The Purpose Of Machu Picchu
The date is the twenty fourth of July 1911, set against looming peaks cloaked in snow and wreathed in clouds, was Machu Picchu. Before Hiram Bringham’s eyes, rising from the green undergrowth of neglect, were the imperial stones that have entranced and mystified visitors and scholars alike.
American historian Hiram Bingham was an assistant professor, from the University of Yale. After stumbling through the terrain that is the valleys of the Peruvian mountains, 70 miles (112 kilometres) from the capital Cuzco. It was only by chance that Hiram found the ruins of Machu Picchu, after realising that it wasn’t the ruins of Vilcabamba another lost Incan city. But finding Machu Picchu proved to be easier than solving the mystery of its place in …show more content…
The first of the three hypotheses was it could have been the traditional birthplace of the Incan culture and society, second it could have been the final stronghold of the Incans struggle of the Spanish conquest of the 16th century, and last but not least it could have been the scared spiritual, religious place occupied by the chosen women, the ''virgins of the sun,'' and presided over by priests who worshiped the sun god Inti .
With any society, religion plays an important role in the culture, laws, and up bring of a civilisation. Religion played a significant role in the lives of the Incan people. Within the Incan culture, religion was closely connected to nature. Incans worshiped the Sun, Moon, Earth and Water gods. They also believed that momentous natural structures, such as High Mountain tops, underground springs and large stones were a sacred place.
So was it just coincidental that Machu Picchu was built on top of a Mountain, a considered sacred place in the religious aspects of Incan culture? Or was it a strategic move to become closer to the sun god …show more content…
An American Osteologist George Eaton said in the early 20th century that the remains were nearly all females .
This theory was then questioned in the year 2000 by John Verano, “who is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Tulane University, where he teaches courses in human osteology, paleopathology, forensic anthropology, and the bioarchaeology of mummies” . John’s research area is in Andean South America, which practically focuses on the prehistoric populations of coastal and highland areas of Peru. John Verano went over the skeletal remains that were found at Machu Picchu and discovered that half were female and the other half were male.
George Eaton based his findings on the relatively diminutive size of the Andean people, who are typically shorter and less robust than the European and African skeletons with which Eaton would have been more familiar with, also Eaton would not have known the skeletal gender differences between male or females, for it was not known that males and females have different bone structures back
American historian Hiram Bingham was an assistant professor, from the University of Yale. After stumbling through the terrain that is the valleys of the Peruvian mountains, 70 miles (112 kilometres) from the capital Cuzco. It was only by chance that Hiram found the ruins of Machu Picchu, after realising that it wasn’t the ruins of Vilcabamba another lost Incan city. But finding Machu Picchu proved to be easier than solving the mystery of its place in …show more content…
The first of the three hypotheses was it could have been the traditional birthplace of the Incan culture and society, second it could have been the final stronghold of the Incans struggle of the Spanish conquest of the 16th century, and last but not least it could have been the scared spiritual, religious place occupied by the chosen women, the ''virgins of the sun,'' and presided over by priests who worshiped the sun god Inti .
With any society, religion plays an important role in the culture, laws, and up bring of a civilisation. Religion played a significant role in the lives of the Incan people. Within the Incan culture, religion was closely connected to nature. Incans worshiped the Sun, Moon, Earth and Water gods. They also believed that momentous natural structures, such as High Mountain tops, underground springs and large stones were a sacred place.
So was it just coincidental that Machu Picchu was built on top of a Mountain, a considered sacred place in the religious aspects of Incan culture? Or was it a strategic move to become closer to the sun god …show more content…
An American Osteologist George Eaton said in the early 20th century that the remains were nearly all females .
This theory was then questioned in the year 2000 by John Verano, “who is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Tulane University, where he teaches courses in human osteology, paleopathology, forensic anthropology, and the bioarchaeology of mummies” . John’s research area is in Andean South America, which practically focuses on the prehistoric populations of coastal and highland areas of Peru. John Verano went over the skeletal remains that were found at Machu Picchu and discovered that half were female and the other half were male.
George Eaton based his findings on the relatively diminutive size of the Andean people, who are typically shorter and less robust than the European and African skeletons with which Eaton would have been more familiar with, also Eaton would not have known the skeletal gender differences between male or females, for it was not known that males and females have different bone structures back