machu picchu there was only one inca. inca means king. the inca's people are called quechuan. or something like that. common usage to the contrary. anywho, machu picchu was a city built buy the quechuan around 1500 as they expanded from their capital cuzco (means belly button) way high up on the top of a mountain with spectacular views and water. they built terraces to stop erosion and grow food. the dirt was carried in from different valleys. seagull crap was brought hundreds of miles for fertilizer. then the spanish came. eventually machu picchu was abandoned so they could make a doomed last stand at vilcabamba. the spanish never found machu picchu. hiram bingham found it when he was looking for vilcabamba. most of machu picchu was still standing. even through numerous earthquakes. the stone cutting technology of the time was much more sophisticated than the egyptians or even the romans. they cut blocks that interlocked. they poured metal rings to connect them together. the spanish built cathedrals on top of quechuan buildings which were rediscovered and preserved when earthquakes knocked down the cathedrals but didn't bother the quechuan buildings at all. the modern peruvians practice an interesting mix of spanish style catholicism and traditional quechuan religions. the spanish basically gave them a choice: convert or die. which really isn't much different from the choice the inca gave his neighbors.  ¶ 7:20 AM