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Machu Picchu

Located to the northwest of Cuzco in peru, the site of Machu Picchu is spectacularly situated on a ridge high in the Andes. The settlement comprises temples, tombs, houses, and agricultural terracing made from local stone with the same high-quality techniques that were so common among the inca. A place of considerable mystery, this “lost” city was brought to the attention of the outside world in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American explorer. He photographed the site and returned the next year to complete the job of mapping and undertaking limited excavations—in part funded by the national geographic society. Subsequent research has dispelled much of the mystery surrounding the site. It is now quite generally accepted that the site was not unknown to the Spanish and that it was built during the reign of the Inca king Pachacuti (a.d. 1438–1471).

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An aerial view of the ruins at Machu Picchu.

(CFCL)

Tim Murray

References

Bingham, Hiram. 1977. Lost City of the Incas: The Story of Machu Picchu (reprint of 1948 ed.). New York: Atheneum.