What was Machu Picchu?
Mystery surrounds Machu Picchu’s precise function because the Incas didn’t reveal its existence during the Spanish conquest. Various hypotheses, however – many stemming from Bingham himself – attempt to explain these mysteries. Bingham judged as important the presence of a magnificent building with three broad windows. He believed that these alluded to Tamputoco, the mythic cradle or birthplace of the elite Inca. Later, Bingham believed that the Machu Picchu was the Inca refuge called Vilcabamba “the old” or Vilcabamba “the great”. There, the defeated chief Manco Inca and his court fled after the siege of Cusco in 1536, the failed Indian revolt against their Spanish conquerors. Luis E. Valcarcel developed another theory. He believes Machu Picchu could be Vitcos, the legendary fortress occupied by the Incas during the resistance against the Spanish crown. Valcarcel based this theory on the similarity between “Picchu” and “Vitcos”. The strategic position of Machu Picchu has generated ano
