Archaeologists have discovered two previously unknown cave paintings near the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. Presumably, the drawings do not belong to the Incas, but belong to a more ancient era.
The drawings found in Peru are not included in the database, which has been conducted since the beginning of the study of the ancient city of the Incas, said the director of the National Archaeological Park Fernando Astete. The pictures show a man and an animal of the camel family. The image is very similar to rock art found in the area earlier.
The rock paintings of this area are special - they were made in special rock depressions using black and ocher colors. The images most likely belong to a pre-Inca civilization, the researchers note. In order to accurately determine the age of ancient creativity, archaeologists intend to conduct a more thorough investigation.
Rock carvings are far from the only mystery of the ancient complex. There are many questions in the history of Machu Picchu that science cannot give unambiguous answers. Modern scholars believe that the city, located at an altitude of 2,450 meters, was created by the supreme ruler of the Incas, Pachacutec, 100 years before the conquest of his empire, around 1440. However, not everyone shares this version.
Machu Picchu was not built by the Incas?
According to some scholars, the Incas are not sufficiently advanced to cut and grind stones. Granite blocks of Machu Picchu structures are carefully hewn and fitted to each other with millimeter precision without the use of joint mortars. Moreover, they got to a high mountain without any cranes. Even modern experts cannot explain how this can be done. Then how could such a technically complex city be built by the Inca civilization, which did not even invent wheels?
According to an alternative theory, the structures of Machu Picchu were built during a more advanced civilization that existed for millennia before the advent of the Inca empire. The Incas simply discovered the ancient city and began to use it for their own purposes. Although, perhaps, the Incas added something of their own to the megaliths. In some places, traces of the activities of two different civilizations are visible, some of which are at the level of Inca technology, while others are much higher than it.
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The civilization that built Machu Picchu handled stone with ease. She could change its shape, as if the stone was made of plasticine. Perhaps these people possessed the technology of softening stones, scientists say. Huayna Picchu rises behind the ruins of Machu Picchu. It is covered with terraces made of stone blocks weighing up to 200 tons. It's hard to imagine how these stones were delivered to such a height?
Another mystery is that the masonry of some houses is very similar to the masonry in the city of Aladzha-Huyuk, which is located on the territory of modern Turkey. Could these cities, located in different parts of the world, belong to the same civilization?
Where did the residents go?
The city has left other unsolved mysteries. For example, scientists are still arguing about where the locals have gone. Historians consider many versions of what happened, but none of them can fully provide answers to all questions.
The city was deserted during the colonization of South America by the Spaniards. However, the conquistadors did not attack the ancient city - they simply did not find it. There were no signs of attacks or destruction. Even the plumbing system, created hundreds or thousands of years ago, works.
Smallpox epidemic is also called one of the reasons for the disappearance of residents. It is believed that the Spaniards brought smallpox to Peru. An epidemic of the disease spread among the indigenous population, which by 1527 wiped out half of the country's inhabitants. However, if Europeans did not get to Machu Picchu itself, how could they bring smallpox there? The city is located remotely, and the local residents did not have much contact with the rest of the population.
Inca gold
Machu Picchu is called the lost city of the Incas. People did not know about him for 300 years, until the American Hiram Bingham found him with the help of a local boy guide. Local peasants settled in the city, who liked to live "free, without unwanted visitors." After Bingham's visit, the whole world learned about Machu Picchu, but he was not looking for this city at all.
Bingham was looking for the mysterious city of Paititi, in which, according to rumors, the Incas hid their gold, saving it from the conquistadors. It is believed that the city is completely filled with gold, even the houses and roads there are made of this metal. They searched for the city for several hundred years, but never found it. He still haunts treasure seekers and adventurers.
In 2012, French archaeologist Thierry Jamin found a secret door in Machu Picchu, and geophysical studies showed that there are several secret rooms. At the same time, it was found that these rooms contain important archaeological materials - deposits of various metals, including gold.
Scientists believe that there are many more rooms and underground passages under the city that have yet to be found. Therefore, researchers do not exclude that this is how the untold treasures hidden by the Incas may be. So scientists are ahead of new discoveries and hypotheses.
