Machu Picchu Research Paper

The ruins of Machu Picchu discovered in 1911 by archaeologist Hiram Bingham. Machu Picchu flourished while th Inca people certainly used the Andean mountain top (7972 feet elevation), erecting many hundreds of stone structures from the early 1400's, legends and myths indicate that Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in the Quechua language) was revered as a sacred place from a far earlier time. Invisible from below and completely self-contained, and surrounded by agricultural terraces sufficient to feed the population, and watered by natural springs. Machu Picchu seems to have been utilized by the Incas as a secret ceremonial city.One of Machu Picchu's primary functions was that of astronomical observatory. The Intihuatana stone also (meaning Hitching Post of the Sun) has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods.

At midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stands almost directly above the pillar, creating no shadow at all. At this precise moment the sun "sits with all his might upon the pillar" and is for a moment "tied" to the rock. At these periods, the Incas held ceremonies at the stone in which they "tied the sun" to halt its northward movement in the sky. There is also an Intihuatana alignment with the December solstice (the summer solstice of the southern hemisphere), when at sunset the sun sinks behind Pumasillo (the Puma's claw), the most sacred mountain of the western Vilcabamba range, but the shrine itself is primarily equinoctial. Sunlight plays an important role in understanding the design of this fabled Inca city. Inca architects designed practical homes for Machu's residents. They also marked in their creations, the growing connection between time and