Un dia como hoy fue descubierto Machu Picchu por Hiram Bigham

On this Day: Hiram Bingham Discovers Lost Incan City of Machu Picchu
July 24, 2008 12:10 AM
by findingDulcinea Staff

On July 24, 1911, Yale University professor Hiram Bingham discovered the ruins of Machu Picchu, one of the most significant archaeological finds in the history of the Americas.

On July 24, 1911, Yale professor and explorer Hiram Bingham trekked through the Andes Mountains in search of the lost capital city of Vitcos. Bingham paid a local man the equivalent of 50 cents to lead him to ruins near the city of Cusco. What Bingham found was not Vitcos but the lost city of Machu Picchu.Bingham believed that he had discovered the cradle of the Inca Empire. Based on a temple with three large windows in the ruins, Bingham developed the theory that three brothers descended from the three windows to conquer and found the Incan Empire.The theory is impossible to prove, and Machu Picchu remains a mystery today. People believe the city may have been a royal city, an observatory of the heavens, the keeping place for women of the royal family, or a sacred shrine.Machu Picchu may have been discovered earlier by German businessman Augusto Berns. According to later-uncovered Peruvian government records, Berns didn’t try to share his discovery with the world; instead he looted the city and sold artifacts to wealthy westerners.Ever since Bingham made his discovery known to the public, Machu Picchu has fascinated people across the globe. Each year more than 300,000 tourists scale the Andes to explore the ancient ruins. As a testament to the city’s grandeur, Machu Picchu was named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007. The increase in popularity has not gone without repercussions however, as Machu Picchu now faces pollution and the increased threat of a severe landslide.
Headline Link: ‘Lost City in the Clouds Found After Centuries’
Nearly two years after Hiram Bingham discovered the ruins of Machu Picchu, The New York Times published an extensive article detailing the excavation and the significance of the discovery. Bingham was led to the city by locals for the equivalent of 50 cents while he was looking for Vitcos, the last capital of the Incas. Dubbing Machu Picchu “the greatest archaeological discovery of the age,” the article proposes Bingham’s theory that the city was the “cradle” and origin of the Inca Empire.

Source: The New York Times