﻿CUZCO 
  ARCHEOLOGY 
  

  

  By 
  Luis 
  E. 
  Valcarcel 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  Until 
  1933 
  the 
  site 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  ruins 
  of 
  Cuzco 
  (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  3) 
  was 
  

   known 
  by 
  the 
  descriptions 
  of 
  Clements 
  R. 
  Markham, 
  George 
  Squier, 
  

   Charles 
  Wiener, 
  and 
  E. 
  W. 
  Middendorf. 
  Historians 
  of 
  the 
  16th 
  and 
  

   17th 
  centuries, 
  such 
  as 
  Pedro 
  Cieza 
  de 
  Leon, 
  the 
  Inca 
  Garcilaso 
  de 
  la 
  

   Vega, 
  Guaman 
  Poma 
  de 
  Ayala, 
  Father 
  Martin 
  de 
  Morua, 
  and 
  many 
  

   others 
  had 
  devoted 
  many 
  pages 
  to 
  the 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  exact 
  and 
  detailed 
  

   description 
  of 
  the 
  buildings, 
  which 
  in 
  large 
  part 
  are 
  still 
  standing. 
  

   They 
  had 
  speculated 
  about 
  the 
  function 
  of 
  these 
  buildings, 
  the 
  build- 
  

   ers, 
  and 
  the 
  manner 
  of 
  construction 
  of 
  such 
  great 
  architectural 
  mon- 
  

   uments 
  as 
  the 
  fortress 
  of 
  Sacsahuaman. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  period 
  1911-15, 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  in 
  Peru, 
  a 
  well-organ- 
  

   ized 
  scientific 
  expedition, 
  under 
  the 
  auspices 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Geo- 
  

   graphic 
  Society 
  of 
  Washington 
  and 
  Yale 
  University, 
  directed 
  by 
  

   Prof. 
  Hiram 
  Bingham, 
  conducted 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  thorough 
  investigations 
  

   in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Urubamba 
  River, 
  and 
  discovered 
  places 
  of 
  great 
  

   interest, 
  such 
  as 
  Machu 
  Picchu. 
  This 
  marked 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   large-scale 
  archeological 
  explorations, 
  which 
  have 
  since 
  been 
  carried 
  

   on 
  in 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  Perti, 
  particularly 
  in 
  the 
  Coastal 
  region. 
  

  

  In 
  October 
  1933, 
  the 
  Museo 
  Nacional 
  of 
  Lima 
  was 
  charged 
  with 
  

   doing 
  some 
  archeological 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Cuzco. 
  The 
  

   author 
  of 
  this 
  article 
  directed 
  the 
  work, 
  which 
  lasted 
  from 
  November 
  

   1933 
  to 
  July 
  1934. 
  In 
  that 
  short 
  period 
  very 
  valuable 
  results 
  were 
  

   obtained, 
  for 
  considerable 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  culture 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  

   light, 
  at 
  least 
  doubling 
  the 
  volume 
  of 
  what 
  had 
  been 
  known 
  before. 
  

   Excavations 
  and 
  clearings 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  many 
  sections; 
  and 
  necessary 
  

   restorations 
  and 
  repairs 
  on 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  monuments 
  were 
  accom- 
  

   plished. 
  1 
  

  

  Despite 
  extensive 
  results 
  within 
  the 
  city 
  of 
  Cuzco 
  itself, 
  in 
  the 
  

   fortress 
  of 
  Sacsahuaman, 
  and 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  valley, 
  innumerable 
  remains 
  

   are 
  still 
  untouched. 
  Also 
  there 
  are 
  more 
  ruins 
  to 
  be 
  explored 
  in 
  the 
  

   Cuzco-Apurimac 
  area. 
  2 
  

  

  1 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  the 
  Archeological 
  Institute 
  was 
  founded 
  in 
  Cuzco. 
  Under 
  the 
  auspices 
  of 
  the 
  Institute, 
  a 
  

   museum 
  was 
  organized 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  discovered 
  materials 
  were 
  displayed. 
  Unpublished 
  

   material, 
  including 
  reports 
  on 
  Pisac, 
  Piquillacta, 
  and 
  Cacha, 
  is 
  preserved 
  in 
  the 
  museum.. 
  

  

  2 
  It 
  should 
  be 
  noted 
  that 
  explorations 
  made 
  under 
  the 
  auspices 
  of 
  the 
  Viking 
  Fund 
  (1940 
  and 
  1942) 
  added 
  

   to 
  the 
  knowledge 
  of 
  Inca 
  monuments, 
  towns, 
  and 
  roads 
  in 
  the 
  general 
  area 
  in 
  which 
  Machu 
  Picchu 
  was 
  

   discovered. 
  

  

  177 
  

  

  