Photo by Hiram Bingham 



EXCAVATING AT MACHU PICCHU 



Commencing the work of excavating in the Chief Temple at Machu Picchu. Lieutenant 

 Sotomayor, at the right, in charge of the gang of Indians 



that those on Huayna Picchu were only 

 slightly inferior. Mr. Heald's report of 

 his work on Huayna Picchu runs in part 

 as follows : 



"Huayna Picchu. lying to the north of 

 Machu Picchu, and connected with it by 

 a narrow neck, rises some 2,500 feet 

 above the Urubamba River, which runs 

 around its base. On one side, the south, 

 this elevation is reached by what is prac- 

 tically one complete precipice. On the 

 other, while there are sheer ascents, there 

 are also slopes, and, according to the 

 account of one Arteaga, who claims to 

 have explored the forests which cover a 

 good deal of it, was once cultivated, the 

 slopes being converted into level fields 

 by low earth terraces (see page 424). 



ATTEMPT AT SCALING HUAYNA PICCHU 



"This mountain is, like Machu Picchu, 

 cut from medium-grained gray to red 

 granite, which accounts in part for its 



sharp, craggy outlines. The lower slopes, 

 where there are any, are covered with 

 forest growths of large trees. A peculiar 

 thing in this connection is one solitary 

 palm tree, which rises above the other 

 vegetation. Near the top the large trees 

 give place to cane and mesquite, while 

 many slopes have nothing but grass. This 

 last is due more to steepness and lack of 

 soil than to any peculiarity of elevation 

 or location, however. 



"My first trip to reach the summit of 

 Huayna Picchu and to ascertain what 

 ruins, if any, were on it. ended in failure. 

 The only man who had been up (Ar- 

 teaga), who lives at Mandor Pampa, was 

 drunk, and refused to go with me; so I 

 decided to try to find a way without his 

 help. I knew where his bridge crossed 

 the Urubamba River and where he had 

 started up when he went the year before. 

 With these two things to help me. I 

 thought that I could very likely find as 



427 



