THE DESTRUCTION OF THE YURAC RUMI SHRINE (VILCABAMBA, CUSCO DEPARTMENT)
Brian S. Bauer
INTRODUCTION
The site of Yurac Rumi1 (also widely known
as Ñusta Ispanan) is one of the most impressive
carved rock shrines of the Inca empire. It is
approximately one hundred aerial kilometers
northwest of Cusco, within the vast subtropical
region that the Inca called Antisuyu. More
precisely, the shrine complex is within the Inca
province of Vilcabamba, near the abandoned
town of Vitcos. The province has gained fame
among historians, archaeologists, and other
students of the Inca, because it was from Vilca-
bamba that the last independent Incas waged a
nearly forty year long war (A.D. 1536-1572)
against Spanish control of the Andes. The
shrine of Yurac Rumi holds special importance
because it was the last regional shrine to be
worshiped by the Inca elite. In this article we
discuss the results of our recent excavations at
this shrine complex in conjunction with a suite
of eleven radiocarbon dates, many of which
were taken from well preserved roofing materi-
als. Our research provides insight into when the
Vilcabamba region was first conquered by the
Inca, and how the shrine was destroyed by the
Spaniards. Our archaeological investigation
1
Also spelled “Yurak Rumi”.
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012): 195-211.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Miriam Dayde Aráoz Silva
Aráoz Delgado Consultores Supervisores
Arqueólogos Asociados S.C.R.L., Cusco
George S. Burr
University of Arizona
augments our understanding of the Vilcabamba
region, which, until now, has been largely based
on historical accounts.
The Vilcabamba region, to the northwest of
Cusco, is a mountainous area of coca, yuca,
fruits, dense forests, and an abundance of ani-
mals not found in the highlands (Figure 1).
Bernabé Cobo suggests that it was incorporated
relatively early into the growing Inca empire. He
wrote, “[Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui] began his
conquests with the provinces of Vitcos and
Vilcabamba, a very difficult land to subjugate
because it is so rough and covered with dense
jungle and many arcabucos” [dense forests]
(Cobo 1979:136 [1653]: Book 12, Chapter
12]).2 Because Machu Picchu is thought to have
also been established by Pachacuti Inca Yupan-
qui (Rowe 1990), it has been suggested that the
Vilcabamba region was incorporated into the
Inca empire during the same military campaign,
perhaps during the early 1400s (Hemming 1970;
Lee 2000).
2
Cobo (1979: 135-137 [1653]: Book 12, Chapter 12)
suggests that Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui passed through the
Vitcos region and arrived at the plain of Pampaconas. It
was in Pampaconas that the Inca negotiated with the local
lords, and they agreed to submit to the empire.
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012)
The Vilcabamba region, however, gains its
unique importance from the role that it held in
the final days of the Incas. In 1537, after the
Incas failed to regain control of Cusco, their
capital city, from the Spaniards, many native
loyalists withdrew into this mountainous region.
The leader of the resistance, Manco Inca,
established himself at the town of Vitcos,3 as he
attempted to restore control over what had been
the largest indigenous state to develop in the
Americas.4 For nearly eight years Manco Inca
both negotiated with the Spaniards and orga-
nized raids against them. After his death, strong
indigenous resistance continued under the
successive leadership of three of Manco Inca’s
sons: Sayri Tupac, Titu Cusi, and Tupac Amaru.
During this same period, the Spanish leaders of
Cusco sent diplomats, priests, miners, and, at
times, military expeditions into the Vilcabamba
region, attempting to bring an end to the con-
flict (Gose 2008; Hemming 1970).
During the long period of organized indige-
nous resistance to Spanish rule, much of the
Inca royal court was centered in the town of
Vitcos, and many of the major rituals were held
at the nearby shrine of Yurac Rumi. The shrine
is described as a large white rock with an adja-
cent spring (Murúa 1987[1611-1616]:270, Book
1, Chapter 75; Calancha 1981[1638]: 1800-
1801, Book 4, Chapter 2). The shrine also
contained a complex of buildings (called a
3
The ruins of Vitcos are now called Rosaspata.
4 7
A Spanish raid into the region forced Manco Inca to pull
back even further into the mountains, and to establish his
new capital at the settlement of Vilcabamba, now called
Espiritu Pampa.
- 196
House of the Sun),5 various attendants, and a
head priest (Figure 2).
In 1568, while the Inca were still in control
of the Vilcabamba region, the ruling Inca (Titu
Cusi Yupanqui) invited the Augustinian priest,
Marcos Garcia, to enter the area and establish a
mission. About a year later a second Augustin-
ian, Diego Ortiz, was also given permission to
live in the area.6 As Titu Cusi contemplated a
full conversion to Christianity7 the relationship
between the Incas and the Christians were
stable, and the missions run by Ortiz and Garcia
lived in an uneasy state of truce with the Yurac
Rumi shrine and its attendants. However, in
1570, angered by their recent poor treatment by
the Inca and emboldened by a growing number
of converts to Christianity, the two priests and
a small group of local people burned the Yurac
Rumi shrine complex (Calancha 1981[1638]:
1826, Book 4, Chapter 4]; Murúa 1987[1611-
5
“Casa dedicada al Sol” (Murúa 1987[1611-1616]:270,
Book 1, Chapter 75); “Casa del Sol” (Calancha 1981:
1825 [1638]: Book 4, Chapter 4).
6
Diego Ortiz was killed by Inca loyalists in 1571 after
being mistakenly linked to the death of Titu Cusi
Yupanqui. His activities in Vilcabamba are especially well
documented because the Augustinians, starting as early as
1582, collected information on his death to support his
canonization as a saint (Hemming 1970:476; Levillier
1935, Volume 1:344). At least two other inquiries into
Ortiz’s death occurred in 1595 and 1599 (Aparicio 1989).
There is overlap in the information presented by Murúa
(1987 [1611-1616]) and Calancha (1981 [1638]) because
both of these authors had access to these earlier
investigations while writing their own accounts (Hemming
1970: 476, 629; MacCormack 1985: 441, 2008). Both
Murua and Calancha relied on the 11 March 1595
testimony of Juana Guerrero, the wife of Titu Cusi
Yupanqui’s scribe, Martín de Pando, for their descriptions
of Yurac Rumi (see Aparicio 1989:163-169).
Titu Cusi Yupanqui was baptized in Cusco as a youth,
and again in 1568 in the Vilcabamba region as an adult,
but his relationship with Christianity remained
ambiguous.
197 -
1616]: 270, Book 1, Chapter 75). In the wake of
this provocative move, the Inca himself had to
race to the shrine to restore order and to save
the priests from being killed by a large and angry
mob. The next year, however, Titu Cusi sud-
denly died while visiting Vitcos,8 and soon
afterwards, in April 1572, Viceroy Toledo
ordered a massive raid on the Vilcabamba
region which resulted in the capture of the new
Inca (Tupac Amaru), and a general depopula-
tion of the area soon followed. The city of
Vitcos was abandoned, and the important
rituals that had been performed at the shrine of
Yurac Rumi slowly faded from local memory.
BINGHAM AT YURAC RUMI
Over the centuries, the forests of Vilca-
bamba reclaimed the city of Vitcos as well as its
nearby shrine. On August 9, 1911, less than a
month after he discovered Machu Picchu,
Hiram Bingham entered the Vilcabamba region
looking for the final capital of the Incas. After
visiting the ruins of Vitcos he was told of, and
subsequently found, a large, nearby, carved rock
which stood above a spring. Bingham cleared
the forest around the rock the following day and
found various Inca buildings grouped in patio-
units beside it. He also found a host of smaller
carved rocks and an impressive terrace and
canal system beside the rock. Bingham (1912a,
1912 b, 1912c, 1913, 1922) immediately recog-
nized that this was the shrine complex of Yurac
Rumi. He returned to the shrine site the next
year (1912), drained the swamp at its base, and
conducted limited excavations. Finding little,
and being drawn to working at the larger site of
Machu Picchu, Bingham left the rest of the site
untouched. Remarkably, no other archaeologi-
cal projects have been conducted at Yurac
Rumi, and only limited looting has taken place
8
The exact date of Titu Cusi Yupanqui’s death is not
known. However it most likely occurred in 1571, or early
in 1572.
Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine
there. Unlike most other known shrine centers
in the Andes, the Yurac Rumi site remains
relatively well preserved (Lee 2000; Samanez
and Zapata 1996).
OVERVIEW OF THE 2008 EXCAVATIONS
The Yurac Rumi shrine is in a small, but
steep-sided, river valley at an altitude of approx-
imately 3,080 m.a.s.l. Now, as in Inca times, the
valley slopes are covered with dense vegetation,
while the valley floor has been cleared and
terraced. The complex is relatively small, less
than 80 meters square, and is some twenty
minutes by foot from the royal palace structures
of Vitcos. The sculpted rock of Yurac Rumi is in
the center of the shrine complex, and the spring
mentioned by the chroniclers still emerges from
beneath it, and flows north into a small court-
yard framed by a suite of buildings (Figure 3).
The area immediately to the south of the sacred
rock contains a large open plaza (approximately
25 by 20 meters), and a series of small carved
rocks. The area to the southwest of the Yurac
Rumi contains a second set of buildings with an
interior courtyard and a large looters’ pit.
During June and July of 2008, Bauer and
Aráoz Silva conducted field-work at Yurac
Rumi. The project included fourteen (one meter
by one meter) test units, as well as six larger
excavations.9 The goal of the smaller units was
to gain information on the stratigraphy of the
site, while the larger units were dug to more
fully investigate specific areas and buildings. At
9
Major funding for this project was provided by the
National Geographic Society, the University of Illinois at
Chicago, the Curtiss T. Brennan and Mary G. Brennan
Foundation, the Institute for New World Archaeology,
and the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory at the
University of Arizona. We thank Vincent Lee for
providing the building drawing used in this work, as well
as Andean Past reviewers Steven A. Wernke and Steven
Kosiba for their comments on improving the manuscript.
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012)
the conclusion of the field-work, a series of
carbon samples were submitted for dating under
the direction of Burr at the Accelerator Mass
Spectrometry Laboratory at the University of
Arizona. While a report on the full excavation
is currently in preparation, here we discuss the
contributions of the radiocarbon dates to our
understanding of the shrine complex. Our
research suggests that the shrine was established
during the early expansion of the Inca empire.
Furthermore, we find overwhelming evidence
that the shrine was destroyed by fire, and that
the ritual complex was then briefly reoccupied,
before being completely abandoned. These
archaeological data strongly support the narra-
tive accounts given by Murúa (1987 [1611-
1616], Calancha (1981 [1638]), and Cobo
(1979 [1653]).
DATING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHRINE
Excavations in the plaza and courtyards of
the shrine documented that the open areas of
the complex were covered with hard-packed
gravel floors during its final years of use. Fur-
thermore, excavations in the buildings revealed
that most of the structures contained well-
prepared, green clay floors. Importantly, in two
different units we also found evidence of earlier
floors, made with crushed white granite.
The crushed white granite floors were first
identified in Unit P9; a one by one meter exca-
vation in the Southwest Courtyard. The excava-
tion revealed a humus level followed by a thick
stratum of disturbed soil, representing the back-
dirt of a nearby looters’ pit. The third stratum
was composed of colluvially redeposited materi-
als (i.e. slope wash) laid down after the site was
abandoned. Next came a series of closely
spaced, relatively thin levels, each two to three
centimeters thick. The first was the pebble floor
which extends across much of the courtyard
area. This was followed by a floor of finely
crushed, white granite. Next came a lens of
- 198
dark earth, followed by another floor of crushed
white granite. Under the second granite floor
was a thin layer of earthen fill used to level this
area of the site, and a then thick stratum, more
than thirty centimeters deep, of very dark
brown, clayish loam which is thought to be the
natural sediment of the valley before the Inca
occupation (Figure 4).
Evidence of a similar level of crushed white
granite was found in P11. This unit, measuring
1.0 by 1.2 meters was placed in the northeast
sector of the site, against the back wall of the
building facing the sacred rock. The excavations
soon revealed an irregular, hard-packed earthen
floor with large fragments of classic Inca pottery,
carbon, and some minute burnt bone fragments.
Beneath the earthen floor was a level fill, ap-
proximately twenty centimeters thick, which
rested above a two centimeter thick floor of
crushed white granite. This floor had been well
prepared and rested directly above a thin,
greater than one centimeter, level of red clay,
which may have been used as a sealant to pro-
tect the granite floor in this waterlogged area of
the site.10 Beneath the red clay, was a thick
stratum, fifty to sixty centimeters, of multiple fill
levels which was used to raise the interior area
of the structure (Figure 5).
There is little doubt that the crushed white
granite in the floors identified in units P9 and
P11 was the direct by-product of the Incas’
carving the many granite boulders that lie
within the shrine complex. A carbon sample,
(AA83415) collected from within the upper
floor of crushed granite in P9, yielded an AMS
radiocarbon date of 601±34 BP. A carbon
sample, (AA83416) collected from the crushed
granite floor in Unit P11, provided an AMS
date radiocarbon age 496±51 BP. The cali-
10
Similar thin levels of red clay were also noted within the
profiles of two excavation units (P7, P8) on the terrace
above the shrine complex.
199 -
brated dates from these samples suggest that the
shrine was established in the late 1300s to mid-
1400s (Table 1).
DATING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SHRINE
The destruction of Yurac Rumi can be
narrowed down to a relatively short time period.
The two priests, Ortiz and Garcia, witnessed
and signed a document dictated by Titu Cusi
Yupanqui (2005[1570]:139) in the Inca town of
Vilcabamba on February 6, 1570, after which
they returned to the town of Puquiura near
Vitcos.11 According to Calancha (1981[1638]:
1825-1827, Book 4, Chapter 4),12 when Ortiz
and Garcia arrived in Puquiura there were many
people from different towns waiting for them.
Some were bemoaning deaths which had been
caused by the “demon” of Yurac Rumi, while
others were trembling in fear from the havoc
and destruction that the demon was causing to
their families, herds, and fields because they had
been baptized. Angry, and perhaps humiliated
by the events that had taken place in the city of
Vilcabamba, Ortiz and Garcia announced
through the town crier that all the converts
should gather the next day at the church on the
plaza, and that each person was to bring fire-
wood, because they were going to burn the
shrine. The following day the priests and their
followers marched to Yurac Rumi, encircled it
with firewood, and, after conducting an exor-
cism, they burned the temple and the rock.
Murúa (1987[1611-1616]:270), provides many
of the same details. However, Murúa suggests
that Yurac Rumi was burned about a month
11
17 February 1570 in the Gregorian calendar.
12
Antonio de la Calancha wrote a history of the
Augustinian order in Peru which was published in 1638.
There is no evidence that he lived in the Cusco region.
However, as an Augustinian himself, Calancha had access
to the records of the order, including the inquiries which
were conducted on the death of Ortiz (Hemming 1970;
MacCormack 2008).
Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine
after the two priests returned from seeing the
Inca in Vilcabamba.13 No matter which chroni-
cler is more accurate, the burning of the shrine
appears to have taken place sometime between
mid-February and mid-March 1570.14
Our 2008 excavations at Yurac Rumi con-
firm that the shrine was destroyed in a massive
fire. Each of the buildings that we sampled
contained thick levels of burnt building materi-
als, including large amounts of burnt plaster, as
well as carbonized roof remains. These excava-
tions also revealed that each of the buildings
had well maintained floors at the time of the
destruction. A few complete ceramic vessels
(both for storage and cooking) were found on
the floors, and one structure yielded a bronze
halberd (yauri) head which appears to have
been left in the rafters of one of the buildings
when it burned (Figure 6). Furthermore, some
organic artifacts in use at the time of the burn-
ing were preserved in carbonized form. For
example, we recovered a carved wood staff that
had been resting on one of the floors. It should
be noted, however, that overall our excavations
found very few artifacts within the structures,
suggesting that the priests and attendants had
had time to remove the most valued items
before the complex was burned.
13
The Mercedarian friar Martín de Murúa lived in Cusco
at least from 1585 to 1588, more likely even longer, and
he was stationed as the parish priest of Curahuasi on the
southern edge of the Vilcabamba region in 1595 (Ossio
2008a). It was during these decades that he collected
information on the history of the Incas and the early
conquest of the Andes by the Spaniards. He personally
interviewed many of the Spaniards who had lead raids into
the Vilcabamba region, as well as some of the natives who
had lived there (Adorno and Boserup 2008; Ossio 2008b).
Like Calancha, he had access to the Augustinian records
concerning the death of Ortiz (Aparicio 1989).
14
The testimony of Juana Guerra states that the burning
took place “a cabo de un mes, poco más o menos” [At the
end of a month, more or less] (Aparicio 1989:164).
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012)
The most intriguing information on the
massive burning of the shrine comes from
Excavation Unit U6, where the ceiling and roof
of the structure appear to have fallen relatively
quickly (Figures 7, 8). During the course of
excavation we exposed samples of burned and
unburned mountain grass (Stipa ichu) used as
thatch, carbonized mountain bamboo (Chusqu-
quea scandens) used as battens, carbonized
rafters made from alder (Alnus acuminata), and
carbonized rope made from local grass (Calama-
grostis heterophylla) used in lashing the battens
and rafters. These charred ceiling and roofing
materials rested directly on the green clay floor
of the building, and were covered with a 30
centimeter thick stratum of burnt plaster and
other materials (Figure 9).
A hard-packed earthen floor, enhanced by
a few slate paving stones, above the burnt wall
plaster stratum, but below a large scale collapse
of the structure walls, provided evidence of a
brief reoccupation of the shrine after it had been
burnt by the Augustinians.15 It appears that this
reoccupation also ended in fire, because the
hard-packed earth floor was also covered with a
lens of ash and burnt wood (Figure 10).
The recovery of various identifiable organic
ceiling and roofing materials within a building
with a known destruction date provided a
unique investigative opportunity. We wanted to
examine how the dates of various plant species
incorporated into the different parts of the roof
correlated with each other, as well as with the
known destruction date of the shrine. As a
result, AMS measurements were run on a rope
(AA83417 [1], AA83417 [2]), a batten (AA
83418 [1], AA83418 [2]), the outer layers of a
15
The reoccupation of Yurac Rumi may have been limited
to only certain areas of the shrine complex. Sometime
after this brief reoccupation, many of the buildings of the
shrine complex appear to have been systematically
destroyed, with major architectural features, such as the
stone roof pegs, pulled from the walls.
- 200
roof support (AA83419 [1], AA83419 [2]), the
grass thatch (AA83422), and carbon associated
with the reoccupation of the structure (AA
83420, AA83421).16 The results of the radiocar-
bon assays are presented in Table 1 and Figure
11.
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
The Inca empire is well known for its elabo-
rately carved rocks, many of which were wor-
shiped as shrines. One of the most celebrated
examples of such a rock shrine is Yurac Rumi in
the Vilcabamba region. A series of radiocarbon
tests were run on carbon collected at the shrine
during excavations in 2008 to help determine:
1) when the shrine was first established, 2)
when it was destroyed, and 3) when it was
reoccupied. Not surprisingly, the two carbon
samples from the reoccupation level provided
the latest dates. However they were only slightly
later than the majority of the ceiling and roofing
materials which burned when the shrine was
initially destroyed. Although we may never
know with certainty, it is possible that parts of
the shrine were immediately re-consecrated by
local inhabitants following the actions of Ortiz
and Garcia, and that those more limited struc-
tures were burnt again approximately two years
later in 1572 as Spanish forces swept through
the region in their successful campaign to cap-
ture Tupac Amaru and to end the independent
Inca state established in the Vilcabamba region.
The burnt ceiling and roofing materials of
the shrine also provided intriguing results. The
sampled batten, roof support, and thatch all
16
All samples were processed in The National Science
Foundation-University of Arizona Accelerator Mass
Spectrometry facility. Calibrated dates were generated by
Calib 5.1 beta, courtesy of the University of Washington
(Stuiver and Reimer 1993). Dates were calibrated using
software employing southern hemisphere data (SHCal04
calibration curve) (McCormac et al. 2004).
201 -
yielded very similar calibrated dates which
clustered in the late-1400s to the mid-1500s.
These age estimations make sense if the shrine
was established, as suggested by the dates from
the granite floors, during the late 1300s to mid-
1400s. However, the rope which was used to tie
the thatch together provided surprisingly early
dates. Our sample yielded calibrated probability
dates in the late-1200s, suggesting that the rope;
was more than 200 years older than the rest of
the roof. Indeed, the results suggest that the
rope may have even predated the Inca occupa-
tion of the Vilcabamba region. Contamination
agents could have been introduced as a result of
fiber preparation before the weaving of the rope,
however, the Inca are not known to have used
such agents.17 While it is possible that the Incas
used older materials in the construction of the
shrine, the dates of the rope seem excessively
early, and we currently cannot fully explain the
results.
The precision of radiocarbon assays can be
increased by using pooled means of different but
related samples. In this study, the two samples
from the reoccupation18 can be pooled together,
as can the samples from the batten,19 the roof
support,20 and the rope.21 The results of the
pooling, presented in Figure 12, helps to illus-
trate how close the reoccupation dates are to
the roof dates, and how much earlier the rope
dates are.
17
In other cases, conservation agents might also make a
rope test older than it really is, but in this case the sample
was taken in the field and sent directly to the laboratory
for analysis.
18
Samples AA83420, AA83421.
19
Samples AA83418 (1), AA83418 (2).
20
Samples AA83419 (2), AA83419 (1).
21
Samples AA83417 (1), AA83417 (2).
Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine
Two separate test excavations found evi-
dence of crushed granite floors in the Yurac
Rumi shrine. The incorporation of the crushed
granite into the floors of the complex must have
made them architecturally stunning, and rein-
forced the ritual nature of the area surrounding
the sacred central stone. Use of the “wastage”
from the carving of the Yurac Rumi stone as a
paving material for the plaza space is consistent
with Inca aesthetics. The pulverized debitage
from a huaca like this would not have been
categorized as mere spoilage, but something
more akin to a religious relic. Its use as a floor-
ing material would have bound the site together
as a single, sacred complex.
Carbon samples were collected from two of
the granite floors.22 Although the radiocarbon
ages of these two samples are separated by some
one hundred years (601±34 BP, 496±51 BP),
their calibrated 1-sigmas do have considerable
overlap in the earliest decades of the cal AD
1400s. We currently believe that these samples
date the establishment of Yurac Rumi as a
shrine, and document when the Inca first ex-
panded into the Vilcabamba region. The fact
that these levels were later buried, and that
additional floors were established above them,
indicates that a series of modifications occurred
at the shrine after its initial dedication. The
dates are consistent with suggestions that the
region was incorporated relatively early into the
Inca empire, during its initial expansion period,
most likely during the reign of Pachacuti Inca
Yupanqui.
22
Samples AA83415, AA83416.
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012)
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1987 [1611-1616] Historia general del Perú, edited by
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de Murúa’s Historia General del Piru, J. Paul Getty
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203 - Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine

Lab No Site context Material *13 C F 14

C age BP Calibrated dates
[start: end] relative area

AA83415 Granite floor Unidentified carbon -25.1 0.9280 ± 0.0039 601 ± 34 One-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1326: cal AD 1341] 0.250409
[cal AD 1390: cal AD 1419] 0.749591
Two-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1316: cal AD 1355] 0.326466
[cal AD 1382: cal AD 1435] 0.673534
Median probability: cal AD 1397

AA83416 Granite floor Unidentified carbon -27.5 0.9401 ± 0.0060 496 ± 51 One-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1411: cal AD 1464] 0.955148
[cal AD 1470: cal AD 1476] 0.044852
Two-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1394: cal AD 1509] 0.922702
[cal AD 1579: cal AD 1620] 0.077298
Median probability: cal AD 1446

AA83417 (1) Rope Calamagrostis -23.7 0.9075 ± 0.0059 780 ± 52 One-sigma range:
heterophylla [cal AD 1225: cal AD 1298] 1.0
Quechua: Hiro ichu Two-sigma ranges:
Reed grass [cal AD 1190: cal AD 1191] 0.001013
[cal AD 1202: cal AD 1322] 0.859046
[cal AD 1347: cal AD 1387] 0.139941
Median probability: cal AD 1271

AA83417 (2) Rope Calamagrostis -24.2 0.9089 ± 0.0056 767 ± 49 One-sigma ranges:
heterophylla [cal AD 1230: cal AD 1250] 0.205490
Quechua: Hiro ichu [cal AD 1261: cal AD 1304] 0.662807
Reed grass [cal AD 1363: cal AD 1377] 0.131703
Two-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1215: cal AD 1323] 0.803562
[cal AD 1346: cal AD 1388] 0.196438
Median probability: cal AD 1283

AA83418 (1) Batten Chusququea scanden -25.9 09481 ± 0.0061 428 ± 52 One-sigma ranges:
Quechua: Kurkur [cal AD 1446: cal AD 1509] 0.666726
Mountain bamboo [cal AD 1580: cal AD 1620] 0.333274
Two-sigma range:
[cal AD 1438: cal AD 1628] 1.0
Median probability: cal AD 1508

AA83418 (2) Batten Chusququea scanden -23.7 0.9466 ± 0.0058 441 ± 49 One-sigma range:
Quechua: Kurkur [cal AD 1442: cal AD 1504] 0.763347
Mountain bamboo Two-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1428: cal AD 1524] 0.636179
[cal AD 1529: cal AD 1531] 0.005259
[cal AD 1535: cal AD 1626] 0.358562
Median probability: cal AD 1493

AA83419 (1) Roof support Alnus acuminata -22.8 0.9484 ± 0.0058 426 ± 49 One-sigma ranges:
Spanish: Aliso [cal AD 1447: cal AD 1508] 0.670719
Alder [cal AD 1583: cal AD 1619] 0.329281
Two-sigma range:
[cal AD 1441: cal AD 1626] 1.0
Median probability: cal AD 1508

Continued:

Table 1: Carbon samples from Yurac Rumi

ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012) - 204

Lab No Site context Material *13 C F 14

C age BP Calibrated dates
[start: end] relative area

AA83419 (2) Roof support Alnus acuminata -27.3 0.9524 ± 0.0061 392 ± 51 One-sigma ranges:
Spanish: Aliso [cal AD 1461: cal AD 1512] 0.428560
Alder [cal AD 1548: cal AD 1563] 0.113319
[cal AD 1569: cal AD 1622] 0.458120
Two-sigma range:
[cal AD 1453: cal AD 1635] 1.0
Median probability: cal AD 1547

AA83420 Reoccupation Unidentified carbon -25.6 0.9575 ± 0.0062 349 ± 52 One-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1502: cal AD 1594] 0.792765
[cal AD 1613: cal AD 1638] 0.207235
Two-sigma range:
[cal AD 1457: cal AD 1658] 1.0
Median probability: cal AD 1562

AA83421 Reoccupation Unidentified carbon -25.6 0.9557 ± 0.0062 364 ± 52 One-sigma ranges:
[cal AD 1499: cal AD 1598] 0.835896
[cal AD 1610: cal AD 1630] 0.164104
Two-sigma range:
[cal AD 1458: cal AD 1646] 1.0
Median probability: cal AD 1557

AA83422 Grass thatch Stipa ichu -23.6 0.9470 ± 0.0061 437 ± 52 One-sigma ranges:
Quechua: Ichu [cal AD 1442: cal AD 1507] 0.716657
Mountain grass [cal AD 1586: cal AD 1618] 0.283343
Two-sigma range:
[cal AD 1432: cal AD 1626] 1.0
Median probability: cal AD 1498

Table 1 (continued): Carbon samples from Yurac Rumi

205 - Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine

Figure 1: The Vilcabamba region northwest of Cusco.

Figure 2: Panorama of Yurac Rumi (2008).

ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012) - 206

Figure 3: Plan of Yurac Rumi

based on Bingham 1912a, Lee 2000:472, and 2008 and 2009 site measurements by Bauer.
P=pozo, a one meter by one meter excavation.
U=unidad, an excavation unit greater than one meter by one meter.
207 - Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine

Figure 4: Unit P9, northwest profile showing a

series of floors. Carbon was recovered from the
upper granite floor level.

Figure 5: Unit P11, northeast profile. Note the

crushed granite floor.
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012) - 208

Figure 6: A bronze halberd recovered within the burned debris in Unit 1.

Figure 7: Excavation U6 revealed the interior of

one of the buildings along the plaza at Yurac
Rumi. Two large roof supports can be seen in this
photograph, as well as the remains of battens with
grass rope (lower left) and a crushed storage jar
(center right). Each of these items rests directly
above a carefully made green clay floor, and was
covered with a thick level of burned plaster and
other building materials.
209 - Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine

Figure 8: Battens on Inca floor in Unit U6.

Figure 9: Reconstruction of a building at Yurac Rumi,

showing parts of the roof identified during our 2008 excavations.
ANDEAN PAST 10 (2012) - 210

Figure 10: Profile of U7.

Figure 11: Radiocarbon dates from Yurac Rumi.

211 - Bauer et al.: Destruction of the Yurac Rumi Shrine

Figure 12: Radiocarbon dates from Yurac Rumi using pooled means.