Details the status of contemporary research on Incan civilization, and addresses mysteries of the founding and abandonment of Machu Picchu, charting its archaeological history from 1911 to the present.

A trip across time along a golden labyrinth leading to the birth of pre-Columbian civilizations. More than 250 masterpieces from the most important museums of Peru reveal the mastery and the skill of the pre-Columbian goldsmiths of the Central Andes, as well as how gold forged the belief, the rituals, the earthly and heavenly spheres, and the way of representing the political and the religious. The force of unknown symbols, represented by the finds pictured in this book, leads to the understanding of the spirituality of these ancient peoples. The mystic dimension of life and death lived through a deep relation with the gods is evoked by the outstanding images which picture their connection with the afterlife. Inca: Origin and Mysteries of the Civilisation of Gold highlights the tie with nature, focusing on the contrast between power and submission, sea and mountains, and earth and sky, without forgetting the importance of the Sun and the Moon in the idea and perception of the universe.

First published in the 1950s, this is a classic account of the discovery in 1911 of the lost city of Machu Picchu. In 1911 Hiram Bingham, a pre-historian with a love of exotic destinations, set out to Peru in search of the legendary city of Vilcabamba, capital city of the last Inca ruler, Manco Inca. With a combination of doggedness and good fortune he stumbled on the perfectly preserved ruins of Machu Picchu perched on a cloud-capped ledge 2000 feet above the torrent of the Urubamba River. The buildings were of white granite, exquisitely carved blocks each higher than a man. Bingham had not, as it turned out, found Vilcabamba, but he had nevertheless made an astonishing and memorable discovery, which he describes in his bestselling book LOST CITY OF THE INCAS.

Caldecott Honor-winner Ted Lewin takes readers on a thrilling journey to the wilds of Peru in this story of Hiram Bingham, who, in 1911, carved a treacherous path through snake-filled jungles and across perilous mountains in search of Vilcapampa, the lost city of the Incas. Guided the last steps by a young Quechua boy, however, he discovered not the rumored lost city, but the ruins of Machu Picchu, a city totally unknown to the outside world, and one of the wonders of the world.

Analyzes Inca mythology in light of the historical events that transformed their world at the time of the arrival of Spanish conquistadors.

Ken Wright and his coauthors report the results of their exhaustive investigation into the surveying work underlying the unusual Inca site of Moray, as well as the engineered systems for collecting and delivering water.

Documents the epic conquest of the Inca Empire as well as the decades-long insurgency waged by the Incas against the Conquistadors, in a narrative history that is partially drawn from the storytelling traditions of the Peruvian Amazon Yora people. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

This compelling collection of essays explores the Qhapaq nan (or Great Inca Road), an extensive network of trails reaching modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. These roads and the accompanying agricultural terraces and structures that have survived for more than six centuries are a testament to the advanced engineering and construction skills of the Inca people. The Qhapaq nan also spurred an important process of ecological and community integration across the Andean region. This book, the companion volume to a National Museum of the American Indian exhibition of the same name, features essays on six main themes: the ancestors of the Inca, Cusco as the center of the empire, road engineering, road transportation and integration, the road in the Colonial era, and the road today. Beautifully designed and featuring more than 225 full-color illustrations, The Great Inka Road is a fascinating look at this enduring symbol of the Andean peoples' strength and adaptability.