Machu Picchu & the Inca Trail: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Despite scores of studies, knowledge of Machu Picchu remains sketchy and, even today, archaeologists are forced to rely heavily on speculation and educated guesswork as to its function. Over 50 burial sites and 100 skeletal remains have been discovered over the course of excavations. Initially the remains were thought to be 80% female, leading to an early theory that it was a city of 'chosen women', but this lost support when it emerged that the male/female ratio was actually 50/50. Some believe that the citadel was founded in the waning years of the last Incas as an attempt to preserve Incan culture or rekindle their predominance, while others think it may have already been an uninhabited, forgotten city at the time of the conquest. A more recent theory suggests that the site was a royal retreat or country palace abandoned at the time of the Spanish invasion.

What is obvious from the exceptionally high quality of the stonework and the abundance of ornamental work is that Machu Picchu must once have been vitally important as a ceremonial center. Archaeologists suggest that it was divided into three districts: the Sacred District, the Popular District (to the south), and the District of the Priests and the Nobility (royalty zone).

What savvy tourism officials and tour operators call the Inca Trail is just one of dozens of footpaths that the Incas built in the area. This network of roads converges at Cuzco, the capital of the Incan Empire. The road to Machu Picchu itself is actually made up of three routes: the Mollepata, Classic and One Day trails, which meet near Intipunku (Sun Gate). The Classic (four-day) trail is the most well-known, and most traversed, of the three.

Modern History

Machu Picchu is not mentioned in any of the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors. Apart from a few indigenous Quechuas, nobody knew of Machu Picchu's existence until American historian Hiram Bingham stumbled upon it in 1911 while being guided around by locals.

Bingham was in fact searching for the lost city of Vilcabamba, the last stronghold of the Incas, and he thought he had found it at Machu Picchu. We now know that the remote ruins at Espíritu Pampa, much deeper in the jungle, are actually the remains of Vilcabamba. The Machu Picchu site was initially overgrown with thick vegetation, forcing Bingham's team to be content with roughly mapping the site. Bingham returned in 1912 and 1915 to carry out the difficult task of clearing the thick forest, when he also discovered some of the ruins on the so-called Inca Trail. Peruvian archaeologist Luis E Valcárcel undertook further studies in 1934, as did a Peruvian-American expedition under Paul Fejos in 1940-41.

In 1983, Machu Picchu was designated as a World Heritage Site. Not only does the protected area include the ruins themselves, it also encompasses the regional landscape with its abundant flora and fauna.

Recent History

In September 2000, a centuries-old rock pillar at Machu Picchu was damaged during the filming of an advertisement for Cusqueña beer.

Alejandro Toledo, the country's first indigenous Andean president, impressively staged his inauguration at Machu Picchu in 2001.

Machu Picchu has recently been named as one of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World', a revision of the 'Seven Wonders of the World' organized by a Swiss-based corporation, New Open World Corporation, and voted for by millions of internet users around the world.

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