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Machu Picchu Described as Pilgrimage Site

Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

According to Magli, the pilgrimage to Machu Picchu avoided a much easier and faster route along the Urubamba River, instead ascending through the difficult and spectacular Inca trail, which ended at the gate of the town.

"The admitted visitors perhaps left their ritual offerings just near the entrance wall. Indeed, many peculiar stone pebbles, mainly of obsidian, have been recovered there," Magli said.

"The pilgrims were then confronted by the imposing view of the Huayna Picchu mountain. Most likely, this was their final destination. Indeed, the last part of the pilgrimage, oriented north, took place inside the town," Magli said.

The author of "Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy," Magli suggests that the ceremonial path into the city was conceived as a replica of the path followed by the first Incas in cosmological myth.

In their final leg, the pilgrims approached three important places: the so-called quarry, an area possibly connected with Mother Earth and the underground travel of the first Incas, the temple of the three windows (it was believed that the first Incas came out from one of the three windows), and the Intihuatana Pyramid, which resembled the sacred mountain Huayna Picchu, located at the end of the path.

According to Magli, the picture also fits with celestial cycles that appeared in the sky at the times of the Incas. These were dominated by the Milky Way, which was perceived as a "celestial river" having its terrestrial counterpart in the Urubamba River.

"Machu Picchu was located at the ideal, opposite crossroads between the terrestrial and the celestial rivers. It was the other end of the sun's path," Magli concluded.

According to Jean-Pierre Protzen, who teaches architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, the study brings an additional dimension to the site.

"Magli's argument that Machu Picchu was a pilgrimage site and not a royal estate is well worth considering, although it is in need of a much more substantial proof. There is no reason to believe that it could not have been both," Protzen, a leading expert on Inca architecture, told Discovery News.

Related Links:

arXiv.org

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Rossella Lorenzi's blog: Archaeorama