By Siet Wright (excerpt from Global Medieval Contexts 500 – 1500 Connections and Comparisons )    

In the heart of the Inca Empire nestled in the jungles of the Peruvian Andes, lies an architectural marvel that has stood the test of time. Historians believe this city palace complex was built during the height of the Inca rule in western South America, around the 15^th century. The five-mile complex of carved stone steps and citadels is thought to have been a royal retreat or spiritual center. The city holds multiple temples and towers throughout that led historians to believe it had significant importance to Inca rulers and spiritual leaders. It was possibly a trade hub linking the Inca empire’s 25,000 miles of roadways to other communities such as the Aztec and Olmec people of Mexico, and the Chavín of Peru.

The Incas were brilliant architects and used massive gray granite to construct the nearly 200 buildings in Machu Picchu. The religious buildings, however, were built using polygonal blocks that fitted together perfectly like a puzzle. These expert Inca masons did not use mortar, but made the polygonal blocks using stone axes, obsidian pebbles, and smoothed the edges with sand. The most revered structure in Machu Picchu, was the rounded Temple of the Sun. Priests observed how the shadows and light that entered the windows of the temple, created a sacred connection with the divine Sun God, Inti.

In the early 20^th Century, Machu Picchu was “discovered” by an American archaeologist who unveiled the ruins to the world. Multiple expeditions were sent to Peru to learn about who lived there and what daily life was like at the city’s peak. Hundreds of skeletal remains were unearthed, initially they were all believed to be women. Upon further examination, it was discovered the remains belong to people of all ages, sizes, and genders. Archaeologists also identified various sectors of the city that were used for different purposes, such as farming, residential neighborhoods, a royal palace, and a spiritual center. Machu Picchu was considered a “lost city” by white explorers, but local indigenous people were still farming the terraced region. These stepped agriculture terraces were nurtured by a complex aqueduct system which was still used in the 20^th century.

Certainly, Machu Picchu was never considered lost to the locals who likely kept a strong record of the place passed down through oral tradition. With only modern historic record keeping we are left with what was recorded by archaeologists in the 20^th Century. As we work to reclaim these cultures that were oppressed and nearly obliterated by colonization, there is much we don’t know. Future discoveries in collaboration with local authorities, will work to decolonize our views of conquered cultures. What is known is that the Inca were a superpower in South America, and mastered agricultural, military, economic, and architectural techniques. However, the Spanish invaders had superior weaponry and brought a smallpox plague that eradicated the strength of the majestic culture. Machu Picchu is a testament to the mastery of the Inca people.

Machu Picchu was abandoned about a hundred years after its completion, possibly due to the invasion of Spanish invaders who all but destroyed the Inca Empire. The ruins and remains of the Inca culture help debunk myths about the area and requires learning from evidence instead of superimposing preexisting judgements with ethnocentric standards of one’s own culture, rather than by the standards of the culture studied.

Travelling Artifacts

Although, Machu Picchu was known to the local people of Peru at the time of its “discovery” in 1911 by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham, the ruins were unknown to the world. The awestruck Bingham immediately wrote a book called, “The Lost City of the Incas” that sent swarms of tourists to Peru to find the magical city. Bingham began to excavate artifacts from the site, to learn about the functions of the city. He took these artifacts to Yale University to be studied, which sparked a feud between the United States and Peru that would last a hundred years.

When Bingham returned to Peru to retrieve more artifacts, he found that the Peruvian government had passed a law forbidding artifacts to be removed from the country. Peru was anxious to preserve its cultural heritage from looting and offered a resolution that would allow the artifacts to go to Yale to be studied under one condition; that the items taken would be returned to Peru whenever they asked.

For a hundred years after receiving these artifacts, Yale denied the validity of this request claiming that the laws at the time of the original excavation of the artifacts did not apply in this scenario. It wasn’t until 2008, when Peru’s President Alan Garcia sued the U.S. federal court for failure to comply with the agreement. After lobbying President Barack Obama, the Yale University President Richard Levin intervened. He argued that Yale was meeting the original agreement by studying the artifacts at the Peabody Museum, but agreed that since millions of people are now flocking to Peru to learn about Machu Picchu, all parties would be better served if the artifacts were returned to the university in Cuzco.

RESOURCES

http://www.historyhaven.com/documents/trade_americas.pdf

https://www.history.com/topics/south-america/machu-picchu#section_3

https://www.britannica.com/place/Machu-Picchu

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35707634

https://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132083890/yale-returns-machu-picchu-artifacts-to-peru

http://www.discover-peru.org/machu-picchu-architecture/

https://explorecuscoperu.com/2019/08/02/morning-visit-to-the-machu-picchu-museum/

Research question:

Is removing artifacts from lost civilizations justified, when the items are secured in a safe house and studied for the public’s best interest? Consider artifacts of historic importance that were recently destroyed in the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. Research a contemporary example of cultural artifacts that have been repatriated to their original home, and if there is an argument for placing them in secure locations like the British Museum for posterity.