Ghosts of Machu Picchu Page #3

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because it supplied the food

for all the people

living at Machu Picchu.

Patallacta is a few hours

walk from Machu Picchu

along the main Inca

trail through the region.

lt is the closest place to Machu Picchu

where large-scale farming

could have taken place.

The people who lived at Patallacta

weren't just farmers though,

they likely played many roles-they could

have been stoneworkers, builders,

laborers.

Astete's best hope for understanding

Machu Picchu is to learn about the people

who lived here

the possible builders of the city.

Above the old Inca town,

up a nearly vertical slope,

a local guide has found

what looks like a burial niche.

Astete and fellow archaeologist,

Elva Torres,

believe it may be undisturbed

a gravesite last touched 500 years ago.

Hey, what's up?

And the tomb?

It's sealed.

We need to open it.

Before the tomb can be opened,

Astete's Quechua guide

makes an offering of coca leaves

to the spirits that dwell here, just

as his Inca forbearers would have done.

Pass it to me, pass it to me.

Be careful so the others don't fall.

Astete and Torres have investigated

many other burials in the area.

Most are far more accessible.

This tomb...has been constructed.

The other tombs don't use this style.

They're simply in caves, in natural

rock formations that are easy to get to.

Do you see anything?

No, it's very dark.

In the dim tomb light...

a human skull.

Yes, I see a skull.

So there's a skull and lots of bones.

Be careful, don't step on anything.

As Torres enters the cramped tomb,

the find only gets more tantalizing.

It appears there's

a couple of individuals.

But as she investigates, she finds

a lot more skeletons-nine in all.

And many show signs of injury.

Well, this problem regarding fractures...

they could be from everyday activities.

They could have been from a fall,

something may have fallen on them or

perhaps some other sort of activity.

In this case, they may have been

working in the quarries.

Could these be the skeletons

Of the builders of Machu Picchu?

They can't be sure until

they take a closer look in the lab.

There, Torres is joined

by bio-archeologist Valerie Andrushko.

Right away, they find some surprises

in the skulls from Patallacta.

They're full of holes.

It's the sign of

a procedure called trepanation.

Trepanation is the partial removal

of part ofthe skull

that the Inca practiced with very

high degrees of success.

Our understanding is that trepanation

was often done in order to release

intracranial pressure due to fractures.

It's skull surgery,

and healed wounds found throughout

the empire show that the Inca

were skilled at using

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