Editing Machu Picchu (section)

==Etymology==
The site is on a narrow saddle between two mountain peaks, Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu. In the [[Quechua language]], {{lang|qu|[[:wikt:machu#Quechua|machu]]}} means "old" or "old person" and {{lang|qu|[[:wikt:wayna#Quechua|wayna]]}} (spelled ''huayna'' in standard [[Spanish orthography]]) means "young", while {{lang|qu|[[:wikt:pikchu#Quechua|pikchu]]}} refers to a "summit," "peak," or "pyramid."<ref>{{cite book |last = Calvo Pérez |first = Julio |title = Nuevo diccionario español-quechua, quechua-español |url = https://apl.org.pe/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DICCIONARIO-Quechua-espanol-VOL_2.pdf |pages=527,739,1271 |publisher=[[University of San Martín de Porres]] - Fondo Editorial |publication-place=Lima |website= [[Academia Peruana de la Lengua]]| access-date = 2024-08-18 |edition = 2nd |year = 2022 |volume = 2 |isbn=978-612-4460-45-6}}</ref>{{efn|{{lang|qu|Pikchu}} may also refer to a "portion of coca that is chewed".}} Thus, the name of the site is often translated as "old mountain" or "old peak".<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Luciano |first1= Pellegrino A. |date= 2011 |title= Where are the Edges of a Protected Area? Political Dispossession in Machu Picchu, Peru |journal= Conservation and Society |volume= 9 |issue= 1 |pages= 35–41 |doi= 10.4103/0972-4923.79186|jstor= 26393123 |doi-access= free |hdl= 10535/7402 |hdl-access= free }}</ref>

Although the original name given to the settlement by its builders is not definitively known, a 2021 study in ''[[Ñawpa Pacha]]: Journal of the Institute of Andean Studies''  suggests that the site was likely called "Huayna Picchu," after the [[Huayna Picchu|smaller peak nearby]], or simply "Picchu."<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Amado Gonzales |first1=Donato |last2=Bauer |first2=Brian S. |date=13 August 2021 |title=The Ancient Inca Town Named Huayna Picchu |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00776297.2021.1949833 |journal=[[Ñawpa Pacha]] |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=17–31 |doi=10.1080/00776297.2021.1949833 |s2cid=238644890 |access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Collyns |first=Dan |date=2022-03-23 |title=Machu Picchu: Inca site 'has gone by wrong name for over 100 years' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/mar/23/machu-picchu-inca-site-wrong-name |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> According to the research, the association of the name Machu Picchu with the ruins likely began with American explorer [[Hiram Bingham III|Hiram Bingham]]'s 1911 publications, a conclusion supported by Bingham’s field notes, early maps, and historical documents.<ref name=":0"/>