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The location of Vitcos (veet´-kos), or Pitcos (peet´-kos), the home of the Inca Manco after he fled from Cuzco to the wilds of Vilcabamba (veel-kä-bäm´-bä), was one of the questions which students of Inca history had never answered. Arm-chair archeologists and historians had selected the site of Choqquequirau (chok-kā-kee-rä´-oo) (cradle of gold), which consists of a series of extensive ruins above the Apurimac (a-poo-ree´-mak) River near Abancay (ä-bän-ca´-ee). His visit to these ruins convinced Dr. Hiram Bingham, of Yale University (now Lieut.-Colonel Bingham), that Vitcos and Choqquequirau could not be identical.
Accordingly, in 1911 he conducted an expedition to Peru, one object of which was to find a place that would fit the descriptions of the Inca’s retreat as given by the early Spanish historians, some of whom, i.e., Father Antonio de Calancha (än-to´-nee-o day cä-län´-chä) and Baltasar de Ocampa (bäl-tä-sär´ day o-cäm´-pä), had actually visited Vitcos.
The expedition went down the Urubamba (oo-roo-bäm´-bä) Valley to the mouth of the Vilcabamba River, crossed the Chuquichaca (choo-kee-chä´-cä) Bridge, and went up the Vilcabamba Valley, finding place after place which tallied with the accounts of Ocampo (o-käm´-po) and Calancha (cä-län´-chä). Above the little town of Puquiura (poo-kee-oo´-ra) were encountered ruins now called Rosaspata (ro-säs-pä´-tä). Careful study has proved that these fit, in every detail, the description of the Inca’s last home.
While on his way to Vitcos, Colonel Bingham was fortunate enough to discover the ruins of Machu Picchu. Although the problematical existence of these ruins had long been known, no one had ever taken the trouble to climb to the top of the ridge and make certain as to their location. In so doing, Colonel Bingham came upon ruins whose magnificent beauty alone makes them of more than ordinary interest, but doubly important is the discovery because in Machu Picchu we seem to have found at last the Tampu-tocco (tämpoo-tok´-ko) of early Inca legends.
The selection of Paccari-tampu (päk´-ka-ree-tam´-poo) as Tampu-tocco has never seemed justified. The slight similarity in name, the location of a few ruins and natural caves in that vicinity, and the non-existence of any place which had a better claim, made up the evidence to substantiate the theories of those who wished to call Paccari-tampu the cradle of the Inca race. Machu Picchu, as shown by Colonel Bingham,[1] corroborates in every detail the descriptions of Tampu-tocco given by all the historians.
[1] See The Story of Machu Picchu, by Hiram Bingham. Nat. Geo. Mag., Feb., 1915, and Vitcos, ibid., Proceedings of the Am. Antiquarian Soc., April, 1912.
In addition, it appears that Machu Picchu may also be Vilcabamba, the old, the mysterious place three days’ journey from Vitcos, to which, as told by Father Calancha, two monks were taken by the Incas while they were in that region seeking his conversion. No situation at all plausible has ever been suggested for this mythical locality. Granting that Machu Picchu is Tampu-tocco, the presence of two distinct cultures and skeleton remains, chiefly of women and effeminate men, would seem to indicate that on his retreat to Vitcos the Inca Manco made use of the wonderfully concealed first home of the Incas to provide safe retirement for the priests and priestesses of the Sun.
A very important part of the work of modern archeology lies in identifying the location of the cities and towns which have a place in Inca tradition and history. The finding of the first and last home of the Incas by Colonel Bingham’s expeditions is only the beginning of a great deal of similar work which awaits the archeologist in Peru.