Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas

Abstract

This excellent interdisciplinary collection focuses on the nature of Machu Picchu as a royal estate owned by Pachacuti Inca, offering readers a broader understanding of the site in light of current archaeological, historical, anthropological, and architectural research. Despite Machu Picchu’s magnificence and perennial appeal as a tourist site, few publications provide such a comprehensive overview of this important Inca settlement in light of recent scientific research. Articles from both Peruvian and U.S. scholars address the function and evolution of Machu Picchu from different perspectives. One of the most interesting aspects addresses the changing roles of the site, from an icon symbolizing the imperial power of Pachacuti Inca to its modern role as an emblem of Peruvian identity. The book provides a new vision of Machu Picchu based on the reanalysis of materials from the Yale University excavations directed by Hiram Bingham in 1912 and a reevaluation of Bingham’s initials interpretations. It also aims to demonstrate that Machu Picchu was in fact an important royal estate owned by Pachacuti Inca. The book also provides a catalog of the current touring exhibit from the Bingham excavations, Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Inca. This catalog is an invaluable resource to Andean scholars and provides detailed information on the materials recovered by the Yale expeditions.Hiram Bingham’s original article on the discovery of Machu Picchu (first published in 1913) is reproduced in order to provide a historical background. Lucy Salazar then provides a fascinating reevaluation of the function of Machu Picchu, in light of royal imperial estates, based on examination of the architectural layout, associated cultural remains, and ethnohistory. She argues that the site was a royal estate symbolizing the imperial power and military prowess of Pachachuti Inca. Salazar contrasts Machu Picchu with most imperial settlements—its unique features as a royal estate involved with diplomatic feasting, religion, and as a country estate used by the royal family for entertainment and diplomacy. She also contrasts the site with other imperial royal estates to highlight, for example, the marked involvement of Pachacuti’s royal lineage in religion, as seen in the large number of shrines and the multiethnic character of the settlement.Susan Niles skillfully lays out the theoretical background of Inca royal estates, based on research on the Urubamba region, in order to provide a comparative frame-work. Using ethnohistory and architecture, Niles discusses the ways in which Inca royal lineages (panacas) functioned as corporate kin groups involved in the administration of estates and the allocation of resources. She also explores the slip inheritance system— based on the principle that government position, but not resources, are inherited by the Sapa Inca’s heir. She explores the effects of this institution on the functioning and organization of royal panacas, providing a captivating account of the multiethnic social composition of royal estates, their acquisition, and their involvement in the elite economy (where their significance often surpassed that of the state imperial economy). She also describes architectural differences between Inca royal estates and other Inca settlements, including royal palaces elsewhere. Her theoretical framework helps explain temporal variations in architecture and use of landscape between Pachacuti’s royal estates and those of his successors.Valencia Zegarra, the Peruvian archaeologist responsible for the most substantial archaeological work in Machu Picchu since Hiram Bingham, provides a detailed account of the recent archaeological findings in the site’s lower east flank agricultural terraces, ritual caves, and the Inca road beyond Machu Picchu. Her discussion of the system of water canals and fountains in Machu Picchu is especially interesting. Richard Burger summarizes several analyses of the cultural materials recovered by the Yale expeditions. Using John Verano’s reanalysis of nearly two hundred burials, along with bone chemistry analysis, Burger reconstructs the health, age, and diet profiles of Machu Picchu’s population. He also addresses the social status and ethnicity of burial remains, concluding that the site’s burials represent retainers from different parts of the empire and not members of the royal family or their guests. Burger’s insights involving the evaluation of the range of craft production activities conducted at Machu Picchu round out an excellent and exhaustive summary of the current research Machu Picchu’s material remains.Finally, Jorge A. Flores Ochoa discusses the religious, symbolic, and political significance of Machu Picchu to contemporary Quechua communities, local residents, and the Peruvian government. He explores the use of archaeological sites as sacred spaces by modern Quechua communities, where periodic offerings to the Pachamama (Mother Earth) are performed. He provides a historical account of the dynamics of the Inti Raymi, an ancient Inca ceremony on the June solstice originally conducted in the Inca plaza at Cuzco and now celebrated in the vicinities of the ruins of Sacsahuaman. He then provides a critical review of the importance of the Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, aimed at protecting the cultural, historical, and natural biodiversity of the area, along with the emerging image of Machu Picchu as a spiritual and esoteric center attracting an international tourist clientele seeking mystical knowledge. Finally, he analyzes Machu Picchu as an emerging symbol of national identity, as seen in the recent participation of broad segments of the Peruvian society in the struggle to protect the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, as well as its use by recent governments as a symbol of political legitimization.This book is of fundamental importance to Andean archaeologists, historians, and scholars interested in pre-Hispanic Latin America. It offers an array of contributions drawing from archaeology, history, anthropology, and contemporary politics to under-stand the ever-changing functions of this site.

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