Historian says world has been getting Machu Picchu’s name wrong for past 100 years

Nestled within a stunning tropical mountain forest in Peru, the world’s most recognized archaeological site was not originally called Machu Picchu, historians have discovered.

Nearly 100 years after it gained global attention, a new academic paper suggests that Machu Picchu, a major tourist attraction drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, was actually named Huayna Picchu by its inhabitants.

A Peru native and a prominent US archaeologist examined 20th-century maps, centuries-old land documents from archives, and field notes by US explorer Hiram Bingham, credited with rediscovering the citadel in 1911.

Their research, detailed in a paper published in Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology by Donato Amado Gonzales of Peru’s ministry of culture and Brian S. Bauer from the University of Illinois Chicago, revealed that the site’s original name was likely Huayna Picchu.

"There is significant data suggesting that the Inca city was actually called Picchu or more likely, Huayna Picchu," Mr. Bauer stated.

The researchers began with the uncertainty surrounding the name of the ruins when Bingham first visited. Bauer reviewed several maps and atlases printed before Bingham’s arrival at the ruins.

Machu Picchu is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site under its current name, praised for being among the greatest artistic and architectural achievements and the most significant tangible legacy of the Inca civilization.

According to UNESCO, the site was built in the 15th century and abandoned in the 16th century when the Inca Empire, the largest in pre-Columbian America, was conquered by the Spanish.

"It was not until 1911 that the archaeological complex became known to the outside world," UNESCO notes.

Academics argue that the city was never truly lost, even when Bingham visited in 1911 and brought it into the spotlight.

The paper revealed that the Incas originally named the site Huayna Picchu after the rocky summit closest to it, not Machu Picchu, which is the name of the highest mountain near the ancient city.

A 1904 atlas published seven years before Bingham's arrival in Peru referred to the ruins as Huayna Picchu. Additionally, Bingham’s documentation noted that a landowner’s son informed him the ruins were called Huayna Picchu.

Mr. Bauer pointed to accounts written by Spaniards after they took control of the region as the most definitive connection to the original name of the highest mountain near the ancient city.

"We conclude with a remarkable late 16th-century account when the indigenous people of the region considered returning to reoccupy the site, which they called Huayna Picchu," he said.

Some now believe the citadel, with its approximately 200 structures including religious, ceremonial, astronomical, and agricultural centers, may be renamed.

While the debate over its original name continues, the mysteries surrounding the Incas’ sophisticated understanding of astronomy remain unresolved.