MACHU PICCHU AND THE INCA

In Quechua, the ancient Inca language still spoken by millions of Indians in Peru, Machu Picchu means old peak, the flat mountain top surrounded by higher Andean peaks and enshrouded by mystical clouds, where the ruins of the lost city of the Inca emerge from intense jungle vegetation. It is not the architectural sophistication of the buildings that captures the imagination, but the silent presence of a complete city high in the mountains, self-sufficient and inaccessible, preserved almost intact for our modern eyes.

The sense of awe and mystery comes from the fact that, no matter how much is known about the Inca civilization, there are still many unexplained facts and contrasting archeological theories about Machu Picchu itself. Some say it was a fortress, some say it was a religious sanctuary of women priests, and some say it was a training school for the noble youth of the Inca empire. Most probably it was all of these things: a religious center for the Inca nobility, agriculturally self-sufficient and strategically fortified, that served as a last refuge for the Inca after the Spanish conquest.

Although the Inca was the most powerful and widespread civilization in South America and comparable in importance to the Greek and Roman civilizations in Europe, it was not the first. Other civilizations preceded it and influenced it and helped shape its characteristics.

The first great civilization emerged about 1000 B.C. in Northern Peru and was called CHAVIN. The archeological remains of this culture highlight two elements that will remain characteristic of all pre-Columbian cultures including the Inca. They had an elaborate religion that deified natural phenomena, like the sun and the moon, thunder and lightning, and natural objects, like a rock a mountain or a lake, and finely developed artistic skills displayed in metal workings and ceramics and in the design and construction of massive buildings and temples.

In the same area appeared, around 300 A.D., the MOCHICA civilization, whose rich pottery artifacts illustrate for us every aspect of their daily life. Another insight into these ancient civilizations can be found in the typical Peruvian weavings, whose most outstanding examples are the finely crafted burial shrouds of the PARACAS peninsula, which date back to 500 B.C. The NAZCA civilization has given us mysterious line drawings scratched on the surface of the Peruvian coastal desert, which can only be seen from the air. By 800 A.D. two more complex groups appeared: the TIAHUANACO on the plains of Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, who left us a huge ceremonial city and the famous Portal of the Sun, and the highly advanced CHIMU on the coast of Peru, who coexisted with the Inca and influenced Machu Picchu and the Inca by direct contact.

Around 1100 A.D. a small tribe began the conquest of the Andean Sierra and established the center of their empire in CUZCO. They were the INCA, who ruled over local populations for two centuries, then started a great expansionistic drive under the king Pachacuti in 1438, so that by the time of the Spanish conquest in 1532 their Tawantisuyo, or empire of the four quarters, extended through all of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia and included part of Argentina and Chile.

Their empire was based on a theocratic foundation. As legend has it, the sun god INTI, displeased with the savage condition of men, sent his son MANCO CAPAC with his sister-wife MAMA OCLLO to teach them the arts of civilization. He Instructed his son to found a city in the site where his golden shaft would sink easily into the earth, a sign of fertile agricultural land. This site was Cuzco, or the navel of the Inca empire.

The name Inca refers to this group of noble warriors and priests, who by divine right demanded respect and obedience from conquered populations. In return they provided them with a well organized social structure, a superior agriculture, and freedom from material need. The Inca rulers, although inflexible about discipline, were very generous to their subjects, and let them preserve their gods, costumes and local chiefs, as long as they paid homage to the Inca. They did not demand tribute in goods - and the use of money was unknown - but in the form of labor. Everywhere they went they built great roads and temples, they organized the population in agricultural communities called AYLLUS, and divided the land in three portions, one for the sun god, one for the inca and one for the people. The rich gold ornaments of the temples and of the Inca nobility were used to inspire awe and respect in the primitive populations. Many of them submitted without fighting.

This well organized and prosperous empire flourished and expanded for centuries, until it was brought to an untimely and painful destruction by the brutal Spanish Conquistadores.

Lured by the recurring legends of El Dorado circulating in the New World, Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru in 1532 with a small army of men and horses. He found the Inca empire in the throngs of civil war. The last Inca king HUYANA CAPAC had divided his empire in two parts: the northern, with capital Quito, under his son ATAHUALPA, and the southern, with capital Cuzco, under another son HUASCAR. Atahualpa started a war with his brother and killed him; his formidable army was camped in the valley of CAJAMARCA when the Spaniards arrived. Secure of himself, the sun king accepted Pizarro’s invitation to dinner, but when his golden litter accompanied by a large escort entered the citadel of Cajamarca, his men were slaughtered and the king himself captured. Atahualpa offered Pizarro to fill with gold a huge room to pay for his ransom; Pizarro had finally reached his El Dorado, and while messengers were sent to the four corners of the empire to collect the gold, Atahualpa remained honored prisoner of the Spanish. But after 10 months, afraid of his power and influence on the population, Pizarro, who had no honor, had him put to death. Deprived of its religious leader, the Inca empire collapsed under the deceitful and brutal maneuvers of the Spanish conquerors.

The great temples of Cuzco were destroyed and replaced by imposing catholic cathedrals with altars made of gold. Some Inca buildings still stand, like the huge fortresses of SACSAHUAMAN and OLLANTAYTAMBO in the Sacred Valley of the Inca near Cuzco. But the most important archeological monument is MACHU PICCHU, which was discovered by the first white man, the American Hiram Bingham, in 1911, although its existence was known to the indians.

Around the sides of the hill of Machu Picchu we can still see the famous agricultural terraces of the Inca, that provided the food support for the city. A perfect solution for the high and steep Andean mountains, the terraces had retention walls slightly inclined to follow the slope; filled with gravel, earth and sand brought from the fertile valley, they had a complex system of irrigation and drainage. To till the soil the small and practical foot plow was used; the crop consisted mainly of corn and potatoes, the staple of the Andean diet. Tapioca, squash, avocado and ají peppers were also grown, along with the sacred coca leaf.

The architectural structure of the buildings, even the temples, followed the model of the peasant hut: four walls in dry stone, a covered gabled roof covered with thatch. Notable is the method of fitting together many sided blocks of stone in a compact pattern that prevented slippage (a necessity in this region ravaged by frequent earthquakes); and the trapezoidal shape of doors, windows and storage niches, which architecturally offers great strength.

The most impressive sacred stone in the city is the INTIWATANA, or the place where the sun is tied, a multifaceted stone with steps topped by a vertical peg whose ridges correspond to the cardinal points. It probably had a gold disk representing the sun tied on top and served as a kind of sun dial. A place where the priests interpreted the movements of the sun and the change of seasons, an astronomical observatory for the needs of agriculture.

The finding of numerous female mummies in the city tombs can easily be explained by the Inca institution of the Chosen Virgins of the Sun. From every village the most beautiful young girls were chosen: some went as brides to the polygamous Inca king, some were kept for human sacrifices, and the rest became nuns devoted to the cult of the sun. Cloistered in their temples, they produced the finest weavings used for religious ceremonies and sacrifices.

As for the observation that only Inca nobles lived here, it is a typical characteristic of all pre-Columbian cities not to be built for people to live in, but as religious centers, where pilgrims flocked from all parts of the land to pay homage to rulers and divinities and for the purpose of trade.

Still, no matter how much historical and archeological knowledge we can amass about the ancient Inca civilization, the mystery cannot be completely dispelled. The ruins stand silent and empty in front of us, and the people that populated them are long dead, replaced by droves of guided tourists from various countries. And the mystery of Machu Picchu will remain, enveloped by the mist of the high Andes.