Archaeologists find ancient site older than Machu Picchu

[Judi Lynn]

The ancient mountaintop settlement in Peru is 1,500 metres higher than the Inca capital and has pre-Inca features

Hayley Skirka
Nov 12, 2019



Researchers in Peru have discovered an ancient site pre-dating the ancient Inca capital. Courtesy Pedro Szekely / flickr


Researchers and explorers in Peru have uncovered an ancient settlement that is older than Machu Picchu.

Archaeologists Thomas Hardy and Adan Choqque Arce alongside explorer Albert Linn used new drone technology to explore the ancient settlement high in the Peruvian Andes.

Located in an area called Wat'a and sitting at an altitude of almost 4,000 metres, 1,500 metres higher than the ancient capital of the Inca community, the region had previously only been explored using traditional archaeological methods.

. . .

Using Light Detection and Ranging technology (Lidar) the trio were able to identify signature Inca terracing and pre-Inca structures for the first time.

More:
https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/travel/archaeologists-find-ancient-site-older-than-machu-picchu-1.936503




ANCIENT INCA CITY LOCATED 13,000 FEET HIGH IN PERUVIAN ANDES REVEALED BY LASER TECHNOLOGY
BY ARISTOS GEORGIOU ON 11/10/19 AT 5:00 AM EST

Researchers have uncovered fascinating new insights into an ancient mountaintop settlement high up in the Peruvian Andes, which pre-dates the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu.

National Geographic explorer Albert Lin—along with archaeologists Adan Choqque Arce and Thomas Hardy—used a revolutionary technology known as LiDAR (light detection and ranging) to reveal the full extent of this city, which was settled by the Incas and the people that came before them (often referred to as the pre-Incas).

The settlement lies in an archaeological zone known as Wat'a—meaning "island" in the local Indigenous language—at an altitude of around 13,000 feet. This is around 5,000 feet higher than Machu Picchu, the crowning glory of the Inca civilization.

"It is very challenging to get there," Lin told Newsweek. "You're at around 13,000 feet of elevation and its mostly open landscape because there's not a lot of trees around, so you're basically baking in the high altitude sun, all the way up."

More:
https://www.newsweek.com/ancient-inca-city-peruvian-andes-1468755

[packman]

1. Remarkable what a civilization can achieve without cell phones and TV

[lagomorph777]

4. and oxygen! 4,000 meters is really high!

I wouldn't be happy cutting, carrying, and stacking stones at that altitude!

[Karadeniz]

2. Thoughtful of the ancients to build in the stratosphere so that their sites could remain fairly

Intact for us! So many questions...it's cold up there, so how did they keep warm..were the terraces used for agriculture, so where was the water supply...did they find mummies? Looking forward to more details!

Thanks for sharing!

[Judi Lynn]

8. Definitely want to know everything they can share, as soon as possible.

At Machu Picchu they did use terraces for agriculture, and also created excellent water channels which brought water for drinking, bathing, cooking, irrigation, here's a link to a page of photos of these constructions. I was in shock the first time I heard of them:

https://tinyurl.com/sm2nzvq

Far, far beyond anything U.S. school children are raised to believe ancient Peruvians were capable of creating, isn't it? My gosh.

[AllaN01Bear]

3. raises eyebrow and says "fascinating."

[klook]

5. Super cool. I've just been reading

1491 by Charles C. Mann, which goes into detail about a number of different civilizations in the Americas that predate the European invasion, including the Inka.

[csziggy]

7. Mann's book is really interesting - I learned a lot from it

My husband is skeptical of some of the premises in the book about Chinese exploration, but it is still very enlightening. I've also read his other book, 1493, which is about the Columbian exchange and the changes that made in the world, plus the seeds of the world of today, politically, biologically, and socially.

[Judi Lynn]

11. It was a shock to learn how enormous some of their ocean-going ships were.

It's still taking time to come to terms with that, but I definitely believe it.

By the way, you have learned they have some huge pyramids in China, too, haven't you?

That will become more discussed as relations with China are finally respected in the years ahead, and open communication and trust are developed among the people here and there. They have guarded the pyramids closely to this point, and will share when they are comfortable.

[Judi Lynn]

9. It's about time this culture awakened to what has happened right in the Western Hemisphere,right?n/t

[keithbvadu2]

6. It looks very well laid out and organized.

It looks very well laid out and organized.

[Judi Lynn]

10. It was a shock to look at the photo long enough to see the vegetation-covered mountain peak

on the right side of the photo is actually composed of terraces, there, too, just like Machu Picchu.

Archeologists must be so please to know about this break through.

Starting to look as if there may be an enormous number of people who actually lived on the mountain tops.

It's astounding in so many ways.