People of the Inca civilization emerged from fragmented independent societies by A. D. 1000 (D’Altroy, 2003). The small city-state of Cuzco became the capital under the rule of Pachacuti Inka Yupanki and represented a center of Tawantinsuyu (The Four Parts Together), i. e. the Inca Empire. Figure 9.1 Shows the approximate extent of the total Inca Empire, including parts of modern day Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Incas had developed water technologies to supply water for irrigation and domestic uses. Use of water for irrigation and religious purposes is mostly known from historical sites of Machu Picchu, Tambo Machay, Tipon, Puca Pucara, Cusichaca, Huanuco, Chinchero and Pisac. Three large Inca historical sites, Machu Picchu, Pisac and Tipon, locations shown in Fig. 9.15, are vivid examples of these technologies on a grand scale. For further reading on the Inca refer to D’Altroy (2003), Bauer (1998, 1992) and Hyslop (1990).
Fig. 9.15 General map of the Machu Picchu and Cuzco areas with historical sites related to water use and worshiping
Machu Picchu, one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire, was built around 1450 A. D. but was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the empire. Machu Picchu, located 2,430 m above mean sea level, is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 80 km northwest of Cuzco. The city was built in the classical Inca style using polished dry stones. Water was supplied by a canal and a series of
Fig. 9.16 Site map of Machu Picchu showing Inca canal and 16 domestic water supply fountains (Wright et al.,
16 domestic fountains filled by a primary and a secondary springs (Fig. 9.16). The fountains are located in a hydraulic series over a distance of 55 m with a vertical drop of 26 m (Wright and Zegarra, 2000). Each fountain is unique, but all have an enclosure for privacy, an approach channel, a stone basin at the bottom, and an orifice outlet that could be plugged. Wright et al. (1997) and Wright and Zegarra (2000) discuss the locations of the canal and fountains.
Wright and Zegarra (1999, 2000) described the drainage system of Machu Picchu. The following discussion is based upon their description. This system consisted of several components including a centralized main drain separating the agricultural system from the urban drainage system. The agricultural drainage system included terrace surface drainage, subsurface agricultural drainage consisting of larger stones overlaid with gravel which was in turn overlaid with sand; and agricultural drainage channels. The urban drainage system included drainage management of unused domestic water; runoff from thatched roof structures and plaza areas drained to grass or soil covered areas, urban drainage channels combined with stairways, walkways and temple interiors, 129 drain outlets placed in stone retaining walls and building walls, and plaza subsurface strata constructed with rock chips and stones to allow the infiltration of runoff.
The area around Cuzco contains numerous historical sites with examples of water technologies (Fig. 9.15). Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and his sons designed and implemented water irrigation channels around Cuzco including fountains and culverts for springs. He built Tambo Machay, a spring shrine type structure which according to Spanish historian Bernabe Cobo served as a lodging for Pachacuti when he went hunting (Hemming, 1982). Both Tambo Machay and nearby Puca Pucara are “huacas” (“sacred things” or “anything in nature that is out of the ordinary”), that served primarily for religious services and worships (Bauer, 1998). Bauer also estimated that of the 328 huacas presented in Bernabe Cobo’s report 96 (29%) are springs or sources of water and approximately 95 (29%) are standing stones. Other categories included hills and mountain passes, palaces of royalty, tombs, ravines, caves, quarries, stone seats, sunset markers, trees and roads. Tipon, Pisac, Tambo Machay and Puca Pucara are described below in more details.
Tipon is located 23 km southeast of Cuzco at an elevation of 3,560 m above mean sea level. It is made up of 12 terraces that are flanked by polished stone walls. In Tipon water was diverted from the Rio Pukara for irrigation and domestic use. Three irrigation canals (aqueducts) diverted water upstream of Pukara, approximately 1.35 km north of Tipon’s central terraces. The main aqueduct diverted water from the river at an elevation of 3,690 m. Slopes of the canal ranged from very steep (30%) to rather flat slopes (2%) of the canal (Wright, 2006). Figures 9.17, 9.18, and 9.19 Show portions of the main aqueduct.
Fig. 9.17 Main aqueduct for Tipon. Note the stair steps on the steep terrain (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.18 Elevated portion of the main aqueduct in Tipon (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Figure 9.20 Shows the restored Inca principal or main fountain in Tipon, that received water from the main spring in the background. This fountain provided domestic water supply for the noble residents prior to use of the water for any other purpose. Another fountain which supplied water for ceremonial purposes and
Fig. 9.19 The source point of the main aqueduct above Tipon (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.20 Restored Inca fountain in Tipon. This principal fountain receives water from the main spring in the background (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Domestic use was located on the side of one of the terraces. This fountain received water from a canal through an approach channel and conduit, and then dropped it into a stone basin. The unused water flowed into another downstream canal. A fountain also was built in the Ceremonial Plaza. Some scholars have concluded that this plaza was a ceremonial reservoir while others believe that the structure could not store water because the walls were not water tight (Wright, 2006). Remains of a canal have been found in the Ceremonial Plaza. Figure 9.21 Shows the spring located at the head of the central terrace ravine. Water from the spring was distributed to ceremonial fountains and to irrigated agriculture through canals. Figure 9.22 Shows the hydraulic drop structures inset in the terrace walls near the middle of the central terraces.
Pisac is one of the closest major ruins to Cuzco located in Yucay Valley near River Vilcanota (Figs. 9.15 And 9.23 ) at elevation of 3,400 m. Its history and origin are almost absent for a chronicles, except from few notes by Sarmiento de Gamboa in his description of the valley of Pisac (Hemming, 1982). It is possible that this was a place visited by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui for pleasure but no historical documents confirm this. Some architectural evidences, such as gates, defensive walls and stone door pegs suggest a possible military role of Pisac. The site structures are scattered along the mountain side and consist of granaries, living quarters, fortified barracks and series of beautiful agricultural terraces with irrigation channels (Fig. 9.24).
In Pisac water was used mainly for irrigation and religious services. The central inti-huatana (The Temple of Sun) in Pisac is surrounded by walls and has a few baths and a water channel (Figs. 9.25 And 9.26). The water channel comes out of the western side of the mountain and is about 20-25 cm wide. It is hard to reconstruct the original water works structure because extensive restoration projects at
Fig. 9.21 Tipon spring located at the head of the central terrace ravine. Water was distributed to ceremonial fountains and to irrigated agriculture through canals (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Pisac “mask” ancient remnants with more pleasing appearance catered for tourists (Fig. 9.27).
Tambo Machay (“resting place” or “resting cave”) and Puca Pucara (“red fortress”) are located within the walking distance from Cuzco (Fig. 9.15) and within 500 m from each other, separated by the main road from Cuzco to Pisac. Comparing to Machu Picchu, Pisac and Tipon they represent water use technologies on a much smaller scale. Both Tambo Machay (Fig. 9.28 ) and Puca Pucara (Fig. 9.29) have stone fountains with dual channels. Usually described as fountains, these structures are springs flowing through the calvert build in tightly masoned wall. However, the fountain next to Puca Pucara is dry (Fig. 9.30). Its location on high elevation outside of the Puca Pucara complex suggests that at certain times there was enough groundwater gradient to produce water discharge sufficient for religious or other uses.
One of the important questions regarding water uses a described locations (Machu Picchu, Pisac, Tipon, Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara) is water sources. There are very little or no reliable chronicles available to document these sites from historical perspective and no documentation is available that would describe their water
Fig. 9.22 Hydraulic drop structures near the middle of the central terraces in Tipon (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Uses, sources and construction techniques. Fairley (2003) refers to “geologic water storages” for several sites, including Tambo Machay. In hydrology, they are traditionally known as aquifers (for the underground water storage) and watersheds (for the surface waters). Building retaining walls and culverts helped Incas to retain water and reduce discharge. The same technique is widely used around the world now and was already used in ancient times.
Unfortunately, no hydrologic and hydrogeologic studies (including ones with geophysical or drilling techniques) are available to pinpoint the exact source of the water and its geologic and hydrogeologic conditions. Moreover, many sites experienced reconstruction and modification of the original environments and settings. Some current water flows (e. g. in Pisac) are the result of modifications that have nothing to do with, original functionality of the water system. Alternatively, these current flows may represent some ancient water system, yet unknown to us. This uncertainty provides a wide area for scientific hypotheses and discussions. One of the hypotheses relates to the so-called perched aquifers that were used to supply water in various areas around the world, including earlier and late Bronze Age cities in the Mediterranean region (see Chapter 10).
Fig. 9.23 View from Pisac on Vilcanote River and the Yucay Valley (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.24 Terraces in Pisac. There are living quarters located above the terraces (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.25 Central Inti-Huatana in Pisac bordered by the water channel connected to ritual baths (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.26 The segment of restored channel bordering Inti-Huatana in Pisac (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.27 Reconstruction of ancient water works often “masks” the original structure (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich)
Fig. 9.28 Tambo Machay complex consisting of a retaining wall and a calvert with dual channels (in the center of the picture) (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.29 Puca Pucara complex (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
Fig. 9.30 Dry fountain with dual channels next to Puca Pucara complex. Tambo Machay is located at the upper left corner of the picture (photo copyright by Yuri Gorokhovich). Color version available in Appendix
World History
