Editing Machu Picchu (section)

====First American expedition====
[[File: Hiram Bingham III at his tent door near Machu Picchu in 1912.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Hiram Bingham III]] at his tent door near Machu Picchu in 1912]]
Bingham was a lecturer at [[Yale University]], although not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, returning from the Pan-American Scientific Congress in [[Santiago]], he travelled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at [[Choquequirao|Choqquequirau]] in the [[Department of Apurímac|Apurímac Valley]]. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition in part to search for the Inca capital, which was thought to be the city of [[Vitcos]], reportedly located near the town of [[Torontoy (Peru)|Torontoy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vitcos: The Last Inca Capital |url=https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/45647892.pdf |last=Bingham |first=Hiram |date=1912 |website=American Antiquarian Society. |page=174}}</ref> He consulted Carlos Romero, one of the chief historians in Lima who showed him helpful references and Father [[Antonio de la Calancha]]'s Chronicle of the Augustinians. In particular, Ramos thought Vitcos was "near a great white rock over a spring of fresh water." Back in Cusco again, Bingham asked planters about the places mentioned by Calancha, particularly along the Urubamba River. According to Bingham, "one old prospector said there were interesting ruins at Machu Picchu," though his statements "were given no importance by the leading citizens." Only later did Bingham learn that [[Charles Wiener]] had also heard of the ruins at [[Huayna Picchu]] and Machu Picchu, but was unable to reach them.<ref name="Hiram">{{cite book|last1=Bingham|first1=Hiram|title=Lost City of the Incas|date=1952|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|isbn=978-1-84212-585-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lostcityofincass00bing/page/112 112–135]|url=https://archive.org/details/lostcityofincass00bing/page/112}}</ref><ref name="torreon">{{cite journal |last1 = Dearborn |first1 = D.S.P.|last2 = White |first2 = R.E. |date = 1983 |title = The "Torreon" of Machu Picchu as an Observatory |journal = Journal for the History of Astronomy | series = | volume = 14 | issue = 5 | pages = S37–S49 | doi=10.1177/002182868301400502 | url = https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002182868301400502 |bibcode=1983JHAS...14...37D}}</ref>

[[File: Melchor Arteaga crossing the Urubamba River on 24 July 1911.jpg|thumb|Melchor Arteaga crossing the Urubamba River on 24 July 1911]]

Armed with this information, Bingham's expedition went down the [[Urubamba River]]. En route, Bingham asked local people to show them Inca ruins, especially any place described as having a white rock over a spring.<ref name=Hiram/>{{rp|137}}<ref name="vit"/>

At Mandor Pampa, Bingham asked farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga if he knew of any nearby ruins. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu.{{sfn|Bingham|2010}} The next day, 24 July, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up to the Machu Picchu site. At the top of the mountain, they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of [[Quechua people|Quechua]] people, Richard and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. Alvarez's 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main ruins.{{sfn|Wright|Valencia Zegarra|2004|p=1}}

[[File:Partial view of Machu Picchu in 1911.jpg|thumb|Partial view of Machu Picchu on 24 July 1911, with much of the site covered by dense vegetation.]]
The ruins were mostly covered with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings used by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of the vegetation, Bingham was not able to observe the full extent of the site. He took preliminary notes, measurements, and photographs, noting the fine quality of Inca stonework of several principal buildings. Bingham was unsure about the original purpose of the ruins, but concluded there was no indication that it matched the description of Vitcos.<ref name=Hiram/>{{rp|141, 186–187}}<ref name="vit">{{cite book | last=MacQuarrie | first=Kim | author-link= Kim MacQuarrie | title=The Last Days Of The Incas | publisher=Little, Brown Book Group | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-4055-2607-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1w7KARSwgYC |page=255 |access-date=2024-08-21}}</ref>

The expedition continued down the Urubamba and up the Vilcabamba Rivers examining all the ruins they could find. Guided by locals, Bingham rediscovered and correctly identified the site of the old Inca capital, Vitcos (then called Rosaspata), and the nearby temple of [[Chuquipalta]]. He then crossed a pass and into the Pampaconas Valley where he found more ruins heavily buried in the jungle undergrowth at [[Espíritu Pampa]], which he named "Trombone Pampa".<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Geographical Society of Philadelphia]] |title=Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia|year=1912|volume=10|chapter=Yale Expedition to Peru|pages=134–136|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=DHBIAAAAYAAJ|page=134}}}}</ref> As was the case with Machu Picchu, the site was so heavily overgrown that Bingham could only note a few of the buildings. In 1964, [[Gene Savoy]] further explored the ruins at Espiritu Pampa and revealed the full extent of the site, identifying it as [[Vilcabamba, Peru|Vilcabamba Viejo]], where the Incas fled after the Spanish drove them from Vitcos.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodriguez-Camilloni |first1=Humberto |title=Reviewed Work: Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas by Richard L Burger, Lucy C. Salazar |journal=Journal of Latin American Geography |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=2009 |pages=230–232 |jstor=25765271 |doi=10.1353/lag.0.0051 |s2cid=144758591 }}</ref><ref name=Hiram/>{{rp|xxxv}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland |last=Thomson |first=Hugh |author-link=Hugh Thomson (writer) |publisher=[[Hachette UK]] |year=2010 |isbn=9780297866169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZJVDy63SmAC}}</ref>

[[File:Map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912.jpg|thumb|Route map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912]]
Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 under the sponsorship of Yale University and [[National Geographic]] and with the full support of Peruvian [[Augusto B. Leguía|President Augusto Leguia]]. The expedition undertook a four-month clearing of the site with local labor, which was expedited with the support of the Prefect of Cusco. Excavation started in 1912 with further excavation undertaken in 1914 and 1915. Bingham focused on Machu Picchu because of its fine Inca stonework and well-preserved nature, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. None of Bingham's several hypotheses explaining the site have since held up. During his studies, he carried various artifacts back to Yale. One prominent artifact was a set of 15th-century, ceremonial Incan knives made from [[bismuth bronze]]; they are the earliest known artifact containing this alloy.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gordon | first1 = Robert B. | last2 = Rutledge | first2 = John W. | title = Bismuth Bronze from Machu Picchu, Peru | journal = Science | volume = 223 | year = 1984 | issue = 4636 | pages = 585–586 | publisher = American Association for the Advancement of Science |doi = 10.1126/science.223.4636.585| pmid = 17749940 | bibcode = 1984Sci...223..585G }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fellman |first=Bruce |date=December 2002 |title=Rediscovering Machu Picchu |url=http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/02_12/machupicchu.html |magazine=Yale Alumni Magazine |access-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506171545/http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/02_12/machupicchu.html |archive-date=6 May 2016  }}</ref>

[[File:An Architectural Triumph Machu Picchu.jpg|thumb|The Sacred Plaza, the Main Temple, and the Temple of the Three Windows after the 1912 clearing work. Above these structures is the Sacred Hill, which features the [[Intihuatana, Urubamba|Intihuatana]].]]

Although local institutions initially welcomed the exploration, they soon accused Bingham of legal and cultural malpractice.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite journal |last1=Salvatore |first1=Ricardo Donato |title=Local versus Imperial Knowledge: Reflections on Hiram Bingham and the Yale Peruvian Expedition |journal=Nepantla: Views from South |volume=4 |issue=1 |year=2003 |pages=67–80 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/article/40208 }}</ref> Rumors arose that the team was stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through [[Bolivia]]. In fact, Bingham removed many artifacts, but openly and legally; they were deposited in the Yale University Museum. Bingham was abiding by the 1852 Civil Code of Peru; the code stated that "archaeological finds generally belonged to the discoverer, except when they had been discovered on private land" (Batievsky 100).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvXTcGC5CwQC&q=Peru%E2%80%99s+Civil+Code+of+1852&pg=PA100|title=Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy and Practice|last=Hoffman|first=Barbara T.|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85764-2|page=100|language=en}}</ref> Local press perpetuated the accusations, claiming that the excavation harmed the site and deprived local archaeologists of knowledge about their own history.<ref name=autogenerated1/> Landowners began to demand rent from the excavators.<ref name=autogenerated1/> By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu, locals had formed coalitions to defend their ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions.<ref name=autogenerated1/>