Machu Picchu is not particularly old – the Inca civilisation began building at the site in the middle of the fifteenth century which is relatively youthful when one considers the age of some of the regions other achievements.  There is some argument about why the Incas started building in this remote location.  Hiram Bingham was the American historian who ‘discovered’ the ruins in 1911 and he theorised that it was the location of the birthplace of the “Virgin of the Suns”.  More recent suppositions have it that it’s a site of some religious significance which relates to the surrounding mountains.  One of the most interesting possibilities (but an unlikely one) is that the different micro-climates which could be found at the site allowed agriculture experts to experiment with different crops.

In fact Machu Picchu is separated into what is known as the Urban section and the Agricultural section but this understates the scale of the site.  It’s essentially a whole town built onto a mountain top and the effort required to transport the building materials to the top must have been immense.  That achievement is even more impressive when one realises that the Incas had no horses or other pack animals.  The large blocks were probably pushed by man power up manufactured incline planes.

Although the Spanish colonisers apparently never visited Machu Picchu, it is quite possible that their presence out an end to the site’s development.  It was abandoned in 1572 quite possibly because the builders began to die of smallpox – a disease brought from Europe by the Spanish.

The visitors to Machu Picchu are now mostly tourists and who can blame them?  It’s a stunning place recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.  It was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary a couple of years before that.

The first evidence of decorative creativity comes from smaller groups that also existed in the region but not until about the 9th century BC.  This was the work of the Cupisnique culture and the Chavin culture, groups which not only produced art for art’s sake but also incorporated decoration into their architecture and construction.

Cupisnique Art

An enduring civilisation called the Paracas came to the fore between the 8th and the 1st century BC.  They were based on the the south coast and are known to have worked with ceramics and textiles, producing complex geometric patterns which were matched by an overlapping civilisation called the Moche.

Architectural evidence of art production tends to dry up at this point until well into the 8th century AD.  This was the era of the Wari civilisation and some evidence exists of their art amongst the remains of their well designed urban areas.

Paracas Art

The Tiwanaku empire rose on the shores of Lake Titicaca in the 12th century and their development of bronze enabled them to design and make tools which facilitated a more complex type of art and architecture.  In the 14th and 15th centuries the Chimu culture took architecture to new levels with the construction of the city of Chan Chan on the banks of the Moche River.

When the Inca empire finally united most of the region in the 14th century, it began a cultural legacy which endures to this day.  It should also be remembered that the Incas built their artistic heritage on the back of 1500 years of existing work.  The Incas brought a sophisticated road network and expanded city building capabilities to Peru, spreading the influence of art around the country.  The arguable culmination of Inca design is the site of Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu

Finally, the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires which followed the Inca are worth a mention; they did not just follow European styles of art but incorporated many local influences into their work.

The town of Lima became the seat of the viceroyalty and by extension the de facto capital of Peru, directing the region’s economy and orchestrating the movement of goods between South America and Europe.  The Spanish brought their Catholic religion with them and the locals suffered from the horrors of the Inquisition as much as Spaniards on home soil did.

The English privateer Henry Morgan

Once the indigenous people had been pacified the occupiers knew they would have to deal with incursions by other European powers.  The English, the French and Dutch in particular had their eyes on the riches of South America and Henry Morgan was probably the most famous privateer to be involved.  He captured Panama and Chagres, the first of many incursions by him and others before the Peace of Utrecht allowed them some limited commercial access.

As well as foreign pirates, the Spanish were also under attack by the local population, indigenous and non-indigenous and revolts were not unusual.  The Portuguese also had significant territorial interest in South America and this was a constant source of friction, violence and treaties over the centuries.

By the beginning of the 19th century the independence movement in Peru had become something of an inevitability.  The viceroyalty attempted many things to stem the advance of the movement but war loomed on the horizon and the various wars of independence began to break out on the continent in 1910.  José de San Martin and the legendary Simon Bolivar led the charges in Peru and finally gained control of Lima from the Spanish Royalists in 1824.  A final battle on 9th December the same year saw the Peruvian nationalist army defeat the Spanish once and for all, resulting in independence for Peru and all of South America.

Jose de San Martin proclaims independence

Cuzco was certainly the location which became the home of the Inca empire.  Known as the Kingdom of Cuzco, there is evidence to suggest that tribal activity was taking place here in the 12th century.  By the middle of the 15th century, the Kingdom of Cuzco was powerful enough to expand under the leadership of Pachacuti-Cusi Yupanqui (earth shaker).  Neighbouring tribes were infiltrated by spies who brought information regarding military power and political organisation back to Cuzco.  Mostly, these tribes would then be bribed into joining the empire and the families of the rulers would intermarry, ensuring peaceful continuation of the Incas.  If military action was needed for expansion, the Inca were powerful enough to overcome any resistance.  Around this period, the Inca also built Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu

The Inca grew quickly and Pachacuti set up a system of government which split the empire into four regions, each governed by a competent leader.  Pachacuti’s son was Túpac Inca Yupanqui and it was he who led the Inca army north in the period around Pachacuti’s death in 1471.  It was the fight for the northern coast of Peru which provided the Inca with their sternest test so far – the Chimor empire was probably the only one which could have stopped the Inca march north but it fell to Túpac eventually.  Southern expansion was eventually stopped when the empire ran in to the Mapuche tribes and both sides fought each other to a standstill at the Battle of the Maule.  Both heavily depleted armies retired after several days claiming victory.

Túpac’s son, Huayna Capac, continued the improvement of the empire and under his rule it enjoyed its wealthiest and most successful period.  Huayna had no male heirs however but did have fifty or so illegitimate children.  This failure to provide a legitimate successor ultimately led to the Inca Civil War between sides supporting either Huáscar or Atahualpa, two of the sons.

The civil war was enormously damaging, leading to the estimated deaths of around 5% of the population.  Atahualpa was the ultimate victor but before he had a chance to take control, the Spanish arrived, bringing with them horses, modern military techniques, Smallpox and a thirst for conquest.  The Inca empire, which at one point has numbered many millions of people,  gradually shrank until the last holdout in the mountains of Vilcabamba was conquered in 1572.

Further inland at Caral, more evidence was discovered which led researchers to the decision that this was the ancient home of an extremely old civilisation, one that dated back to around 9000BC.  It finally ceased to exist around 7000 years later for reasons which probably revolved around food resources and societal breakdown.

Norte Chico site at Caral

During it’s heyday (from about 2500BC to 1800BC) though, the Norte Chico civilisation inhabited a densely populated area in the north of modern day Peru.  It is recognised as one of only six areas in the world in which the civilisation developed independently of outside influences and was a fairly unlikely region for population growth.  Irrigation was developed here to provide the large, arid areas a water supply in which to grow food, although a maritime diet seems to have been the main food supply.

It was a theocratic society, which means that there was a loose hierarchy of control which emanated from a group of elites. Only in a society with a level of order and some sort of reward for the population can structures of the type which exist here be constructed.  They consist of huge platformed mounds and vast sunken, circular plazas which demonstrate quite obviously the organisational abilities and logistic qualities of this ancient society.

Archaeologists are still not entirely sure why the Norte Chico ultimately declined; population growth can easily lead to food resource pressures which in turn result in infighting and hoarding.  That’s just one possible ending of course and perhaps further research will reveal what led to the decline of the Norte Chico.