Over the centuries, archaeology has succeeded in teaching us one, seemingly immortal lesson – that everything is temporary. The idea of Rome or Ancient Egypt falling to dust may have seemed unthinkable at their apex, but today, they’re a lesson in inevitability. Much the same could be said about the Mongols, the British, the Aztecs, and the Russians, empires that have seen significant erosion (or have vanished altogether).
Mass Tourism
Meso and South America were the cradles of several empires, including the Incan, Aztec, and Mayan. Collectively, they don’t get much attention from mainstream media (Mel Gibson’s 2006 film Apocalypto is a rare example, detailing the end of the Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula), but there’s a rich tradition of slot games based on the region’s history. Paddy’s online casino has Machu Picchu Lightning Strike, Aztec Ascent, and Aztec Blaze. This minor footprint in pop culture belies the popularity of these ancient places with travellers.
Peruvian site Machu Picchu is a fixture of newspaper editorials, with varying opinions. “Woman travels 30 hours to Machu Picchu, but is instantly disappointed”, to quote the Manchester Evening News. Others detail Peru’s struggle with mass tourism. French newspaper Le Monde notes 1.5 million visitors per year to the Incan citadel. An ArcGIS story mentions destruction fears.
Of course, some things are always destroyed, which is how empires fall in the first place. Some are just forgotten about. The Templo Mayor of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan somehow lay right beneath Mexico City for five hundred years before it was rediscovered in 1978. Machu Picchu endured the same fate, following its abandonment by the Inca in the 16th century, before the Spanish arrived, and just one hundred years after its construction.
Hiram Bingham
The Inca, given the size of their empire, were a very short-lived civilisation. It’s perhaps only the monumental nature of sites like Machu Picchu that ensures their place in the history books. They lasted about as long as Machu Picchu did as a home for its people. Then, it fell to time and ruin. It would be rediscovered on July 24, 1911, when a local indigenous person led American historian Hiram Bingham to the site. Put another way, it wasn’t really “lost” at all, just unknown to anyone outside the area, near the modern city of Cuzco.
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This is the “Western” view of how Machu Picchu was rediscovered. The reality is that Hiram Bingham was at least the second person to stumble upon the mountain site. Agustin Lizarraga Ruiz, a Peruvian farmworker, found it in 1902 while searching for farming sites. Ruiz wrote his name in charcoal on the walls of the Temple of the Three Windows. The MuchBetterAdventures website claims Lizarraga went on to grow “corn, beans, squash, and more” at Machu Picchu.
The Incas are one of the more enigmatic peoples of South America. Unfortunately, their empire, which fell a long time ago, faces another fall if overtourism (other Incan sites exist at Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Moray) continues to overshadow the ancient valleys.
