Page 64 - All About History - Issue 28-15

MA Y

Machu Picchu
photographed by
Bingham in 1912

believed that they were treated 04 before the Spanish had arrived,
with honour and respect. as there are no signs of
Skeletons from the site conflict on the impeccably
showednosignsofhard Why was preserved dwellings. Why
physical labour, and so it it built? the Spanish would not
is entirely plausible that Theory: Aliens are responsible have destroyed more
the sacrifice of leaving As with many historical mysteries, some ofthecityiftheydid
behind their family paranormalenthusiastsbelievethatitwas indeed find it, we will
and home and to, in builtbyvisitingaliens.Whilethistheory never know. However,
mayhavenotractionwithmostinformed
some cases, travel such thereisnohistorical
parties, it is an intriguing one nonetheless.
great distances was Supernaturalist Erich Von Daniken record of the Spanish
made willingly, for the theorisedthataliensbroughtcivilisation happeninguponMachu It is possible that the Inca were
promiseofacomfortable to primitive man long ago, and that Picchu in their conquests, driven out of Machu Picchu by
thismayhaveincludedMachu Spanish conquistadors
andhonourablelifeatthe Picchu’s stonework. andinfactmany
feet of the emperor. historiansbelievethatitwas
Machu Picchu was built and untouched by the Spanish,
flourished at an incredible rate most likely by a stroke of luck. Expert opinion
duringthetimeinwhichitwasinuse Another theory that is plausible
(about100years,asurprisinglybriefperiod if somewhat difficult to explain is that the What insight into Inca life has
considering the intricate and time-consuming work Incas at Machu Picchu fell foul of diseases such the site of Machu Picchu been
it took to build the city). It was clearly built for as smallpox, which was brought into their society able to provide us with?
longevity,onasitethatwasmostlikelyspiritually bytheEuropeancolonialists.Withacommunity
significant–anabundanceofsun-worshipping thathadbeenbuiltandbredfrompurelySouthern Brief bio
templescombinedwithpositioningthatcreates American stock, their immune systems were Dr John Hemming,
alignmentsatsolsticesstatethecaseforMachu entirely unequipped for the introduction of such CMG
With more than 50 years
Picchu’s spiritual credentials, even if that was not vicious strains of disease. If this is what befell the of hands-on research and
its primary purpose. There was no discernible populationofMachuPicchu,thelackofbodies exploration in South America,
reason for its abandonment, and yet today it stands leftbehindisconfusing,butitispossiblethatnot Dr John Hemming has written
just as it did when its people fled. So, just why did all of the 1,000 inhabitants would have fallen ill, and published 11 books on South
American and Inca history.
they abandon their spectacular citadel? andmanymayhavemovedonasdiseasegripped
OfallofthetheoriesthatexistforwhytheIncas the community. There is no doubt that European Apart from being one of the world’s
left Machu Picchu, the most prevalent is that by diseases were the end for the Inca people as a most beautiful and exciting ruins,
thetimeoftheruleofPachacuti’sson,TupacInca, whole, but there is not enough evidence to prove Machu Picchu is hugely important
in understanding Inca society. It was the creation of
andgrandson,HuaynaCapac,theIncasocietyhad whether it was this that led to the people of Machu Pachacuti, a protean ruler who launched the Incas on
reached its peak and was beginning to decline. A Picchu abandoning the city. a century of expansion, and radically changed Inca
religion, government, colonialism, architecture and
civilwarwasragingasquestionswereraisedover
MachuPicchu’smysteriesarepartofwhatmakes
© Alamy, Getty Images, Sol 90 Images, Thinkstock, Top Foto; Look & Learn HuaynaCapac,overwhichofthemshouldrule. Heritage Site, and research continues into the more typical of everyday life for Inca people than,
planning. Machu Picchu was the first – and finest
thesuccession,andabattlewasfoughtbetween
it one of the most visited and revered sites in the
– royal estate built near to the Inca capital Cusco.
world.Today,itisrecognisedasaUNESCOWorld
two brothers, Huáscar and Atahualpa, sons of
However, as a royal estate, Machu Picchu was no
say, Balmoral is to ours today.
skeletons, artefacts and ruins that Machu Picchu
Seizing this as an opportunity to build their own
Built on a virgin site largely abandoned after
gaveus,andcontinuetogiveasfurtherexcavations
empire,theSpanishconquestofthe16thcentury
Pachacuti’s death, and never occupied by Spaniards,
Machu Picchu provides archaeologists with
take place. As we work to interpret the society,
was advancing across Inca society and colonising it
the materials and artefacts of a complete royal
for itself. Conquistadors such as Spanish governor
the lives of the people who lived there and the
settlement. Hiram Bingham removed these for study
Francisco Pizarro were poised to step into the
circumstances that led to its abandonment, we
and they have just been returned to Peru a century
openingthatthisin-fightingcreated,andtheywere
later. They are of course of high quality although not
must also accept that there are plenty of questions
of outstanding beauty, but they do show what the
raisedbythesitethatwillneverbeanswered.This,
largely successful in their endeavour.
It certainly seems that Machu Picchu was
with Peru’s city in the sky.
64 abandonedinanorderlyfashion,perhapseven surely,isthesecretbehindtheworld’sfascination Inca elite used in their daily lives.