[Aztlan] PBS Ghosts of Machu Picchu

[Elaine Schele]

Ghosts of Machu Picchu
Tuesday, February 2 at 8 pm ET/PT on NOVA
Check your local listings as dates and times may vary.

Perched atop a mountain crest, mysteriously abandoned more than four
centuries ago, Machu Picchu is the most famous archeological ruin in
the Western Hemisphere and an iconic symbol of the power and
engineering prowess of the Inca. In the years since Machu Picchu was
discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, there have been countless
theories about this "Lost City of the Incas," yet it remains an
enigma. Why did the Incas build it on such an inaccessible site,
clinging to the steep face of a mountain? Who lived among its stone
buildings, farmed its emerald green terraces, and drank from its
sophisticated aqueduct system? NOVA joins a new generation of
archeologists as they probe areas of Machu Picchu that haven't been
touched since the time of the Incas and unearth burials of the people
who built the sacred site. "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" explores the
extraordinary trail of clues that began on that fateful day in 1911
and continues to the present.

Find out how the Inca Empire became as vast as the Roman in just over
a century, compare images of battle-ready Incas and conquistadors, and
more on the program's companion website.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1386720078/

-- 
Elaine Schele
PhD Candidate
University of Texas
http://gispalenque.blogspot.com/
http://volunteermayameetings.blogspot.com/