Machu Picchu should not be called that: the curious story of an error with more than 100 years

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It is (officially) one of the 10 most visited destinations in the world along with the pyramids in Egypt, the Eiffel Tower in Paris or

, according to data from the World Tourism Organization itself.

If we talk about South America, this year it has been chosen for the fourth consecutive year

in the World Travel Awards, the Oscars of the international travel sector.

It received almost

for a reason during the first half of 2019, the year before the pandemic.

The monument that concerns us, the Peruvian Machu Picchu, is also among

, according to the list prepared each year by the specialized magazine

.

And it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. As if all this were not enough, it is one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

A whole string of records for the ancient Inca town immersed in an impressive mountainous landscape

on the eastern slope of the Andes.

But after centuries of power and beauty, and when we thought we knew everything about him, something new is discovered: his name is a mistake.

It is called Machu Picchu ("old mountain" in Quechua), but in reality it should be just the opposite:

Or "young mountain" in said language.

ancient research

The ruling dates back to the discovery of the Peruvian monument in 1911, when

first referred to it by asking a local to write his name in his work journal.

It is believed that this one, Melchor Arteaga, wrote

, although Hiram pronounced it as Picchu.

And so it remained for posterity.

Panoramic view of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.SHUTTERSTOCK

Now, however, the

(UIC) has turned history upside down with a new report.

According to him, at no time is it written in those first field notes that the enclave was called

since the Incas actually referred to the place by the name of the closest summit (Huayna Pichu) and not the highest (Machu Picchu). ).

This is the conclusion reached by the researcher

from the

Cusco), and the archaeologist Brian S. Bauer, professor of Anthropology at the UIC, as described in an article in the scientific journal

In said investigation, Bauer assures that

or, more likely, Huayna Picchu", as the UIC points out in a statement.

In his opinion, Bingham was told that the latter was his name, but the American misunderstood when expressing it verbally.

Before the discovery

What's more, the researchers say that the ruins of the city already appear in an atlas in 1904, seven years before the rediscovery.

When Bingham sets out to follow in his footsteps, it was already called Huayna Pichu.

Not surprisingly, according to Bauer, the original name can even be seen in the

, a century after its supposed construction.

"We began with the uncertainty of the name of the ruins when Bingham first visited them and then reviewed

before his visit," says Bauer in the statement from the North American university.

The phonetic reinterpretation of Bingham disrupted the name.

In this way, Huayna Picchu is today the name

that is just behind the Inca citadel, when it should not be.

The error has remained five years after five years, despite the fact that in the 90s some archeology experts already questioned it.

They were ignored.

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