Machu Picchu
- Machu Picchu is an iconic Inca city shrouded in mystery regarding its origins.
- Albert Lin uses 21st-century technology to uncover the secrets behind its creation.
- Machu Picchu showcases impressive architecture, including vertical terracing, open plazas, temples, and ceremonial doorways.
Pre-Inca Origins
- The search for Machu Picchu's origins leads to the exploration of pre-Inca remains near Rayaka.
- A local legend mentions an ancient site on a hillside, warning about respecting local traditions and beliefs.
- The team discovers a grave with a skull and leg bone, suggesting pre-Inca presence.
- Lidar technology digitally removes obstacles and reveals potential pre-Inca buildings and terraces.
- The team finds "chullpas" (circular stone structures) and rectangular structures, indicating a pre-Inca village or ceremonial site.
- The Inca built their structures next to pre-Inca tombs, appropriating them as a political and religious statement.
- The Inca incorporated aspects of earlier belief systems into their own, asserting their power and authority.
Cult of the Wiota
- The search for Machu Picchu's origins leads to the investigation of the cult of the Wiota, a creator god that predates the Inca.
- Kin saata volcano, believed to be a sacred pre-Inca site, inspired stories of fire falling from the heavens.
- The Inca built a temple at the volcano's base after witnessing the Wiota shrine and ordered its expansion.
Inca City of Wat
- Wat, located at 13,000 ft, is older and higher than Machu Picchu, featuring Inca symbols and double jamb doors, indicating spiritual significance.
- The Inca transformed Wat from an earlier settlement into an Inca place, building on existing structures.
- The mountains were considered sacred by the people, who believed they originated from them and revered them as ancestors.
- Lidar technology reveals signature Inca terracing and circular structures, suggesting pre-Inca occupation.
- Machine learning and computer vision algorithms identify potential pre-Inca features, including circular structures and pottery fragments.
- Ground truthing confirms pre-Inca structures and artifacts, including a snake-like pottery fragment dating back to 1100-1300 AD.
- Wat was a pre-Inca mountaintop town later transformed by the Inca, with residential areas, ceremonial plazas, and grand terracing.
- The Inca likely chose Wat as a significant location due to its pre-existing importance and incorporated local beliefs into their architecture and city planning.
- Wat serves as a prototype for Machu Picchu, showcasing the evolution of Andean architecture and beliefs over time.
