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Llaqtapata

Coordinates: 13°10′32″S 72°35′10″W / 13.1756028°S 72.5859833°W / -13.1756028; -72.5859833
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13°10′32″S 72°35′10″W / 13.1756028°S 72.5859833°W / -13.1756028; -72.5859833 Llactapata (also spelled Llaqtapata) is a combination of two Quechua words. The pronunciation of Llaqtapata is yakta-pahta.[1]

Hiram Bingham, discoverer of Machu Picchu and many other Incan sites, states that Llacta Pata is a descriptive term; "llacta" means "town" and "pata" means "a height".[2][3] Thus, more than one site has been, and is, referred to by this name.

Sites associated with the name Llactapata

In the vicinity of Machu Picchu there appear to be two locations commonly referred to as Llactapata: one is a site about 5 km (3.1 mi) to the west of Machu Picchu; while the other is a site some 15 km (9.3 mi) to the south east of Machu Picchu. Both sites appear to be commonly known as Llactapata; both sites have Incan ruins; both sites are on different stretches of a trail known as the Inca trail.

View of Machu Pichu from Llactapata as named by Hiram Bingham.

A third site is also mentioned.

Llactapata west

The Llactapata to the west of Machu Picchu (at: 13°10′32″S 72°35′10″W / 13.1756028°S 72.5859833°W / -13.1756028; -72.5859833) appears to be the site originally reported by Bingham as having this name. Although the site was little explored by Bingham, it was more extensively explored and mapped by the Thomson and Ziegler expedition of 2003.

Hiram Bingham first discovered Llactapata in 1912. "We found evidence that some Inca chieftain had built his home here and had included in the plan ten or a dozen buildings."[4] Bingham locates the site "on top of a ridge between the valleys of the Aobamba and the Salcantay, about 5,000 feet above the estate of Huaquina." "Here we discovered a number of ruins and two or three modern huts. The Indians said that the place was called Llacta Pata." [5] Bingham did not investigate the ruins thoroughly, however, and they were not studied again for another 70 years.

A mid-2003 study of the site conducted by Thomson and Ziegler[6] concluded that Llactapata's location along the Inca trail suggested that it was an important rest stop and roadside shrine on the journey to Machu Picchu. The complex is located some four to five kilometers west of Machu Picchu high on a ridge between the Aobamba and Santa Teresa drainages. This and subsequent investigations have revealed an extensive complex of structures and features related to and connected with Machu Picchu by a continuation of the Inca Trail leading onward into the Vilcabamba. Llactapata may have been a member of the network of interrelated administrative and ceremonial sites which supported the regional center at Machu Picchu. It probably played an important astronomical function during the solstices and equinoxes.[7]

Lactapata east

Patallacta viewed from above on the Inca trail.
Sign at check point near Wayllabamba identifying Patallacta as LLactapata.

Although the Llactapata to the east of Machu Picchu (at: 13°13′57″S 72°25′30″W / 13.2325095°S 72.424922°W / -13.2325095; -72.424922) is not the site referred to by Bingham as Llactapata it does appear to have acquired the common use name of Llactapata, as evidenced by the photograph of a sign from a check point along the Inca trail.

In addition to the site referred to in the section on Llactapata west, Bingham located another site "at Qquente, and near the mouth of the Pampaccahuana river, on top of a series of terraces"[3]. His associate Mr. Herman Tucker reported that the name of the town was Patallacta containing about one hundred houses. Above it were several important sites including Huayllabamba.[8] This site is located 1.5 km (1 mi) from the start of the "Classic Inca Trail" which begins at Km 88.[9]

Workers are dwarfed by terraces, which are in turn dwarfed by mountains at Patallacta ne Llactapata.

Patallacta and Llactapata east appear to be the same place.

This site housed a large number of occupants, including travellers and soldiers who manned the nearby "hill fort" of Willkaraqay. A shrine with rounded walls, known as Pulpituyoc, had religious and ceremonial functions.[10]

Llactapata was burned by Manco Inca Yupanqui, who destroyed a number of settlements along the Inca trail during his retreat from Cusco in 1536 to discourage Spanish pursuit. In part due to these efforts, the Spanish never discovered the Inca trail or any of its settlements.[11]

A possible third site

A third site consisting of carved stone and buildings, Q'enqo, above Cuzco, may have been the death house of Pachakuti, called Chinchaysuyu or Patallacta.[12]

References

  1. ^ Explore the Inca Trail. Rucksack Readers. 2006. page 61.
  2. ^ Lost City of the Incas. by Hiram Bingham. 1952. The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House. page 164. ISBN 0 297 60759 6
  3. ^ a b "Chapter X - Searching for the Last Inca Capital". Inca Land - Explorations in the Highlands of Peru - by Hiram Bingham. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  4. ^ Lost City of the Incas. by Hiram Bingham. 1952. The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House. page 164. ISBN 0 297 60759 6
  5. ^ Lost City of the Incas. by Hiram Bingham. 1952. The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House. page 164. ISBN 0 297 60759 6
  6. ^ "Llactapata". Blog: Hugh Thomson - It's an explorer's world. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  7. ^ Malville, J. McKim (2004). "Machu Picchu's Observatory: the Re-Discovery of Llactapata and its Sun-Temple". Revista Andina. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) (expanded English version)
  8. ^ Lost City of the Incas. by Hiram Bingham. 1952. The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House. page 124. ISBN 0 297 60759 6
  9. ^ Cuzco Region Machu Picchu / Inca Trail. International Travel Maps. A Division of ITMB Publishing Ltd. 2006.
  10. ^ Explore the Inca Trail. Rucksack Readers. 2006.
  11. ^ Noland, David (2001) [2001-02-01]. Trekking. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-32072-5.
  12. ^ the Incas. by Terrence N. D'Altroy. Blackwell Publishers Inc. 2002. pages 157, 164. ISBN 0-631-17677-2.
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