Pellegrino A. Luciano analyzes how people in Machu Picchu, Peru mobilized against neoliberal reforms. Luciano describes how they resisted and accommodated large capital investments and conservation ...efforts to protect their local tourism economy.
Machu Picchu Inca sanctuary (Cusco Region, Peru) was constructed on a granitic plateau, better known as Vilcabamba batholith. One of the most important carved granitic rocks from this archaeological ...site is the Sacred Rock, used by Inca citizens for religious rituals. Due to the location and climatic conditions, different rocks from this archaeological site are affected by biocolonizations. Concretely, the Sacred Rock shows flaking and delamination problems. In this work, a non-destructive multi analytical methodology has been applied to determine the possible role of the biodeteriogens, forming the biological patina on the Sacred Rock, in the previously mentioned conservation problems. Before characterizing the biological patina, a mineralogical characterization of the granitic substrate was conducted using X-ray Diffraction, Raman microscopy (RM) and micro energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. For the identification of the main biodeteriogens in the biofilm, Phase Contrast Microscopy was used. RM also allowed to determine the distribution (imaging) and the penetration (depth profiling) of the biogenic pigments present in the biopatina. Thanks to this study, it was possible to asses that some colonizers are growing on inner areas of the rock, reinforcing their possible assistance in the delamination. Moreover, the in-depth distribution of a wide variety of carotenoids in the patinas allowed to approach the penetration ability of the main biodeteriogens and the diffusion of these biogenic pigments to the inner areas of the rocky substrate.
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•The Sacred Rock from Machu Picchu archaeological site was analyzed.•The Sacred Rock is suffering exfoliation.•Different biocolonizers such as Bryopsida mosses, endolithic ascolichen, algae and cyanobacteria were identified.•Raman imaging was used in order to observe the distribution of the different biogenic pigments of the colonizers.•Depth profile study of some biogenic pigments by means of Raman microscopy was carried out to determine their penetration.
The Chachabamba archaeological site contains a unique water complex erected and modified by the Incas. Based on archaeological investigations within the ceremonial sector, it has been established ...that the function of this water complex was strictly ceremonial. Moreover, hydrodynamic studies of the water supply canals have verified the previous findings. Due to the complex characteristics of the site, which is largely overgrown by dense vegetation, we employed a methodology not previously applied in the region. Three-dimensional documentation techniques were used to produce hydrodynamic analyses of the site, which facilitated the preparation of appropriate models that are key to understanding the function of the entire water system.
•The Incas built water systems to legitimize their domination.•The Machu Picchu region had one of the densest networks of water systems.•Hydrodynamic calculations of archaeological remains are made possible by using 3D scanning.•The water system at Chachabamba had an exclusively ritual function.
Describimos una nueva especie del género Oxymycterus Waterhouse, 1837, de los altos Andes de Cusco en el sureste del Perú, basados en información molecular (Citocromo b), rasgos morfológicos y ...medidas. Esta especie es notablemente diferente de todas las otras formas peruanas y bolivianas estudiadas, en particular O. nigrifrons y O. paramensis. Los rasgos que la distinguen incluyen, entre otros, su tamaño corporal comparativamente mediano, coloración dorsal marrón amarillenta, ausencia de parche supranasal negruzco, foramen incisivo largo, expandido anteriormente y con el septo desarrollado ocupando la mitad a dos tercios del largo del foramen, fosa mesopterigoidea cuadrangular con los procesos hamulares del pterigoides aproximadamente paralelos y la porción dorsal del ectotimpánico expandida lateralmente. Hasta el momento, la nueva especie sólo se ha registrado en dos pequeñas cordilleras (Vilcabamba y Vilcanota) donde está aislada de otras formas, siendo así endémica y con el riesgo de vulnerabilidad asociado a una distribución restringida.
Machu Picchu citadel is the main archaeological Inca sanctuary widely known around the world, and a World Heritage Site of high cultural and natural value. For its construction a whitish granitic ...rock, extracted from the “Vilcapampa or Vilcabamba” batholith formation was used. During time, some of the granitic rocks from the natural stonewalls of the Meditation area of the Archaeological Park were restored. For the restoration works done in the 50s' a specific lime mortar called Clarobesa was used. After the inclusion of this joining mortar, many efflorescences are nowadays visible in the mortar itself and on the surface of the edges of the annexed rocks. To evaluate the possible impact of these salts crystallizations in the conservation state of these natural stonewalls, a multi-analytical methodology was designed and applied. With a combination of non-invasive and destructive techniques such as X-ray Diffraction, Raman microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope coupled to an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer and ion chromatography, the mineralogical composition and the nature/concentration of the soluble salts present in the Clarobesa mortar was determined.
The experimental results suggest that Clarobesa mortar is a hydraulic lime mortar. The study of salts crystallizations by Raman microscopy allowed identifying the presence of calcium sulfates with different hydration waters and also nitrates. In some samples, the concentration of sulfates was high, reaching values up to 10% w/w. Although the concentration of nitrates is not extremely high, a clear contribution of ammonium nitrates coming from the decomposition of the nearby vegetation was assessed. Since the Clarobesa mortar can be considered an important input of ions that can migrate to the joined granitic rocks, in the future, it will be recommendable to monitor possible changes in the conservation state of the joined rocks.
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•Natural stonewalls restoration works using lime mortars from Machu Picchu archaeological site were evaluated.•XRD, μ-RS, SEM-EDS and IC were used to carried out this study.•Massive presence of sulfates and nitrates in lime mortars were detected.•Nitrammite (NH4NO3) has influence in the natural formation of nitrocalcite (CaNO3·4H2O).
According to the classical chronology of the Inca State, the ascension to power of Pachacuti Inca took place around AD 1438 and the construction of Machu Picchu began by AD 1450–1460. However, the ...improvement in the accuracy of radiocarbon (14C) dating resulting from the application of Bayesian analysis has changed our view of the historical chronology. This new research raises questions about our understanding of the cultural development of the Machu Picchu area, in the light of the new proposed chronological scheme. This paper presents a set of 11 new 14C dates, derived from AMS, from the sites of Llaqta of Machu Picchu, Chachabamba, and Choqesuysuy. The latter two sites are situated within the Machu Picchu National Archaeological Park (Arqueología del Santuario Histórico Nacional y Sitio Patrimonio Mundial de Machu Picchu) and have been interpreted as being part of the contemporary Late Horizon Inca landscape. The new 14C ages are modeled using Bayesian inference and present a revised dating framework for these sites and their chronological relationship with Llaqta of Machu Picchu.
Knowledge about the Inca measurement system is based on information from the colonial chronicles and modern studies of the 16th‐century Quechua dictionaries. Based on those texts, we can presume that ...the Incas used an anthropometric system of measurement adopted from the proportions of the human body. Using cosine quantogram analysis and statistical verification, it is possible to verify the existence of the measurement system used by the Inca architects. For this purpose, a measurement series of architectural and water infrastructure elements were collected from 3D point cloud of the Chachabamba and Machu Picchu settlements in Machupicchu National Archaeological Park.
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