Editing Machu Picchu (section)

====Intihuatana stone====
{{main|Intihuatana, Urubamba}}
[[File:90 - Machu Picchu - Juin 2009 (cropped).jpg|thumb|The sculpture projecting from the rock bottom of the Sun temple is interpreted as "Water mirrors for observing the sky".{{sfn|Doig|2005}}|upright=1.2]]

The ''Intihuatana'' stone is a [[ritual]] stone which was used by the Incas. The stone is designed to point directly at the Sun during the winter [[solstice]].<ref name="Amao2012b">{{cite book|last=Amao|first=Albert|title=The Dawning of the Golden Age of Aquarius: Redefining the Concepts of God, Man, and the Universe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZkOKM5VjHcC&pg=PA78|access-date=16 July 2012|date=2012|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4685-3752-9|page=78}}</ref> The name of the stone (perhaps coined by Bingham) derives from [[Quechua languages|Quechua]] language: ''inti'' means "sun", and ''wata-'', "to tie, hitch (up)". The suffix ''-na'' derives nouns for tools or places. Hence ''Intihuatana'' is literally an instrument or place to "tie up the sun", often expressed in English as "The Hitching Post of the Sun". The Inca believed the stone held the Sun in its place along its annual path in the sky.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Ancient Observatories – Timeless Knowledge | last = Scherrer | first = Deborah | url = http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/Ancient-Observatories.pdf | journal = Stanford University Solar Center | publisher = [[Stanford University]] | access-date = 2024-08-12 }}</ref> The stone is situated at 13°9'48" S. At midday on 11 November and 30 January, the Sun is situated almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow. On 21 June, the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side, and on 21 December a much shorter shadow on its northern side.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dolan | first = Marion | title = Decoding Astronomy in Art and Architecture | chapter = Art, Architecture, and Astronomy in South America | doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-76511-8_17 | isbn = 978-3-030-76511-8 |pages = 295–336 | year = 2021 }}</ref>