How old is machu picchu peru

Despite these fortifications, Machu Picchu was abandoned by the Incas around the time the Spanish began their conquests. Of the few hundred people who lived at Machu Picchu year-round, the majority would have been retainers—specialized craftsmen, artisans, or laborers who were taken from their homelands to serve the empire. Burials were placed under boulders, beneath cliff overhangs, and in shallow caves, and were sealed with clay plaster and rocks.

The bone and tooth samples show that they came from a variety of regions, including the north coast, central coast, central highlands, Cuzco, and the Lake Titicaca area.

Machu Picchu comprises about structures, with temples in the upper region and warehouses in the lower region, and separate areas for residences and agricultural production.

All Rights reserved. August 5, am. But sources attest that local people living near the site knew about it for generations before his arrival. In the mids, however, Peruvians staged protests and placed increased pressure on the Connecticut university to return the items to their country of origin.

Nora McGreevy is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian. She can be reached through her website, noramcgreevy. In , after years of pressure from Peruvian officials, Yale University agreed to return its Machu Picchu artifacts to Peru. How Old is Machu Picchu. Hotel Quality. Number of Travelers. Trip Length. Tentative or Set Travel Dates. A new theory proposed by the Italian archaeoastronomer Giulio Magli suggests that the journey to Machu Picchu from Cusco could have served a ceremonial purpose: echoing the celestial journey that, according to legend, the first Inca took when they departed the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca.

Rather than simply following a more sensible path along the banks of the Urubamba River, the Inca built the impractical but visually stunning Inca Trail, which according to Magli, prepared pilgrims for entry into Machu Picchu. The final leg of the pilgrimage would have concluded with climbing the steps to the Intihuatana Stone, the highest spot in the main ruins. All rights reserved. Temple of the Sun The semicircular Temple of the Sun, constructed around a large boulder, offers commanding views of the Sacred Valley below.

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