Machu Picchu is older than thought, new scientific study finds

Machu Picchu, in Cusco, Peru, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in South America and the world. However, the precise dating of the monumental complex is largely based on documentary sources. But now a group of scientists, armed with a “mass spectrometry accelerator” (AMS), have succeeded in determining that the Inca citadel is older than previously believed.

“The samples of bones and teeth from individuals buried in caves in four cemeteries around Machu Picchu form the basis of a new AMS radiocarbon dating program “, reveal the researchers in a study published by Cambridge University Press in the journal Antiquity.

For more than 75 years, historians and scientists of different nationalities have worked on the hypothesis that the famous site was built after 1438 AD.

However, new results show the site was occupied from AD 1420 to AD 1532, with activity believed to have started two decades earlier than suggested by textual sources which associate the site with the rise to power of Emperor Pachacuti in 1438 AD “The new AMS dates, the first large set published for Machu Picchu, therefore, have implications for the broader understanding of Inca chronology “writes the research group, led by Yale University archaeologist and anthropologist Richard Burger.

AMS is one of the most advanced technologies used today for “radiocarbon” dating., explained Yale University after the publication of the results of this research.

These dates reveal that the site is at least 20 years older than historical records suggest, according to scientists. Some historical sources have indicated that the ruler of the Inca state Pachacútec seized power in 1438 and then conquered the valley where Machu Picchu is located.

From these documents it was estimated that the citadel was built after 1440 and possibly until 1450, depending on how long it took for the new ruler to conquer and subdue this region and build the complex. The archaeologists’ discovery suggests that Pachacútec, whose reign set the Incas on the path to becoming the largest and most powerful empire in pre-Columbian America, seized power and began his conquests decades earlier than textual sources do not indicate it.

“Until now, estimates of the antiquity of Machu Picchu and the duration of its occupation were based on conflicting historical accounts written by the Spaniards in the period after the Spanish conquest”, Burger warned. “This is the first study based on scientific evidence that provides an estimate of the foundation of Machu Picchu and the duration of its occupation., which gives us a clearer picture of the origins and history of the site ”.

“The results suggest that the discussion on the development of the Inca Empire based primarily on colonial records needs to be revisited,” he said in a statement. “Modern radiocarbon methods provide a better basis than historical records for understanding Inca chronology. “

AMS techniques can, according to the research group, dating bones and teeth that contain even small amounts of organic matter, thus expanding the set of remains suitable for scientific analysis.

In this study, the researchers used this technique to analyze human samples from 26 people whoe were recovered from four cemeteries in Machu Picchu in 1912 during excavations led by Yale professor Hiram Bingham III, who had “rediscovered” the site the previous year.

Bones and teeth probably from servants or assistants who were assigned to rulersaccording to archaeologists, who found that the remains show little evidence of involvement in heavy physical labor, such as construction, so they surely belonged to the period when the site was used as a country palace, and not to its construction .

As reported by Europa Press, on November 30, 2010, Yale University and the Peruvian government reached an agreement for the return to Peru of archaeological material Bingham excavated in Machu Picchu. On February 11, 2011, Yale signed an agreement with the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco establishing the International Center for the Study of Machu Picchu and Inca Culture, which is dedicated to the exhibition, conservation and study of the archaeological collections from the 1912 Bingham excavations. All human remains and other archaeological material from Machu Picchu were then returned to Cusco., the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, where they are kept at the Machu Picchu Museum.

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