AMS radiocarbon reanalysis by Burger and colleagues, published in Antiquity (2021), dated 26 human bone and tooth samples from cemeteries at Machu Picchu, returning dates stretching back to around 1420—several decades before the traditional founding under Pachacuti. The findings indicate Inca occupation of the site began earlier than previously thought. The study analyzed skeletal remains, not foundation fills, and did not address bedrock stratigraphy or pre-Inca occupation claims.
Carbon-14 dating confirms Machu Picchu dates to the Inca era, not earlier civilization
PeruTheory
Key facts
- Reanalysis of skeletons in Machu Picchu servant cemetery produced carbon-14 dates of 1420 to 1530
- Carbon-14 dating is accurate to plus or minus 50 years
- Hundreds of carbon-14 dates exist for Machu Picchu, including from foundation fills dating to the 1400s
- Megalithic architecture in Peru is known as Cyclopean
- Cusco and Inca sites throughout the Sacred Valley show the same mix of imperial and Cyclopean architecture within single sites
- Machu Picchu was built on a shaved-off mountain of solid bedrock, leaving no possibility of deeper layers hiding an earlier occupation
Site mentioned
Sources
New dates for Machu Picchuthe-past.com
Radiocarbon dating of burials from the Inca site of Machu Picchu has revealed that it was occupied several decades earlier than previously ...
Decoding Diversity and Power at Machu Picchusapiens.org
Using carbon dating, we dated the remains and found some of these people were buried before the rise of Pachacuti and the Inca Empire.
Radio-carbon dating reveals that Machu Picchu is older ...heritagedaily.com
Radio-carbon dating reveals that Machu Picchu is older than previously thought ... date 26 burials found at the three cemeteries in Machu Picchu.
New AMS dates for Machu Picchu: results and implicationscambridge.org
by RL Burger · 2021 · Cited by 35 — This article presents the results of the AMS radiocarbon analysis of 26 human bone and tooth samples recovered from burial contexts at Machu ...
Machu Picchu Is Older Than Previously Thought ...smithsonianmag.com
Burger and his colleagues used a type of radiocarbon dating called accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to date the teeth and bones of 26 ...
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.