Possible Last Refuge of Incas Found

A settlement that may have been one of the last refuges of the Incas has been discovered on a remote and rugged Andean peak--a finding that could shed new light on the origin and demise of the last great Indian empire in the Americas.

The settlement, on a peak known as Cerro Victoria, is in Peru’s Vilcabamba region, where the Incas fled after Spanish soldiers crushed an Indian revolt in 1536. Artifacts found there indicate that it may have served as a refuge in the years between the revolt and the final Spanish conquest of the Incas in 1572.

The nearly inaccessible settlement sprawls over at least 2.4 square miles on steep slopes at an altitude ranging from 8,000 to 11,000 feet. A platform built at the peak provides what explorers called a “spectacular view” of several snow-capped peaks nearby.

Such peaks were sacred to the Incas, and the platform probably was used for religious ceremonies, as well as to maintain the Inca calendar, said British author Peter Frost, who led the expedition along with Santa Barbara explorer Scott Gorsuch and Peruvian archeologist Alfredo Valencia Zegarra.

The site was so important to the Incas that they built a 5-mile-long aqueduct to bring water to the barren mountain.

“Victoria is an enormous and complete complex of archeological sites, with great historical and functional significance, situated within an exceptional ecological system in stunningly beautiful country,” said Valencia, who is associated with the National University of San Antonio Abad of Cusco.

The team has so far explored only one side of the mountain, but has found the ruins of more than 100 structures, including circular dwellings, agricultural storehouses, cemeteries, funeral towers and corrals, as well as agricultural terraces.

Much of the site is still overgrown with dense cloud forest.

Researchers hope further exploration of the site will uncover evidence that sheds light on various mysteries, including the Incas’ demise. For now, “we’ve really only scratched the surface,” Frost said.

Pottery from the site indicates that Cerro Victoria was occupied when the Incas began building their empire in the early 1400s.

Finding an Inca site that is “virtually unknown” is “fairly rare,” said archeologist Johan Reinhard of the Mountain Institute, who is an expert on the Vilcabamba region.

“What I noticed immediately was the size, which meant that it had to be an important site, even though it isn’t mentioned in historical documents.”

Settlement Is Close to Machu Picchu

The settlement, which locals call Corihuayrachina, is only about 24 miles from Machu Picchu, the Inca city that is the most popular tourist destination in Peru. It is even closer to another sacred site called Choquiquirao.

But unlike those two sites, which were the homes of elite populations of rulers, priests and administrators, Corihuayrachina was most likely a blue-collar settlement, home to peasants who worked a nearby silver mine and farmers who supplied food to Choquiquirao.

“It may have been a satellite” of the ceremonial center at Choquiquirao, Reinhard said.

Finding such a site is important to archeologists because “often, the sites where people worked and lived tell us more about the culture than the so-called imperial sites,” said Vincent Lee, another expert on Vilcabamba.

Cerro Victoria sits in the middle of a region that is one of the least understood and most significant places in the history of the Inca civilization.

Beginning in 1438, the Incas established an imperial state in the Andes through an elaborate religious, social and military order. Despite not having the wheel or a system of writing, they built more than 25,000 miles of roads, pioneered in agriculture and ended famines with a system of food storehouses.

Spanish exploration in the Americas doomed them. Initial contact with the Spaniards in 1525 led to the introduction of smallpox and other diseases that destroyed large segments of the population.

Driven by a hunger for gold and silver, the Spanish, led by Francisco Pizarro, fought four years of bloody wars against the Incas who survived the epidemics. In the end, they captured the empire. The rebellion in 1536, led by Inca ruler Manco Inca, nearly overthrew the Spanish, but ended in defeat for the Indians.

Protected by high mountains and impenetrable forests, the Incas who retreated to Vilcabamba survived for nearly 40 years before the Spanish finally prevailed, killing the remnant population or resettling them in areas where they could be more easily controlled.

Evidence First Spotted During Hike in 1999

Frost and Gorsuch first spotted evidence of the Cerro Victoria settlement in 1999 while hiking to Choquiquirao. On a rest stop, they noticed the peak through binoculars and observed a platform at the top, suggesting a settlement.

But it took two years before they could organize an expedition to the site. With support from the National Geographic Society, they traveled to Cerro Victoria last year--a trek that involved one day traveling by car from Cusco and four days hiking across the Apurimac River and then up 6,000 feet through dense forest.

“Fortunately, there is a cable footbridge over the river now,” Frost said, or the trip would have been much more difficult.

There is virtually no water in the region, so the team had to organize a three-man, three-mule team that constantly shuttled water up the mountain.

The only residents of the area are two families who settled at the site two years ago. They burned one side of the mountain to clear it for farming and are now using some of the Inca agricultural terraces.

The fires exposed many of the structures so the team could find them, Gorsuch said, but it also destroyed valuable artifacts.

The team is paying the families not to burn any more of the forest.

“We gave them some money and, in effect, made them guardians of the site,” Gorsuch said.

“We also asked them to keep their animals out of the structures.”

The team will return to the site later this year to continue its excavations.

The National Geographic Channel will premiere a special television show about Cerro Victoria in May.