Machu Picchu

So we almost ended up not going to Machu Picchu because of a landslide that blocked our train to Aquas Calientes, but after a long van ride and a hike we made it. After getting up before dawn, we hopped onto a bus to take us up the mountain to see the sun rise on the sight for the winter solstice.  The specific set of ruins Amanda and I chose were the remains of the Temple of the Condor. Amanda stood inside the temple and I stood outside a bit above the temple. When the sun rose I didn't really see anything happen from my point of view. Though while the sun was rising I noticed it rose on both sides of the site and looked like it would converge somewhere in the middle and I hoped it would converge on our temple, but it didn't. Facing away from the sun, the temple was lit up from the right to the left. Inside the temple, when the sun rose, a cave between the condors wings was lit up.

A cool thing that was pointed out as we went around the site was all these stones shaped like mountains that matched up with mountains in the distance. This isn't surprising since the Incas saw the mountains as deities and shaping these rocks were probably a sign of worship. Most people passed by these stones and didn't notice the pattern since they didn't have Dr. Brown as a tour guide, but the one stone that is pointed out is the Sacred Rock. The sacred rock is also shaped like a mountain, but as Dr. Brown pointed out, it didn't fit the mountain range behind it. This is weird since all the other stone mountains had a lot of work put into them to be shaped a certain way so why would this large important rock not have the same attention to it? One suggestion is that it is the shape of another important mountain from a different mountain range.

Another cool thing that could be seen throughout the site was the drainage/irrigation system in place. You could see these drainage pipes between steps that either lead to a pool, the terraces, or off the cliff. The Incas were very clever with getting the water out of the city. One cool thing about their steps were that they had a system of drainage in place to get the water off the steps when it rained so it wouldn't pool. I think we should install some sort of Inca drainage system at Georgia College, because when it rains there are large puddles all over campus that shouldn't be there.

One of the things that interested me was the large stone by the Temple of Three Windows. I think it's interesting after Dr. Brown pointed out it might have been a sacrificial alter. You could see small channels in the rock that could have been used to direct the blood off the alter towards a drainage pipe. I find things to do with sacrifice to be interesting since it's an important aspect to many ancient/pre-Columbian cultures.