Getting High in Peru, Year 2: Archaeological Adv., Choquequirao?

Archaeological Adventures:

Choquequirao, the Sister City of Machu Picchu or the

Other Machu Picchu?

            I first came to hear of this (for me back then) unpronounceable site back in 2013 while in Cusco and at Machu Picchu. It didn’t mean much to me then. This was my first time to Peru, to Cusco, and now Machu Picchu. Sometime later it came back to me---what, Machu Picchu has a sister city? As a boy I remember looking at the pictures of Machu Picchu (National Geographic) wishing I could go there, and now here I am, and I find out that there is another one? Then I asked a friend here in Arequipa about this site that I could not pronounce. Katia knew what I was talking about and fed me some information. Now that I had the spelling of the site, I then went to Lonely Planet, Peru, which I discovered only had one small paragraph of info, and so I went to Google Earth and wow! It exists. Now I begin to wonder if I can go to this site in 2014.

          

Google Earth Picture of Choquequiro

            I then began to gather information on Choquequirao, which included rereading Hiram Bingham’s account of his visit in his book Lost City of the Inca (2011 ed). Actually, as he writes, he was in Peru NOT to “discover” Inca sites but was researching Bolivar’s Wars of Independence and was on his way to Ayacucho. But, in 1909, while passing through Cusco and Abancay, the Prefect invited him to go on a treasure hunt at Choquequirao. Its name means “Cradle of Gold.” I want to believe that Bingham did not agree with the premise for the visit, but agreed to go along and the visit led to a change of careers for him—he wanted to become expert on the Incas and to “discover” or visit their cities.

            Like Machu Picchu, the road to Choquequirao begins in Cusco. On the road out of Cusco, the group Bingham joined pass by Sacsaywaman (Bingham used a different spelling) a “Cyclopean fortress” (p. 115) with its mega-ton polygonal blocks. In 2013 in my first visit to Sacsaywaman, I heard this word “cyclopean” used and it sent chills up and down my back, since this is a Middle Eastern archaeological term (not “Greek myth” but story passed down) going back to wall or tomb construction at sites dating back to more than 3200 years ago. Uncovering, measuring, and photographing “cyclopean” blocks was part of my job in the Middle East. And then when I returned to my teaching job in the states, I got to tell stories and to challenge my students, how did the ancients construct these walls or tombs? That was another fun part of my teaching job. However, due to wars, climatic change, and movement of peoples 3200 years ago, knowledge was lost how these walls or tombs were constructed with these huge blocks weighing 100 tons and more. The answer back then was that only the ancient Cyclops could have built such walls/tombs with these massive blocks. And here in Cusco, this word was used to define the fortress walls of Sacsaywaman. This was another defining and serendipitous moment for me. Now that I have returned to Sacsaywaman in 2014 and plan to do so one or more times this year, I do plan to do more research on the site and blog it.  

            Soon Bingham describes the extreme hardship to get to Choquequirao; the slog downhill; the attempt to cross the Apurimac River, which at that time of year (Feb), he says was “a raging torrent 250 feet wide … , over 80 feet deep.” (p. 120). Once they succeeded in crossing the river, the slog uphill began, which he points out that “the trail was so steep that it was easier to go on all fours that to attempt to walk erect.” (p. 123) I enjoy reading Bingham’s account because I too now plan to do the 2-day hike to the site carrying my backpack accompanied by mules carrying our food, tents, and other supplies. Two days in, one day at the site (Bingham spent 4 days on site), and then another two days back out to Cusco. I plan to read other firsthand accounts to better prep myself for the trek.    

            Once Bingham gets to Choquequirao, he makes reference to recommendations by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS): “take careful measurements and plenty of photographs and describe as accurately as possible all finds.” (p. 125) Since he implements these guidelines at all sites, he clearly accepts this as a mandate, and this is much to his credit and for our benefit. It was Choquequirao that led Bingham to return to Peru the following year to search for the “Lost City of the Inca.

            Mark Adams, an editor for a US travel magazine decided a few years ago to follow in the footsteps of Hiram Bingham one hundred years after Hiram and entitles his book, Turn Right at Machu Picchu, Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time, 2011. Mark Adams’ book is both an informative and an interesting read, and of course, as Bingham did, from Cusco, Adams determines to head for Choquequirao, and as Bingham did, Adams hires a guide (John Leivers), mules, a crew, and starts walking.

            Adams devotes chapters to the family history of Hiram Bingham, which provided me with another serendipitous moment since Hiram’s grandfather, Hiram I was Abner Hale in James A. Michener’s book Hawaii. Hiram I was an inflexible missionary sent to Hawaii in the 1800s. I loved that book and almost went to Hawaii to study archaeology there, in spite of Abner Hale. However, it was a road not taken (My Dad forced me to cancel my air ticket). Soon thereafter and in the Middle East, archaeologist Trude Dothan became my boss and friend at the excavation Tel Miqne-Ekron for more than a dozen years. Before she became my boss, she had been interviewed extensively by James A. Michener and his staff, and Trude became the female Israeli archaeologist in Michener’s book, The Source. That book was my road taken. And now I am here in Arequipa, Peru prepping to follow in the footsteps of Hiram Bingham III to Choquequirao.   

            While on the road to Cachora, the town too where I plan to begin the hike, Adams mentions about the difficulty in getting at Inca history. The Incas had no written language so archaeologists try to get at their history through the artifacts, but from my experience, this is extremely difficult. (Yes, it is true that some written sources come through Spanish historians, but, in a way, that may be like trying to learn about Iraq and its people by reading an account of the US 2003 invasion of Iraq written by Dick Cheney. Adams also references Dick Cheney in an analogy.)

People have always asked me what was the most exciting or important artifact I/we uncovered. I remember a find of gold jewelry (from around 1500 BC) and shouting out “gold” and everybody came running. I remember a silver jewelry cache (found by my oldest daughter who was 17 at the time), carved ivory, or other gold objects all of which are now on display in museums. However, the most important artifact (and also in a museum) and which I had the privilege of filming its uncovering was the cornerstone of a Philistine temple which, once translated, basically announced to us welcome to Ekron, listing their kings, and their goddess. Most names had been unknown to us.  That inscription was uncovered 14 years after myself and others began excavating the site, and we did not even know if the site/city was Ekron until the inscribed stone was recovered. Therefore, the fact that the Inca had no written language makes it extremely unlikely that we will get to know the Inca culture well.  

Adams points out how much the Choquequirao site is similar to Machu Picchu. It is in the Sacred Valley and connects to Machu Picchu by a complex system of “Inca Trails.” Choquequirao, as Machu Picchu, was built up on a high ridge with a sacred river below and surrounded by higher peaks, apus, the mountain gods. Machu Picchu is at 2430m (8068 feet) and Choquequirao is at 3030m (10,060 feet). Choquequirao also has upper and lower terraces with a central plaza and usnu platforms where the religious rites were conducted, and as Machu Picchu has a winter solstice line passing through, so did Choquequirao. As in ancient Egypt, the Inca king was a son of the sun god, Inti, so the solstice line would be important for the Inca (king) to reinforce to his people that the sun god was with him.

So, the above presents some of what I know of Choquequirao thus far. Neither Bingham nor Adams’ accounts change my mind of trekking there. I’m confident that I will learn a lot more while on the trek and while at the site. I plan, Ojala, to get back to you about Machu Picchu’s Sister City. 

Paz, Neal Bierling