Rock art and human remains have been reported near Machu Picchu along the Vilcanota, also called the Urubamba, River. The video’s presenter argues that prehistoric hunters may have reached the mountaintop by following the river and a freshwater spring, proposing that the spring was known around 2,000 BC. The nearby art does not establish that route or discovery date, and 2,000 BC means roughly 4,000 years ago. Machu Picchu was built in the 15th century, around the mid-1400s.
Video proposes a hunter route to Machu Picchu; nearby rock art is documented
PeruGeneral
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Rock art and human remains have been reported on the banks of the Vilcanota, also called the Urubamba, River near Machu Picchu. This does not establish that hunters found the site by following a spring.
- The video’s presenter argues that prehistoric hunters may have followed the river and a freshwater spring to the mountaintop, proposing a date around 2,000 BC for early use of the spring. The cited reporting does not establish that discovery date; 2,000 BC is roughly 4,000 years ago, not 2,000 years ago.
- UNESCO and Smarthistory date Machu Picchu’s construction to the 15th century, around the mid-1400s, rather than the late 1200s or 1300s.
Sources
The Masterful Water Engineers of Machu Picchu - MDPImdpi.com
The Inca, using a clever groundwater interception structure (Figure 4), carefully developed this spring, which then fed a long domestic water ...
Machu Picchu Water Management - Ancient Engineering Technologiesancientengrtech.wisc.edu
Bingham, a history professor at Yale, discovered the ruins of Machu Picchu in 1911. The ancient city of Machu Picchu uses a water source of natural springs
Machu Picchu's Remarkable Water Supply and Drainage Systemsomrania.com
The Incans built a collection system to increase the yield of the spring, then created a canal that brought water down to the site of the city.
The Sacred Role of Water in Machu Picchu & Incan Civilizationalpacaexpeditions.com
At Machu Picchu, they built advanced aqueducts, canals, and fountains that brought fresh water to the people living there.
Water Fountains and Inca Channels of Machu Picchu - Peru Sitesperusites.com
The spring: the origin of the water. The water that supplied Machu Picchu came and still comes from a spring located on the northern slope of the mountain ...
ROCK ART HAS BEEN DISCOVERED NEAR THE RUINS ...rockartblog.blogspot.com
Recently rock art has been discovered near Machu Picchu. Again, referred to as being discovered by an outside visitor, although a native guide ...
News - Rock Art Discovered Near Machu Picchuarchaeology.org
LIMA, PERU—Andina reports that partially exposed human remains and rock art have been discovered on the banks of the Vilcanota River along ...
Ancient Painting Discovered on Giant Rock at Machu Picchukimmacquarrie.com
Art historians already knew of engravings at Machu Picchu. But Morales said, “This is the very first painting ever documented at Machu Picchu.”.
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