Mitchell1

Machu Picchu or Old Mountain is located 7,875 ft above sea level on a ridge above the Urubamba Valley and "covers over five square miles." [3] Machu Picchu is 50 miles away from the center of all Inca activity in the capital of Cuzco. "Machu Picchu is the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire,"[1] and it's use is still unknown. Macchu Picchu was built around 1450 and was forgotten for centuries until it was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. Bingham was an American archaeologist from Yale University.

Though the use of Machu Picchu was unknown we do know it was a "completely self-contained city, surrounded by agricultural terraces sufficient to feed the population, and watered by natural springs."[2] One theory is that Machu Picchu was an "astronomical observatory. The Intihuatana stone (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."[2] Machu Picchu is believed to be a spiritual site as well. It is believed when people "touch their foreheads to the stone, the Intihuatana opens one's vision to the spirit world." [2] Intihuatana is the "highest point in the main part of the ruins… the Intihuatana sits at the center of four mountains directly north south and east west, twice a year on the solar equinoxes, the sun rises and sets due east and due west connecting machu picchu and the the Intihuatana to the mountains and the sun the Inca worshiped"[3]

One of the many marvels of Machu Picchu is the stone work. Machu Picchu is said to have the best stone work through out the Incan empire. Machu Picchu had an on site stone quarry, which was used to build Machu Picchu. It was believed that "stone was an expression of the ceremonial and spiritual life of the Incas." [3] The stone work at Machu Picchu is so precise that it has survived "five times longer than the empire ,"[3] and no morter has been used to keep the rocks together. The stones are so closely fit that not even a credit card can fit into the cracks.

"Machu Picchu." 04 May 2008  [1] "Machu Picchu." 04 May 2008 <[|http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/peru/machu_picchu.html>.] [2] "Machu Picchu: Lost City of the Incas." __Digging For The Truth.__ 04 July 2007. [3] "Machu Picchu." 04 May 2008 <[|http://commissionexpeditions.org/machu%20picchu.jpg>.] [4] "Detail Stone Work." 04 May 2008 <[|http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/peru/images/detail-stone-work-500.jpg>.] [5]