BRONZE TWEEZERS EOR EXTRACTING HAIR FOUND AT MACHU 

 PICCHU. AEE lyi TIMES NATURAE SIZE 



they should have overlooked that fact if, 

 as the Spaniards believed, it was a fact. 

 I still feel that the ancient home of 

 Manco Ccapac, which might be termed 

 the cradle of the Incas, was not located 

 at Paccari-tampu. 



THE CRADLE OE THE INCAS 



Whether or not it was located at 

 Machu Picchu is another question. 



I believe it was, for the following rea- 

 sons : 



Firstly, the requirements of Tampu- 

 tocco as described in Montesinos are met 

 at Machu Picchu and not at Paccari- 

 tampu. The splendid natural defenses of 

 the region around Machu Picchu made it 

 an ideal refuge for the descendants of 

 the megalithic folk in the five or six hun- 

 dred years of anarchy that succeeded the 

 barbarian invasions from the plains to 

 the east and south, while at Paccari- 

 tampu there is marked lack of natural 

 defenses; the scarcity of violent earth- 

 quakes at Machu Picchu, and also its 

 healthfulness, are both marked charac- 

 teristics of Tampu-tocco, and here we 

 find record stones and other pre-Inca 

 material. 



Secondly, because the distinct tradition 

 recorded by the Indian Salcamayhua re- 

 fers to the construction of a masonry 

 wall with three windows at the place of 

 Manco Ccapac's birth, and the first win- 

 dow was called Tampu-tocco ; and at 

 Machu Picchu we have what is clearly a 

 ceremonial building, which may be de- 

 scribed as a masonry wall with three win- 

 dows, while at Paccari-tampu there are 

 no such windows. 



Thirdly, the early witnesses when 

 asked, under oath, to tell where Tampu- 

 tocco was. all dodged the question. None 

 of them, however, declared it was at Pac- 

 cari-tampu. 



A BRONZE PENDANT OR 

 EAR-RING 



THE SACRED VIRGINS OE THE SUN 



All these facts lead me to the belief 

 that the original name of Machu Picchu 

 was Tampu-tocco ; that here the last 

 megalithic king was buried, and that it 

 was the capital of the little kingdom of 

 his descendants during eight of ten cen- 

 turies between the megalithic era and the 

 Incas ; that it was probably the birthplace 

 of Manco Ccapac, and after he had 

 achieved greatness he built a fine temple 

 and palace here. 



There is so little convenient arable 

 land near Machu Picchu that when the 

 people who occupied it once got control 

 again of Cuzco and the rich valleys in 

 that vicinity, there was no necessity for 

 them to maintain a city at this spot under 

 great difficulties. The original cit}^ may 

 have been very small ; but it was nat- 

 ually a sacred place, and its whereabouts 

 were undoubtedly known to the priests 

 and those who preserved the most sacred 

 and secret traditions of the Incas. It 

 may have been practically deserted for 

 300 years while the Inca Empire grew 

 and flourished and its location entirely 

 forgotten by the common people. 



Then came the Spaniards, and, with 

 their conquest, the necessity of saving 

 what was possible of the ancient re- 

 ligion. The most precious objects were 

 not the gold and silver images that the 

 Spaniards craved, but the sacred Mrgins 

 of the Sun, who from their earliest child- 

 hood had been educated to the service of 

 the temple and to ministering to the 

 wants of the Inca. Some of these were 

 undoubtedly captured, but many appear 

 to have escaped. They naturally went 



179 



