It is an idyllic and mysterious place that has fascinated travelers from all over the world for decades.
Machu Picchu, an Inca archaeological site nestled in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, was “rediscovered” in 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham, who was to be the first scholar to study the site in contemporary times. Since then, throughout the 20th century, this ancient city has been referred to as “Machu Picchu”. However, as written The Guardian, from now on, “A new academic paper claims that since its rediscovery over a century ago, the site has been known by the wrong name.”
Thus, the real name of this Inca city dating from the 15th century would be “Huayna Picchu”, from the name of the summit overlooking the ruins.
To reach this conclusion, Donato Amado Gonzales of Peru’s Ministry of Culture and Brian S. Bauer of the University of Illinois (who co-authored the study) analyzed both previous and successive documents. to the Bingham Expedition. All converge to the same conclusion. In effect, “researchers have found that the ruins of an Inca city named Huayna Picchu are mentioned in a 1904 atlas, published seven years before Bingham’s arrival in Peru”notes the British daily.
But Gonzales and Bauer went back even further in time, finding a mention of the Huayna Picchu site in accounts of the Spanish conquistadores dating from the late 15th century. Two clues which are almost a proof, and which have been completed by a study of Bingham’s original travel diaries, where we discover that some locals speak to him of this site also using the name Huayna Picchu.
A “brand image” of Peruvian identity
Thus, there is no doubt for scholars that the name Macchu Picchu is historically wrong. Does this mean that the “old-new” appellation will prevail?
Natalia Sobrevilla, professor of Latin American history at the University of Kent, interviewed by The Guardian strongly doubt:
“Basically, all the names are invented and therefore interchangeable, it doesn’t make a big difference. However, Machu Picchu is now a real brand image linked to the Peruvian identity. So what would be the point of changing that name? As Shakespeare once said: ‘What we call roseby any other name would smell as good’.”