Science Features

Machu Picchu withstands tourist onslaught 100 years on

By Juan Garff Jul 21, 2011, 8:20 GMT

A handout picture provided by Agencia Andina shows a view of the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Cusco, Peru, during the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of its discovery when US explorer Hiram Bingham arrived, 07 July 2011. EPA/EFE / ANDINA HANDOUT

Buenos Aires/Lima - Hiram Bingham knew what he was looking for: the 'Lost City' of the Incas.

On July 24, 1911, the American archaeologist found Machu Picchu, which had been unknown to researchers until then.

Few people could have imagined that a larger citadel was located on a ridge between two mountains, surrounded on three sides by the Urubamba river and invaded by the jungle.

People living in the region knew the ruins but were unaware of their historic significance. Older chronicles and more recent travel reports pointed to the city's existence.

Bingham, a professor of history at Yale University, was able to locate the site based on these texts. And there, in the Urubamba Valley 100 years ago, he met Peruvian Melchor Arteaga, who led him over treacherous ground and precipices.

Suddenly, two Indians appeared who led them up to narrow terraced fields laid out by the Incas. Eventually, they came across the stonewalls of the Inca city a bit further up.

Pachacuti, the founder of the Sun Empire, built Machu Picchu around 1450. In all likelihood, it served as both as his summer residence and as a religious site.

After the Spanish conquest, the city fell into oblivion for a long time. Bingham found few valuable artefacts in the city - no golden objects, but merely ordinary household goods, indicating that the inhabitants all left Machu Picchu together.

But for researchers, every item that gives clues to Inca life is valuable. Bingham took 6,000 objects back to Yale, where they were placed in the Peabody Museum. Peruvian authorities had allowed them to be taken out of the country on loan to the museum for a limited period.

In 2007, nearly a century later and just a few months after Machu Picchu was recognized as one of the Seven New World Wonders, an agreement was reached between the Peruvian government and the US university under which the Machu Picchu collection would be returned to Peru.

In late March 2011, Yale University handed over the first 366 objects in the collection to Peru. They were first exhibited in Lima and then brought to Cuzco. The remainder is due to arrive in Lima by late 2012.

The Peruvians now face the challenge of building a museum to house and exhibit them, which will probably be located in Cuzco, 112 kilometres from Machu Picchu.

The discovery of Machu Picchu suddenly thrust it into the limelight following centuries of isolation. Bingham published his report on the Andean treasure in National Geographic magazine,

The city, which lies more than 2,400 metres above sea level, became a symbol of earlier civilizations' close relationship with nature. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site in 1983.

Nowadays, a tourist onslaught is putting pressure on the region. In 2009, UNESCO sent a group of experts to find out whether the tourist numbers were posing an even bigger risk to Machu Picchu than the Conquistadores of old.

But the Inca city did not have to be included in the list of acutely endangered sites. Maintenance and daily tourist numbers limited to no more than 2,500 visitors help keep the risk to the monumental citadel at bay.

However, things are far more chaotic in Aguas Calientes, the only place en route to the site. There, hotels and restaurants have been built without much urban planning, and guides with at least some idea of the citadel can be hired.

Celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Machu Picchu are being more carefully planned. 'For Peruvians, it is an icon of national identity,' says Fernando Astete, the director of the Machu Picchu archaeological site. Any mention of Incas or Machu Picchu is synonymous with Peru, he said.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia made similar comments when opening the festivities on July 7, the anniversary of the announcement of the New World Wonder in 2007. The president called Machu Picchu a 'synthesis of Peruvianism.'

During the festivities, Agustin Lizarraga was hailed as the 'true discoverer' of Machu Pichu. Bingham found his surname engraved on a stone in the Inca citadel, dated 1902.