Hannah Reed

4/19/17

Period 7

City of Cusco and Machu Picchu

The city of Cusco was an axis mundi (the center of existence) and a reflection of Inka

power. The city was divided into two sections, hanan and hurin , which paralleled the social

organization of Inka society into upper and lower moieties (social divisions). Cusco was further

divided into quarters that reflected the four divisions of the empire, and people from those

sections inhabited their respective quarters of the city. In this way, the city was a map in

miniature of the entire Inka empire, and a way for the Inka rulers to explicitly display their power

to shape and order that empire. The masonry of Cusco displays an understanding of stones as

being like people, in that many different ones may fit together if they are properly organized.

Some sides of each stone were made to curve outward slightly, others to be slightly concave, so

that the stones slotted together, while still allowing a small amount of movement. Not only the

Inka rulers and their nobles resided in Cusco. Local leaders from all sections of the empire also

lived in Cusco, often compelled to do so as a means of controlling their home populations. Girls

and young women were drawn from across the empire to the capital to serve as

cloistered acllas (chosen women) to weave fine cloth for gods and nobles and to make corn beer

(chicha) for religious rituals, to serve gods in shrines, and in some cases to be given to Inka

favorites in marriage. Young men were also brought to Cusco to be educated and raised in the

Inka culture. When they returned to their homes, they would be valuable advocates for Inka

traditions and power.

 Machu Picchu is often described as mysterious, but in fact a great deal is known about

its construction and purpose. It was built as a royal estate for the first Inka emperor, Pachacuti

Inka Yupanqui, in the middle of the 15th century, on a mountain saddle overlooking the

Urubamba River. It was intended as a place where the Inka emperor and his family could host

feasts, perform religious ceremonies, and administer the affairs of empire, while also establishing

a claim to land that would be owned by his lineage after his death. The site was chosen and

situated for its relationship to the Andean landscape, including sight lines to other mountain

peaks, called apus, which have long been considered ancestral deities throughout the Andes. The

site contains housing for elites, retainers, and maintenance staff, religious shrines, fountains, and

terraces, as well as carved rock outcrops, a signature element of Inka art. The site features

architecture, from houses to terraces, built by carefully fitting individual stones against each

other (like in the city of Cusco). The construction of the main buildings is typical of Inka elite

architecture. The walls were built of stones that had been individually shaped to fit closely with

one another, rather than being shaped into similar units. This was accomplished by a laborious

process of pecking at the stones with tools, gradually shaping them so that each stone was

uniquely nested against those around it. Each stone had some sides that protruded slightly, and

some with slight concave faces, socketing the stones so that they held together, but allowed for

earthquake-damping movement in this seismically active region. Outward faces were then

worked smooth, so that the walls resemble an intricate mosaic. Most structures were roofed with

wood and thatch. Entryways were in the unique Inka shape of a trapezoid, rather than a

rectangle.