Archaeologists discover Incas temple

[Judi Lynn]

Archaeologists discover Incas temple

March 14 2008 at 09:24AM

By Andrew Whalen

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at a famed fortress overlooking the Inca capital of Cuzco, officials involved with the dig said on Thursday.

The temple on the periphery the Sacsayhuaman fortress includes 11 rooms thought to have held mummies and idols, lead archaeologist Oscar Rodriguez said.

The team of archaeologists that made the discoveries believe the structures predated the Inca empire but were then significantly developed and expanded.

"It's from both the Inca and pre-Inca cultures, it has a sequence," Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, said.

More:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20080314071138249C873148





Many more images here:

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-37,GGLD:en&q=Sacsayhuaman

Unbelievable!

[L. Coyote]

1. Check it out in Google Earth

http://jqjacobs.net/archaeo/sites/index.html#south

http://jqjacobs.net/archaeo/sites/cuzco.kmz

[Judi Lynn]

2. Unbelievable images. Unfathomable complexity, and we've been CLUELESS about it all,

and what's more, haven't seemed to give a damn.

I can't grasp why more effort was never exerted to get right in there and examine these things long, long ago.

The google earth site you've linked is indescribable. I'm still in the extremely primitive stage of learning about it, but what an asset!

It's so hard to accept the fact there is so MUCH priceless, totally important archeological material in Peru we've never ever heard about here.

[L. Coyote]

3. Check out this article. Technical reading.

The Archaeogeodesy Pages
http://jqjacobs.net/astro/archaeogeodesy.html

[L. Coyote]

4. Ancient Temple Discovered Among Inca Ruins March 31, NGeo online

Ancient Temple Discovered Among Inca Ruins
Kelly Hearn in Buenos Aires, Argentina for National Geographic News
March 31, 2008 - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080331-inca-temple.html

Scientists ... discovery upends theories that the Sacsayhuaman complex was used strictly for military purposes.

... Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park. "We believe that the temple we have found was used for ceremonial purposes."

The temple covers some 2,700 square feet (250 square meters) and contains 11 rooms thought to have held idols and mummies, Camacho said.

(VIDEO link)

The temple contained "funeral structures," he added, and was found next to "an enormous rocky formation" that researchers speculate was used as a "sacred place" prior to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. .............





One of the chroniclers who knew and wrote about Saxsayhuaman was Garcilaso de la Vega. He was born on April 12, 1539, in Cuzco, Perú, the illegitimate son of Spaniard Sebastian Garcilaso de la Vega, and an Incan princess. Garcilaso de la Vega wrote La Florida del Inca, the account of Hernando de Soto's expeditions north of Mexico, and Comentarios Reales de Los Incas.

Garcilaso de la Vega reported that he personally knew that Saxsayhuaman had three towers. Excavations in 1934 demonstrated the veracity and reliability of the chronicler's account. He pointed out that the Spanish called Saxsayhuaman a fortress and that in actuality it was a Royal House of the Sun. He wrote, "la fortaleza era casa del sol" ("the fortress was a House of the sun") and "los de otros naciones no podían entrar la fortaleza, porque era casa del sol" ("those of other nations were not able to enter the fortress, because it was a house of the sun").

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega wrote the following: "The largest and most magnificent work which they ordered built ..........



MORE: Saxsayhuaman, a Photo Gallery
http://jqjacobs.net/andes/saxsayhuaman.html

[Judi Lynn]

6. Thanks for these links, information, photos. Keeping the info. for future reference. n/t

[alfredo]

5. They have figured out that the limestone used in the building of their

cities changes the soil around the sites. The changes in the soil causes a change in the color of the foliage surrounding the sites. Knowing that, they can use satellite images to find ancient cities in South America.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Had never heard about this! Thanks, a lot. It's something you would never expect. n/t