Magnificent Machu Picchu

The ruins of great civilizations scatter the globe, yet as we marvel in their beauty, we must realize that the stories behind many ancient works are unknown. To this day, scientists and scholars alike are uncertain of many aspects surrounding the famous Machu Picchu site in Peru. Perched between two sacred mountain tops, the remains of Machu Picchu are magnificent and grand. One can only be left to wonder what the city must have been like during its prime.

Machu Picchu directly translates as ‘Old Mountain’ and was built around 1450 CE by the Incan leader Pachakuteq. The city is believed to have been built as a sanctuary for elite members of the Inca civilization to escape the chaos of nearby Cuzco. In fact, a road enters the south of Machu Picchu directly from the main city. For the select few who entered the city, its infrastructure was amazing. Grand buildings were made from granite in the top of the mountains. Blocks were laid together so tight that scholars proclaim not even a knife blade will fit between them. Close up pictures of the blocks that compile the buildings can be found here.

Machu Picchu is separated into two distinct sectors. The agricultural sector forms a ring around the center, urban sector which was separated by walls and ditches that may have once been a moat. Uneven slopes required terraces to be used in order to make farming possible. However, scholars do not believe the agricultural sector would have been productive enough to entirely sustain the urban center. The inner sector is filled with a network of buildings, plazas, and platforms, but at the heart of the city, temples and palaces were constructed and connected by narrow passages of steep stairways. There are many other distinct features to the layout of Machu Picchu, and this site does a very thorough job of explaining them. Gold covered buildings still stand today at the core of the urban center where lavish ceremonies may have taken place.

Only able to sustain around 500 people, Machu Picchu was small compared to other Incan cities, reinforcing the theory that it was built only for the privileged. Although, based on archeological evidence, scholars consider the inhabitants of the city to be from various places within the Inca Empire. It remains unclear what brought such a variety of people together. Perhaps leaders from every corner of the empire retreated to Machu Picchu at some point in time.

It is doubtful that we will ever fully understand the purpose and history of Machu Picchu, but archeologists continue to excavate the site in hope of further discovery.

Sources:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/machu-picchu.html http://www.machupicchu.perucultural.org.pe/ingles/index.htm