Choquequirao -
Machu Picchu's Sacred Sister Exploring the Last Inca Refuge
By Gary Ziegler
of Adventure Specialists
Just below the
equator lies a place of mystery and romance. Raging glacier fed
rivers roar through deep canyons slicing the igneous spine of the
Andes. Towering ice peaks hover like sentinels over mist-shrouded
jungles. Lost civilizations and forgotten cities beckon the
adventurous. An immense area on the eastern slope of the Andes, The
Vilcabamba, remains unmapped and one of the least explored areas on
Earth.
In the year 1536,
three years after the fall of the Inca empire to Spanish adventurer
Francisco Pizarro, the Incas staged a rebellion against the
Conquistadors. Manco Inca, grandson of the great emperor Huayna
Capac, led his followers in retreat from a failed siege of Cusco.
The rebels established court in the remote Vilcabamba triangle,
maintaining vestiges of Inca tradition, religion and statehood out
of reach of Spanish authorities. A centuries old conflict has raged
concerning the location and identification of Manco's capital,
Vilcabamba Vieja and other important sites including Machu Picchu.
During May 1994
and October 1995, my self, a Peruvian trained archaeologist/historian
from Westcliffe, Colorado, and British ornithologist/explorer, Barry
Walker, who lives in Cusco, led an expedition searching for Manca's
bastion. Together we had logged more than twenty-five years studying
the ancient civilizations of Peru, and we were determined to follow
previously unstudied Inca highways to Choquiquirao. We hoped to
solve the mystery surrounding the location of the last Inca cities
and a sacred ceremonial center, probable refuge of the last Inca
ruler. We now believe that Choquiquirao is that center.
Eco-tourism, a
concept of using paying participants to fund operations, supported
our expeditions. In 1994, ten guests, twelve support staff and
twenty eight horses and mules accompanied us on a rugged 15 day
adventure across ridges and valleys at altitudes varying between
4,000 and 15,000 feet. I returned with a group the following year.
Using a Garman GPS navigational computer, we charted the new finds
and plotted Inca roads. Working with Peruvian archaeologist, Perci
Paz, members helped clear and excavate a temple.
Findings of the
expeditions indicate that Choquequirao is a much more important site
than had previously been thought. The central area represents
complexes of carefully constructed stone ceremonial buildings
associated with baths, fountains and canals. Other areas contain
compounds of multiple storied dwellings and store houses. Massive
stone-walled agricultural terraces dominate the approaches. Analysis
of building material suggests a unique architectural style
necessitated by brittle metamorphic rock differing from that of
Machu Picchu and the Cusco area. The discovery of the remains of an
Inca town and temple near Choquiquirao indicated the presence of a
substantial population.
The expeditions
established that a major Inca road connected Choquequirao with
Vitcos, fitting the description given by the only known visitor to
the area during the time of the last Incas. Recent identification of
important Inca sites with sacred geography places Choquequirao as
one of the most important of ceremonial centers. An artificially
truncated hill near the principal plaza served as a ritual platform
and celestial observatory affording sighting to six different ice
peaks considered sacred to ancient Peruvians.
The equatorial
sun, The Inca God Inti, sets directly over Nevado Panta, closest of
the high peaks. Like the famous Machu Picchu, Choquequirao is
perched on a high ridge overlooking one of the two great rivers,
sacred Apu or gods to the Inca, that rush downward to the Amazon.
Choquiquirao is three times higher above the river, 6000 feet in all,
than Machu Picchu. First visited and described to the western world
by a French explorer during the eighteenth century, Choquequirao is
best known from a visit by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1910.
Remoteness and inaccessibility have discouraged visitors and serious
study. It is estimated that fewer than 150 outsiders have viewed the
site in this century.
A Peruvian
archaeological team with limited funding has recently mapped out the
major site complex and has begun restoration and preservation of
part of the structures. Although only limited excavation has yet
been undertaken, ample evidence exists that Choquequirao was
continuously inhabited and that construction continued after the
arrival of the Spanish to Peru in 1532. Choquequirao appears to have
been abandoned undiscovered by Spanish authorities.
