Friday 13 September 2013

5000 Years of the “New” World


When people think of Peru, the images to appear in their minds are of the Incas and their ruined city Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and is the main tourist attraction of Peru. Most tourists visiting Peru see no other archaeological site in the country, although there are many others worth visiting. "Oh, more Inca ruins?" - you might wonder. Sure, but the Incas are only the tip of the iceberg! Many other civilizations settled in Peru: some as old as the Inca Empire, others thousands of years older.


"How old are the Incas then?" - you might ask. The Inca civilization arose at the beginning of the 13th century, but Tawantinsuyu (the Inca Empire) was not founded before 1438. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived at the beginning of the 16th century the Incas hadn't yet been ruling for a single century. By 1572 the last Inca stronghold had been conquered and an empire, that once stretched from southern Colombia to the northern parts of Chile and Argentina was no more.


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