Machu Picchu in Context: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Human Past PDF
Preview Machu Picchu in Context: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Human Past
Mariusz Ziółkowski Nicola Masini José M. Bastante Editors Machu Picchu in Context Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Human Past Machu Picchu in Context · · Mariusz Ziółkowski Nicola Masini José M. Bastante Editors Machu Picchu in Context Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Human Past Editors MariuszZiółkowski NicolaMasini CentreforAndeanStudies CNR-InstituteofHeritageScience UniversityofWarsaw TitoScalo,Potenza,Italy Warsaw,Poland JoséM.Bastante NationalArchaeologicalParkofMachu Picchu DecentralizedDirectorateofCulture ofCusco Cusco,Peru ISBN978-3-030-92765-3 ISBN978-3-030-92766-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92766-0 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature SwitzerlandAG2022 Chapter5islicensedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttribution-ShareAlike4.0International License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).Forfurtherdetailsseelicenseinformationin thechapter. Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuse ofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,and transmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilar ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthors,andtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Foreword by Fernando Astete TheHistoricalSanctuary—NationalArchaeologicalParkofMachuPicchu(SHM- PANM) is a mixed heritage site of Exceptional Universal Value, which must be protected,maintainedandconservedasapriority.Thefactthatitishometomorethan sixtyarchaeologicalmonumentsinterconnectedbyanetworkofpre-Hispanicroads, anditsharmonywiththenaturalenvironmentmakeitaplaceofexceptionalbeauty and an unlimited source of information for the different branches of knowledge. Oneofthemoststrikingfeaturesoftheareaarethedifferencesinaltitude.Interms ofminimumaltitudes,attheeasternendoftheSHM-PANM,thelowerpartofthe Salapunku archaeological monument reaches 2,625 metresabove sealevel (masl), whileatthewesternend,attheconfluenceoftheAhobambaandVilcanotarivers, the altitude is 1,725 metres above sea level (masl). In reference to the maximum altitudes,inthesouthoftheSHM-PANM,thesnow-cappedSalkantayreaches6,271 masl and, in the northeast, the summit of Waqaywillka (Verónica) reaches 5,750 masl. The Inka had a thorough knowledge of geography and the tutelary deities of the area, which allowed them to define a suitable area for the construction of the MachuPicchullaqtaandtheotherarchaeologicalmonumentsintheregion.Inthis way, a strategic location was determined from a religious and economic point of view,fromwhereanextensiveterritorycouldbeoptimallyadministeredandaccess totheenormousnaturalresourcesoftheeasternchainoftheAndescouldbegained. This llaqta has been habitually described as marvellous, extraordinary, fabu- lous, mystical and telluric, as the maximum expression of Inca architecture and engineering, the perfect symbiosis between human work and nature, among other appellatives,havingbeenstudiedfromthepointofviewofvariousdisciplines. In addition to the sacred geography in which it is immersed and the Vilcanota river surrounding it on three sides, the quality of the constructions in the llaqta is alsoadeterminingfactorindefiningitssacredcharacter,aswellasanotherelement of utmost importance: water as a resource that reaches the nuclear area through a complexsystemofcanalisationfromtheslopesoftheMachuPicchumountain. InAndeanconstructionrationality,architecturalworksareadaptedtothetopog- raphy of the terrain by terracing. This rationality is generally opposed to the v vi ForewordbyFernandoAstete contemporary conception, where it is generally preferred to achieve a more or less homogeneous surface to begin the construction process. The construction of the Machu Picchu llaqta required the participation of specialists in architecture, engineering and astronomy, as well as a great deal of manpower and thousands of man-hoursfortheworkofpreparingthelandandtransportingmaterials. Inkaarchitecturerepresentstheoriginalideaofwhatinmoderntimesisknown asorganicarchitecture.Thatistosay,theInkaknewhowtotakeadvantageofthe granitechaosofthesitetobuilddifferenttypesofstructuresfordifferentpurposes, suchasceremonial,housingandproductionenclosures,amongothers,bymeansof adequatestabilisationandprotectionoftheslopes. The processing, analysis, contrasting and cross-checking of all the information concerning the SHM-PANM disseminated from the different perspectives of the social and natural sciences since 1912, has allowed us to achieve a better under- standing of the cultural development that took place in the area and the adjacent spaces;primarilyabouttheoriginandfunctionofthellaqtaofMachuPicchu,where most of the archaeological, conservation and restoration interventions have been carriedout. TheSHM-PANM,andinparticulartheMachuPicchullaqtawithinit,istheicon of our national identity and the best-known image of Peru worldwide. Therefore, the research and conservation work that is carried out is permanent and allows us to deepen our knowledge of the pre-Hispanic societies that developed in its area, aswellas,throughefficientmanagement,toguaranteetheproperenjoymentofthis heritageasset,ensuringitsintegrityforfuturegenerations. This publication is the result of a long collaboration between the Head of the PANM,ledbymyselfandlaterbyJoséBastante,andtheCentreforAndeanStudies oftheUniversityofWarsaw,ledbyDrMariuszZiółkowski.IamgladthatDrNicola MasiniandhisteamfromtheConsiglioNazionaledelleRicercheinItalyhavebeen invited to this fruitful international collaboration and have contributed with their valuablestudies. This book presents research carried out by different professionals under strict scientificstandardsandcontributestotheclarificationofnumeroustopics,someof which had not been addressed in previous studies. This type of publication brings useverclosertoathoroughunderstandingofthesocio-culturalprocessesthattook place in the area from the Late Formative period, through the Inka and Colonial periods,tothepresentday. FernandoAstete DirecciónDesconcentradadeCultura Cusco,Peru Foreword by Ivan Ghezzi The literature on the Incas, their empire, culture, architecture, infrastructure, and theirothertechnicalandtechnologicalachievementsisvast.Yet,muchlessisknown about the world-famous XVth century Machu Picchu site, located on a hilltop in the Urubamba River valley of Cuzco, Peru. The present volume, a compilation of eighteenpaperscoveringawiderangeoftopics,helpsfillthatimportantgap. ThissampleofthemanymultidisciplinarystudiescarriedoutattheMachuPicchu siteisorganisedintothreesections.PartIoffersthecontextnecessarytounderstand thissettlement.Itbeginswiththephysiographicandenvironmentalsetting,whichis consideredaresultofadvancedenvironmentalengineeringtechniques,aswellasa sanctuaryfortheconservationofthepark´soutstandingbiodiversity.Achapteron thegeologicalsettingofthesite,mainlygranitoidbodieswithinthemainriftsystem, detailstheimportantgeomorphologicalrisksinthesurroundingsofMachuPicchu, andapreliminarymasterplanforthemitigationandmanagementofinstabilitiesin itssteepslopes.Thenextchaptercomparesandcontraststhe“historicalchronology”, developedbyJohnH.Rowein1945,andtheabsolute(radiocarbon)chronologyto understandtheexpansionoftheIncastate,usingthebrand-newcalibrationcurves IntCal20andSHCal20.Inthefollowingchapter,theInca“buildingculture”isusedto offerthecontextnecessarytounderstandthearchitectureofMachuPicchu,whose building techniques are extremely complex and notable for their “almost perfect geometric and harmonic articulation”. Finally, a systematic archaeoastronomical approachisappliedtorevealalignmentswithamarkedpreferencefororientations towards sunrise on the June Solstice from structures and architectural ensembles locatedinthemainMachuPicchusiteoritssurroundings. Part II consists of another five chapters related to the application of the natural sciences and technology to archaeological sites. Earth observation technologies applied to the study of cultural heritage in the first chapter demonstrates the great valueofremotesensingtoprotectthenaturalandculturallandscape.Thefollowing chapterpresentstheresultsofthefirstarchaeogeophysicalresearchatMachuPicchu, derived from georadar and geomagnetic surveys, with the goal of exploring the subsoilinsearchofpotentialburiedstructures.Next,achapterpresentstheadvan- tages of airborne LiDAR technology to detect architectural and archaeological vii viii ForewordbyIvanGhezzi remainshiddenundertheforestcoverofthesanctuary,especiallywhenitissupple- mentedbyclose-rangeUAVplatformsthatallowformoredetaileddatacollection in selected areas. The fourth chapter in this section presents a metrological study of the Machu Picchu citadel, applying the cosine quantogram method to the data provided by the 3D laser survey, with the aim of unveiling standards in the Inca measuring system. It identified two separate systems of Inca measures, based on differentbasicunits.Finally,theresultsofthearchaeologicalresearchperformedat theChachabambasitearepresentedanddiscussed. Part III presents ten chapters with new data on archaeological and historical researchperformedonthesite,aswellasotherrelatedsitesandinfrastructureatthe MachuPicchuNationalArchaeologicalPark.First,itpresentsthenewarchaeological andinterdisciplinaryresearchatthesite,includinganewsectorisation.Second,the archaeologicalandhydraulicresearchatthe“waterfountain”(phaqchainQuechua language)ofChachabamba,tosetthefunctionofarchitecturalsolutionsandmodifi- cationsrecordedatthissite.Third,itpresentsresultsoftheUnderwaterArchaeology programinthelakessituatednearthepiedmontofSalkantaymountain,whereritual ceremonies dedicated to the lakes were performed. Additionally, the pictographs (theso-calledquillqasinQuechua)locatedatseveralrockywallsalongtheLower Vilcanota basin, related to the Marcavalle Formative culture. It also contains an ethnohistoricalstudyofpost-Conquestdocumentsonthesiteanditssurroundings, whichthrowslightontheevolutionoflandtenureandtoponyms.Anotherchapter coversthechemicalstudyofthebiodeteriorationofthestonescomposingthestruc- turesofMachuPicchu.ThefinalchapterpresentsthelogisticsofIncaconstruction processesfromdatayieldedbythestudyoffoursignificantbuildingsatthesite. Wewarmlywelcomethisvolume,whichbringstogetherdetaileddataandresults from various interdisciplinary studies carried out at Machu Picchu over the last decade,withemphasisonthescientificandtechnologicalapplicationstoarchaeology, asanimportantcontributiontotheunderstandingofthismagnificentWorldHeritage Site,andtothefieldofIncastudiesingeneral. Ivan Ghezzi PontificiaUniversidadCatólicadel Perú InstitutodeInvestigaciones Arqueológicas Lima,Peru Introduction Archaeology is today, like few other disciplines, in radical transformation and committedtoovercominganydichotomybetweensocialandexactsciences. Theepistemologicalleapisevident. Theconceptofsciencesubsidiarytoarchaeologyhaslongsincepassed.Archae- ologytodayincreasinglyinterpretsthematerialevidenceofthepast,ascomponents ofcomplexnaturalandculturalsystems,throughinterdisciplinaryapproachesthat integrateitwithothersciencessuchasphysics,geography,geosciences,chemistry, remotesensing,geophysicsandartificialintelligence. Therefore, the way in which knowledge is acquired (ultimately the constitutive elementsofthehistoricalnarrative)hasbeenexpanding.Newquestionsarise,new horizonsopenupforresearchwhich,thankstoincreasinglysophisticatedmethods andtechnologies,isabletopenetratemoreandmorethehistoricaldepthandtoallow amoreprecisereconstructionofthepast. Researchisthuscontributingcentralitytoglobalterritorialapproaches,passing from the priority of the site to that of the territorial and landscape context, with multidisciplinaryandmultifactorialinterpretationsofarchaeologicalandgeological records. Hence the volume “Machu Picchu in context. Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of human past”which, starting from a consolidated (but in some cases fragmentary) state of the art of research, proposes an overall approach based on interdisciplinary integration and the useof the mostadvanced survey and imaging technologies,withparticularattentiontotherelationshipbetweenMachuPicchuand itssurroundings. Inthisvolume,wepresenttothepublicaseriesofrecentinterdisciplinaryworks on the Llaqta of Machu Picchu and its satellite sites, including Chachabamba, the MiradorofInkaraqayandtheSalkantayMountain. SuchstudiesaretheresultofscientificcooperationbetweentheNationalArchae- ological Park of Machu Picchu (under the direction of Fernando Astete and Jose ix x Introduction Bastante1) and Centre for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw2 (directed byMariuszZiółkowski),towhichtheCNRhasbeenaddedsince2016throughthe ITACAMissiondirectedbyNicolaMasinibyCNR-ISPC.3 TheNationalParkofMachuPicchuiscoveringanareaof37,302hectares.Its locatedinthevalleyoftheVilcanota–UrubambariverintheregionofCusco,province of Urubamba (Peru). The central part is a well-known agricultural, administrative and ceremonial complex of Machu Picchu. It is connected by a complicated road networkwitharound60archaeologicalsites,whichperformeddifferentfunctions, includingagriculturalandceremonialones.UnderstandingwhatthellaqtaofMachu Picchuwasitself,whatfunctionsitperformerandhowitdevelopeddependsnotonly onthestudyofthemaincentre,i.e.theLlaqta,butalsoontheresearchofitsrelation withsurroundingsatellitesites. TheMiradordeInkaraqayisasmallstructuresituatedonthenorth,quitesteep, slopesofWaynapicchumountain.ItislocatedinoneofthezonesoftheLlaqta,ata distanceofapproximately2hourwalkfromthenucleararea.Architecturalremains, whicharequitewellpreserved,consistofthreeparallelwallsplacedperpendicularly tothesteepslopeofthehill.Thelowerwallservesasaretainingwallstabilisingthe footingsofthebuildingsituatedabove.Atthesametime,itcreatesanarrow(ca.1.75 m)platformfacilitatingaccessinfrontofthebuilding.Themiddlewallisca.1.25 m wide and its façade is preserved to a height of ca. 3.5 m. The structure appears tobeisolatedfromanyhabitationsettlementanditssmallsizesuggeststhatitwas usedbyaverysmallgroupofpeople.ThepreviousresearchindicatedthatMirador deInkaraqaywasaverypreciselyplanedastronomicobservatory,whichpermitted theobservationoftherisingSunandthePleiades. 1TheresearchundertakenintheHistoricSantuary—NationalArchaeologicalParkofMachuPicchu isdoneintheframeworkoftheInterdisciplinaryResearchProgramoftheDecentralizedDirectorate ofCultureofCusco/MinistryofCultureofPeru. 2Thisresearchwasstartedintheframeworkoftheproject:Functionofthesatellitearchaeological sitesinthevicinityofMachuPicchu:InkaraqayandChachabambaandthehighmountainlakeson thefootofNevadoSalcantay(Peru),sponsoredbyagrantOPUS(number2015/19/B/HS3/03557) fromtheNationalScienceCentreofPoland.TheresearchinChachabambawasalsosponsoredin theframeworkoftheproject:Armakuna:ritualfunctionsoftheInca“baths”intheChachabamba ceremonialcomplex(HistoricSanctuaryofMachuPicchu,Peru)byaGrantPreludiumnumber 2015/19/NHS3/03626fromtheNationalScienceCentreofPoland.Thelogisticoftheresearchof thePolishteamwasalsosupportedbythePolishMinistryofEducationandSciencewithinSPUB grants./ The project was also attendedby agroup of Polish experts ledby prof. Jacek Kos´ciuk fromthe3DScanningandModelingLaboratoryattheFacultyofArchitectureoftheWrocław TechnicalUniversity.Aspartoftheproject,cooperationwithotherexpertswasalsoestablished:dr. AdineGavazzi,anarchitectfromtheUniversityofGenoa;prof.GiuseppeOrefici,archaeologist, anexpertofrockartandthedirectoroftheItalianCentroItalianoStudieRicercheArcheologiche Precolombiane(CISRAP);prof.AlanHogg,DirectoroftheWaikatoRadiocarbonLaboratory(New Zealand);prof.AndrzejRakowskifromtheDepartmentofRadioisotopes,SilesianUniversityof Technology(Poland)andprof.EwaBulska,chemist,DirectorofBiologicalandChemicalResearch Centre,UniversityofWarsaw. 3ItalianMissionincludesalsoaresearchgroupofCNR-IMAA(directedbyRosaLasaponara). OtheritalianexpertsbyISPRA-Italy(C.Margottini,D.Spizzichino)areamongthecoauthorsof thisbook.
The list of books you might like
