[Aztlan] Machu Picchu habria sido descubierto en el Siglo XIX

[Margarita B. Marin-Dale]

Thank you for the interesting article, Marcelo.
   
  It's possible that a number of Europeans may have passed through or come close to discovering Machu Picchu long before the American Hiram Bingham.  For instance, French anthropologist Carmen Bernand writes in The Incas: People of the Sun:  "The discovery [of Rosapata] encouraged him [Bingham] to undertake a difficult expedition into the eastern valleys ....  Based on further information from native plantation workers, Bingham finally reached Choqquequirau, where he found a real fortress with paved roads and buildings of stone ....  Other visitors had been there before the American, and Bingham discovered signatures carved into the walls, including that of a Frenchman, Eugene de Sartigues, who had evidently passed through in 1834."  
   
  In the Spanish translation from the French, this same passage reads:  "Este descubrimiento [de Rosapata] le anima a [Bingham a] proseguir una expedicion dificil, en los valles orientales ....  Siempre informandose por los indigenas de las plantaciones, llega por fin a Choqquequirau, donde encuentra una verdadera fortaleza, con calles pavimentadas y edificios de piedras ....  Es ostensible que otros visitantes hand precedido al americano, puesto que este descifra firmas grabadas en las paredes, como la de un frances, Eugene de Sartigues, que estuvo alli en 1834."  (Por favor disculpa la falta de acentos.  No los puse porque a veces las letras aparecen distorsionadas.)
   
  Also, let us not forget the native plantation workers and the Peruvian guides, who showed Bingham the way to Machu Picchu!  They were aware of the existence of Machu Picchu long before any American or European explorer.
   
  Saludos,
  Margarita B. Marin-Dale