmund H. (16 September 2007). "Yale To Return Incan Artifacts". Hartford Courant.
  38. ^ "CNN: "Peru's president: Yale agrees to return Incan artifacts"". 20 November 2010.
  39. ^ Zorthian, Julia. "Yale returns final Machu Picchu artifacts". Yale Daily News - Cross Campus. Yale University. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  40. ^ Production Notes – Secret Of The Incas @ TCM Database
  41. ^ Excerpted Clip of Machu Picchu from the film The Motorcycle Diaries directed by Walter Salles, distributed by Focus Features, 2004
  42. ^ Ghosts of Machu Picchu at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  43. ^ "Endhiran The Robot : First Indian movie to shoot at Machu Pichu". One India. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  44. ^ "Enthiran beats James Bond". Behindwoods. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  45. ^ Lahiri, Tripti (1 October 2010). "WSJ blog: "Machu Picchu Welcomes Rajnikanth and India"". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 6 May 2012.

Bibliography

Bingham, Hiram (1922). Inca Land: explorations in the highlands of Peru. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 248230298. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Bingham, Hiram (1930, 1979). Machu Picchu, a citadel of the Incas. New York, USA: Hacker Art Books. ISBN 978-0-87817-252-8. OCLC 6579761. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Burger, Richard (2004). Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas. New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09763-4. OCLC 52806202. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 5 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Davies, Nigel (1997). The Ancient Kingdoms of Peru. London, UK and New York, USA: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-023381-4. OCLC 37552622. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Frost, Peter (1995). Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary. Lima, Peru: Nueves Imágines. OCLC 253680819. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
MacQuarrie, Kim (2007). The Last Days of the Incas. New York, USA: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6049-7. OCLC 77767591. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Magli, Giulio (2009). "At the other end of the sun's path: A new interpretation of Machu Picchu". arXiv:0904.4882 [physics.hist-ph]. {{cite arXiv}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Reinhard, Johan (2007). Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center. Los Angeles, California, USA: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA. ISBN 978-1-931745-44-4. OCLC 141852845. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Richardson, Don (1981). Eternity in their Hearts. Ventura, California, USA: Regal Books. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-8307-0925-8. OCLC 491826338. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 10 Jan. 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Weatherford, J. McIver (1988). Indian givers: how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world. New York, USA: Fawcett Columbine. ISBN 0-449-90496-2. OCLC 474116190. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Wright, Kenneth (2000). Machu Picchu: A Civil Engineering Marvel. Reston, Virginia, USA: ASCE Press (American Society of Civil Engineers). ISBN 978-0-7844-0444-7. OCLC 43526790. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Wright, Kenneth R. (2000a). "Completion Report to Instituto Nacional de Cultura on Archaeological Exploration of the Inca Trail on the East Flank of Machu Picchu and on Palynology of Terraces Part 1" (PDF). Retrieved 14 Jan. 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Wright, Kenneth R. (2000b). "Completion Report to Instituto Nacional de Cultura on Archaeological Exploration of the Inca Trail on the East Flank of Machu Picchu and on Palynology of Terraces Part 2" (PDF). Retrieved 14 Jan. 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Wright, Kenneth R. (2000c). "Completion Report to Instituto Nacional de Cultura on Archaeological Exploration of the Inca Trail on the East Flank of Machu Picchu and on Palynology of Terraces Part 3" (PDF). Retrieved 14 Jan. 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Wright, Ruth M. (2001, 2004). The Machu Picchu Guidebook: A self-guided tour (Revised ed.). Boulder, Colorado, USA: Johnson Books. ISBN 1-55566-327-3. OCLC 53330849. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Further reading

Kops, Deborah (2009). Machu Picchu. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-0-8225-7584-9. OCLC 189667204. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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