Machu Picchu – A Presentation

• Situated high in the Andes mountains in Peru

• Located 2400 metres above sea level

• Is 80km northwest of Cuzco, the historical capital of the Inca empire

• Often referred to as ‘The Lost City of the Incas’

• In the Quechua language, Machu Picchu translates to ‘Old Peak’

• Built between 1460 and 1470 AD by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Incan ruler

• Lecturer of Latin American history at Yale University

• His search for the lost city of Vilcabamba led to the discovery of Machu Picchu on July 24 1911

• A year after the discovery, Bingham and his Yale team returned for a full excavation of the site

• The stonework of houses, temples and other ceremonial buildings have led historians to believe that Machu Picchu was more of a sacred and religious retreat

• The hidden setting and location of Machu Picchu suggest a geographical or astronomical significance to the Incas

• The Temple of the Three Windows includes beautifully cut polygonal stones; a technique of stone construction

• A column of stone rising from a block of stone

• Intihuatana literally means ‘for tying the sun’

• As the winter solstice approached, a ceremony was held by a priest to ‘tie’ the sun to the stone, preventing it from disappearing altogether

• Made of granite blocks cut with bronze or stone tools and smoothed with sand

• Had steep thatched roofs and trapezoidal doors

• People used their homes only to eat and sleep in

• Had little furniture except for cupboard spaces cut out of the walls and sometimes a stone bench

• Women held the traditional female role; their principal role was to care for their children

• Building and farming were the main work for men

• Women would gather together to spin, weave, dye and sew

Gold Inca statue depicting a female with long hair

• The Incas worshipped many gods, but the sun was the focus of their lives

• Legend says, Manco Capac, the son of the sun god Inti, taught the Incas to build houses, irrigate soil, plant crops and make shoes

• Manco Capac founded the Inca capital of Cuzco and ruled the world from there