The Incas were apparently
able to control their remarkable state system through a pyramidal
hierarchy with information and direction flowing down through 10
overseers to 100, to a 1000 and so on. We know from historical
writing and the archaeological record that they did not possess an
alphabet i.e. written language. Although, they certainly must have
utilized some symbols and perhaps diagrams. We know that the Quipu (
collection of colored strings and knots) was extensively used as an
accounting and record keeping device. This required a trained
interpreter/programmer to accompany it. It is interesting that the
Spanish were unable to locate or interrogate even one of these
specialists. The Inca also maintained a class or guild of verbal
historians. What records of the state that were kept and how remain
a mystery.
With the catastrophic collapse of Inca structure
following arrival of the Spanish, these specialists/historians were
scattered and forgotten. The Spanish, most of whom were illiterate,
uneducated adventurers had little interest in seeking or preserving
anything not producing wealth and power. By the time scholars and
administrators arrived the information was lost.
When the Pizarros arrived in Cusco in 1532, Machu
Picchu must have been mostly forgotten and the few who remembered,
died without revealing its location to the Spanish. Machu Picchu or
whatever it was know as at that time, would not have been of much
importance to either the crumbling Inca state or the treasure hungry
Spanish.
Manco Inca staged a country wide rebellion in
1536. After a failed siege of Cusco, Manco, along with remnants of
the court, army and followers, abandoned his headquarters at
Ollantaytambo. Fleeing back into the remote Vilcabamba beyond Machu
Picchu, He burned and destroyed Inca settlements and sites
accessible to the Spanish including Llatapata at the start of the
now famous trail to Machu Picchu from the Urubamba River. Of course,
by this time the trail and the site itself would have been long
overgrown and the approach blocked by seasonal landslides that so
hinder backcountry travel in Peru.
Beyond personal observations and many trips to
Machu Picchu, I have borrowed heavily from the excellent work of
John Hemming, John Rowe and Johan Reinhard. Their writings are a
must for anyone attempting an understanding of the Inca and the
centuries of cultural development that preceded them.
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