Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
- Willie HiattWillie HiattDepartment of History, Long Island University
Summary
Machu Picchu is an Inca royal estate constructed in the mid-15th century in Peru’s picturesque high jungle. As a seasonal retreat for celebrations, religious rituals, and administrative affairs when the Incas traveled beyond Cuzco, Machu Picchu was abandoned soon after Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Andes in 1531. The site was largely lost to the Western world until 1911, when a Yale University expedition led by Hiram Bingham lay claim to the scientific and historical “discovery” of the impressive complex of white-granite buildings and agricultural terraces. Contentious debates over cultural patrimony, conservation, indigenous rights, and neoliberal exploitation have enhanced Machu Picchu’s allure as one of the most famous archaeological remains in the Western Hemisphere.
Keywords
Subjects
- History of Northern and Andean Spanish America
- History of Latin America and the Oceanic World
- 1492 and Before
- 1492–1824
- 1910–1945
- 1991 and After
