Tagged: Hiram Bingham III

Lost Incan City of Machu Picchu: 100 Years after Discovery by ‘Indiana Jones’

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July 8th, 2011 Permalink

Peru is celebrating 100 years since the rediscovery of Machu Picchu by Yale professor Hiram Bingham III. On July 24, 1911, the American, who some believe was later the “model” for Indiana Jones, stumbled upon jungle-and-vine-coated ruins during an expedition to find an ancient Inca Empire in the Andes mountains. Machu Picchu was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. In 2007, it was crowned as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World via a worldwide Internet vote. To mark the Machu Picchu centennial celebration, here is a collection of pictures from the “Lost City of the Incas.”
[46 Photos]

Early morning in wonderful Machu Picchu

Early morning in wonderful Machu Picchu, a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 meters (7,970 ft) above sea level. Most archaeologists think Machu Picchu was built around AD 1400 as “an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti” and is often referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas.” It is probably the most familiar icon of the Inca World. Around the time of the Spanish Conquest in 1572, the Incas abandoned their empire and the Peruvian jungle swallowed Machu Picchu. It wasn’t rediscovered until 1911 by American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham. There are about 140 structures or features, ranging from temples, to sanctuaries, parks, and residences, with more than 100 flights of stone steps carved from a single block of granite. Photo #1 by Pedro Szekely

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