machu picchu before bingham

8/14/2019 Machu Picchu before Bingham

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extended the Inca Empire to include vast

territories and numerous civilizations.

Cusi became known as Pachacuti, He

Who Changes the World.

The World Changer conned Cuscos rivers

to stone channels and had his capital com-

pletely rebuilt. He created the Inca system o

warehouses and roads, with chasquimes-sengers to maintain rapid communication. He

dened the calendar, estivals, customs and

laws or his people to ollow and organized a

warrior class or the conquests to come.

It was Pachacuti who ordered the holiest

Inca site, the Sun Temple or Coricancha, to

be constructed. For that, he gathered the

best goldsmiths and told them to ashion a

lie-sized gure o a young boy, resembling

Machu Picchu beore Bingham

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Archaeologist Paolo Greer looks atthe history o Machu Picchu beoreit was ofcially discovered byHiram Bingham in 1911

In 1471, the year the Conquistador

Francisco Pizarro was born, Pachacuti Yupanqui

died. Pachacuti was the ninth Inca andAtahualpas Great Grandather. When he was

young, Pachacuti was known simply as Cusi

Yupanqui. Then, the Inca kingdom was small

and their enemies, the Chancas, attacked their

home, Cusco. Cusis Father, Viracocha, and

his six brothers fed, while he, the youngest,

stayed to successully deend the city.

In the decades that ollowed, Cusi

Yupanqui and his sons, Yamque and Topa,

In 1551, the ViceroyMendoza ordered Betanzos

to record the history o

the Incas.....but theinitial eighteen chapterswere lost or more than

400 years.

Here is Berns own sketch of the Flight of Steps fromPutucussi to the ruined towns of the Metalworkers.


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The site o La Maquina is now Aguas

Calientes, the community just below

Machu Picchu.

In 1867, Berns purchased twenty-ve

kilometers o the northern bank o the

Urubamba/Vilcanota River, next to the

amous citadel. His estate, the Cercado

de San Antonio or Torontoy, extended

above and ar downriver rom the present

ruins o Torontoy, and up to the mountain

crests, directly opposite o Machu Picchu.

Even today, this region within plain

sight o the best known ancient city in

the Americas is virtually unknown.

Pre-Bingham Research

I rst walked the popular Inca trail in

1974, several years beore I encountered

history o the area that pre-dated Hiram

Bingham. Like many a good adventure,

this one started with the serendipitous

discovery o an old map.

I came upon the sketch during one

o my numerous trips to the U.S. Library

o Congress. It had no title or date,

although it indicated the locations o

write the Churchs religious conversion

manuals and Spanish-Quechua dictionar-

ies. In 1551, the Viceroy Mendoza ordered

Betanzos to record the history o the

Incas. Betanzos unique work, Suma ynarracion de los Yngas, was nished in1557. However, all but the initial eighteen

chapters were lost or more than 400 years.

In 1987, a complete manuscript, with an

additional sixty-our chapters, was ound in

Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The Inca Garcilaso

produced his Royal Commentaries in 1609,

based mostly on what he remembered as a

child beore leaving Per in 1560.Bernabe Cobo, like Garcilaso, among

the most cited o Inca authorities, relied

on the scant records available in his day,

publishing his history in 1653, nearly

one hundred years ater Betanzos direct

translations rom Atahualpas cousin-wie

and their surviving relatives.

Perhaps, it was then that Cuxirimay,

a.k.a. Doa Angelina Yupanqui, nally

spoke her good ortune by preserving

the history o her vanquished ancestors.

Without the telling o her story by Juan

de Betanzos, and his Narrations recent

rediscovery, much o the Incas own ac-

count might have been lost orever.

The Rediscovery o Patallacta

FromInca Land - Explorations inthe Highlands of Peru (1912) by HiramBingham: On the aternoon o July 23rd

we reached a hut called La Maquina,

where travelers requently stop or the

night. The name comes rom the presence

here o some large iron wheels, parts o a

machine destined never to overcome thediculties o being transported all the way

to a sugar estate in the lower valley, and

years ago let here to rust in the jungle.

The rusted machine that the Yale ex-

plorer wrote about had nothing to do with

sugar cane. It was a sawmill, brought to

Per beore Binghams birth by a German,

Augusto R. Berns, or the purpose o pro-

ducing ties or the Southern Per Railroad.

the brilliantly shining child he had seen in

a vision while protecting Cusco.

Pachacuti personally placed the nished

statue in an interior room o the Coricancha,

where only he, certain lords and special caretak-

ers were allowed to enter to revere the childs

gure, the most sacred icon in the realm.

Like Pachacuti, the golden sculpture

was considered a representative o the sun.

On the same day that Pachacuti in-

stalled the boys image in the Sun Temple,

he had a sugarloa shaped stone, an

intihuatana or sun hitch, placed in the

center o the principal plaza o Cusco. Thespecially carved rock represented the sun,

or one and all to worship.

Although Pachacutis victories stretched

throughout the Incas known world, his

initial invasions were in the Urubamba

Valley. It was there that the aged leader

had a village built or hispanaca or de-scendant amily to care or his tomb and

to serve his memory.

He called the town Patallacta, High

City. It is now known as Machu Picchu.

The Inca History is Recorded

Huayna Capac, Pachacutis grandson,

chose the newborn Cuxirimay (Speaks

Good Fortune) to eventually wed his son,

Atahualpa. Ater Huayna Capacs death,

Cuxirimay was in Atahualpas camp when

he was captured by Pizarro. She stayed

with the imprisoned Inca leader until his

execution by the Spaniards.

Following Atahualpas murder, Cuxirimay

became Doa Angelina Yupanqui, and

Francisco Pizarros mistress. She bore him

two sons, Juan and Francisco.When Pizarro was assassinated in 1541,

Angelina Yupanqui was nineteen years old.

In 1544, Doa Angelina became the

wie o Juan de Betanzos, a Quechua in-

terpreter or the Conquistadors. Following

the conquest o Per, Betanzos became

the most respected translator or the

Viceroyalty. In the same year that he wed

Angelina, Betanzos was commissioned to

Ghrings 1877 citation: the fortsof Chuquillusca, Torontoy and Picchu.


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the ceramics, shards and mummied bones

that Bingham took back to Yale rom Machu

Picchu. I was delighted to read that those

artiacts, at long last, would be returned to

their rightul owners, the Peruvian people

(update: apparently, Perus ormer rst

ladys, Eliane Karp de Toledos, February

2008 editorial to the New York Times, may

have stopped the exchange).

In any case, I am also concerned that a car-

ton o moldy documents, perhaps the greatest

collection o pre-Bingham Machu Picchu inor-

mation, having already been repatriated, may

no longer exist. Much o what I know o Bernsescapades on the Vilcanota came rom my brie

preview o the les I examined in that box.

There were twenty-our olders con-

taining the Germans sketches, notes and

correspondence. He mentioned a Mr. Oliver,

who had been two years living in those

parts. I ound a sample certicate or The

Incas Mines Gold & Silver Mining Company

187-. One older, alone, had ty-seven

envelopes, addressed to potential patrons.

There was a good drawing o Berns camp.

I suspect it was o the Maquina huts that

Bingham saw in ruins, orty-plus years later.

Then, that history was in a University o

Caliornia library. In the interim, it had

been returned to Per. I traced the line o

possession rom Caliornia back to Lima

and eventually ound the unique records,

uncatalogued, in a large cardboard box, ull

o bookworms and home to a nest o mice.

I spent a week, sitting between the

desks o two librarians, pouring over the

rank trove. Regrettably, I was allowed to

copy nothing, nor even to take pictures

(today, the Peruvian National Library

permits reproductions o older books and

ephemera to be made with ones own cam-era or a charge o two dollars per photo).

I took notes, o course, all the time pro-

testing that this national treasure should be

better preserved. In any case, I considered

the opportunity just a tantalizing rst peek.

A couple years ago, the Biblioteca

Nacional o Per opened its new quarters.

Most things probably made the move okay.

One box o musty papers, ull o wormholes

and mouse droppings, apparently did not.

Much has been said and written about

It would have been in the same spot where,

today, Aguas Calientes thrives and hundreds o

thousands o tourists have caught the shuttle

or a short ride up the hill to Machu Picchu.

There were seven handwritten drats

o the Particulars o Torontoy, Berns

detailed advertisement to sell his prop-

erty. From one version to the next, it was

telling how he embellished a word here or

added another lost mine there.

The box even contained Harry Singers

original map, in two colors! Although Berns

own yellow gumi gusty plan was nowhere

to be ound, there were several clear whitecopies. He hand drew lines on them, rom

the Saw Mill to just downriver, where he

hoped the government would build a bridge.

One envelope caught my curiosity as

much as anything else. It contained only

rusted metal shards. It was without expla-

nation and addressed to a Mr. Mahon.

Why would Berns send heavy pieces o

corroded metal to another country?

I had an idea, and it had to do with

crossing the river.

In 1877, Ghring had dispelled his ellow

countrymans incredible claims o mineral

wealth. Still, there was something else,

something easier to work and possibly richer!

A sketch by Poker Harry Singer,Berns partner


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The President probably instructed

Palma to support the Germans venture,

encouraging the Director to research

Machu Picchu, long beore Hiram Bingham

stumbled upon the ruins. Another piece

o the Berns aair was brought to light

by historian Mariana Mould de Pease.

In her 2003 book, Machu Picchu y elCdigo de tica de la Sociedad de ArqueologaAmericana, Ms. Mould published a letter she haduncovered among the Yale papers o Bingham.

Dated June 16, 1887, it was rom the

oce o the Peruvian President Cceres to

August R. Berns, giving him permission toloot Inca tombs (construcciones gentilicas).

Ms. Mould published the letter as an

example o the leniency with which Peruvian

ruins were mined in earlier years. What she

did not then know, because the letter gave

no clue, was that the huaca to be spoiled

was the one we now call Machu Picchu.

The government wanted ten percent o the

value o any gold, silver or jewels the German

ound, although it granted the remainder,

as well as any objects o copper, clay, wood,

stone, and everything else, to Berns without

any urther obligations, not even custom ees,

should he expatriate his treasures.

Berns was required to pay or a Cusco o-

cial to make sure the State got its cut, and

the authorities would supply police protec-

tion, i Berns paid their expenses. InIncaLandBingham wrote: With the possibleexception o one mining prospector, no

one in Cuzco had seen the ruins o Machu

Picchu or appreciated their importance. No

one had any realization o what an extraor-

dinary place lay on top o the ridge.

Although Bingham was directed to

Machu Picchu, not by Augusto Berns but by

Albert Giesecke, the head o the Universityo Cuzco, Berns was probably the prospector

Bingham had heard about, the one who had

been to Machu Picchu decades beore him.

Who was buried in Grants Tomb?

It is accepted that Machu Picchu was

built by Pachacuti Yupanqui, the Genghis

From a dierent source, I discovered an 1887

booklet explaining Berns newer project,

a venture he called Compaia Annima

Limitada Huacas del Inca, a company hav-

ing to do with the exploitation o an Inca

huaca or sacred place. This was no longerabout sawing wood or the railroad or mining

dubious claims o gold or silver.

Berns was ater plunder!

On July 16, 1887, he wrote: During

my stay in those provinces or our years

almost continuously, my lengthy investiga-

tions and constant expeditions or the pur-

pose, helped by my proessional knowledgeand casual circumstances, I was able to

discover the existence o signicant rustic

buildings and underground structures that

had been closed with stones, some o

them careully carved, which will undoubt-

edly contain objects o great value, and

orm part o those treasures o the Incas.

This company has the participation o

the Supreme government and is sponsored

by various respectable people o this capital

city, as well as several distinguished cuzque-

os and antique collectors who will orm the

directive committee, all persons o the high-

est honor inspiring the highest condence

and guaranteeing the best results.

The ocers or the enterprise were:

President, Augusto R. Berns; Vice President,

Jos M. Macedo; Cashier, Fernando Umlau;

Secretary, Jose Runo Macedo. Principal mem-

bers o the company were: Luis Carranza, Luis

Esteves, David Matto, Francis L. Crosby, Jacobo

Bakus, Arnaldo Hilker and Ricardo Palma.

Dr. Jos Mariano Macedo was a proessor

o pathology at the San Marcos University

in Lima and an ocer o the National

Medical Academy. He also owned a consider-

able collection o ancient ceramics. Whenthe war with Chile broke out, Macedo took

his collection to Paris and later sold the

bulk o the artiacts to a Museum in Berlin.

Berns partner, Ricardo Palma, was appar-

ently the well known author and director o

the National Library o Per rom 1883-1912.

Berns oten reerred to his close cooperation

and help rom the Supreme Government. By

that, he meant President Cceres.

Even today, this regionwithin plain sight o

the best known ancientcity in the Americas isvirtually unknown.

Paolo, in 1996, on the trail to Machu Picchu. Likethe Incas before me, I had nearly forty kilos (85lbs) in my pack and a tump line on my foreheadto carry the extra weight.


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machu picchu before bingham

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